For some, it may be difficult to determine where you fit in with budgeting and forecasting for your small business.
Maybe you don't quite understand where exactly you fit in, or maybe the business doesn't even put together projections or a budget for the next fiscal year.
A budget is a great way to ensure that you're on track for the year.
You can watch where certain expenses are going, how new products may affect your bottom line, or even how bringing on a new hire is going to affect profitability. All these aspects are crucial to business success and important in determining next moves within the business.
Even if an owner is not trained to understand the numbers, what we propose is to be part of the big picture items, and help all those that are creating the forecast determine where the business is going.
Use your financial reports to pivot at critical times, if need be.
The vision is an important part of understanding where the business is going, and making projections on how you are going to get there.
Businesses are more likely to be successful if the vision is communicated openly to all members of the team. This is basically the wind of the ship, helping to determine which way it needs to go.
The budgeting and forecasting is also a great time for owners to set desires and goals, and what is needed within the budget to meet or exceed those metrics.
The numbers don't have to be exact, but the closer they are, the better the forecast will be.