Budgeting for Business Growth: Strategies to Expand Business

Budgeting for Business Growth: Financial Strategies to Expand Your Business

17 min read

Starting a business is an exciting achievement, but you鈥檝e got to keep your eye on the ball and stay innovative to keep things thriving. That鈥檚 where good business budget planning comes into play — it鈥檚 the bedrock of growing your business.

If you鈥檙e not monitoring your business finances and setting aside resources for growth, you might not just get stuck — you could see things start to slide downhill. Over time, this might mean your business brings in less revenue, making it tougher to cover expenses and keep things running smoothly.

The trick is managing your finances so you always have the funds ready to fuel that growth. In this blog, we鈥檒l discuss the basics of budgeting for business growth and some financial policies you should consider.

Understanding Business Budgeting

As your business grows, financial management can get a bit more complex. It might be tempting to see newfound profitability as a chance to spend on both business and personal expenses. But be careful — this can lead to financial instability pretty quickly. Having extra funds can lead to overspending, sometimes even using money that isn鈥檛 really there.

When a business operates under the mindset of scarcity, it is less likely to overspend and more motivated to generate additional revenue to meet perceived needs.

This is where budgeting plays a crucial role. Creating a budget plan in business involves setting aside specific amounts of money for particular purposes. In a business context, it refers to creating a spending plan based on income and expenses.

A budget helps identify available capital, estimate expenditures, and forecast revenue. It also guides business planning and serves as a benchmark for setting and achieving financial goals.

Key Components of a Business Budget

Let鈥檚 start with the basics: what is budgeting in business?

Take a closer look at the key components of a business budget:

Income Forecasts

Income refers to all sources of revenue for the business, including sales, investments, and loans.

Income forecasts are projections of future revenue from sales and other income streams. You can calculate the average income from the past six months to gain a general sense of your expected revenue.

Remember that these figures may vary, especially if your business experiences seasonal peaks. During those periods, it鈥檚 crucial to analyze the average revenue specifically for those times.

While your sales may increase year over year — making precise predictions challenging — this approach provides a proper estimate of what to expect.

Expense Estimates

Expenses are all costs incurred in running the business, such as rent, utilities, payroll, and supplies.

Expense estimates refer to the anticipated costs associated with operations, marketing, payroll, and other expenditures. These are generally more predictable since they can be assessed based on your regular monthly bills, payroll, and material costs.

Take a look at your spending from the past six months, and you鈥檒l get an average that helps you figure out future expenses. This way, you鈥檒l better understand what to expect cost-wise.

If you run an online store, your ecommerce platform can give you some handy data. For instance, if you鈥檙e using 黑料门 by Lightspeed, you can check out the report for insights on your store鈥檚 revenue and expenses.

Reviewing expenses in the Revenue report of an 黑料门 store

When it comes to expenses, your 黑料门 store can track:

Total expenses: 鈥嬧€婬ow much you spend to generate sales in your online store
Taxes: Total amount of taxes charged on all orders in your store
Shipping expenses: Total of all shipping rates specified for your shipping methods in your online store
Handling fee: Money spent on fulfillment, including storage, prepping, and packaging
Cost of products sold: The sum of product cost prices specified in your store settings.

You can also compare your expenses to those of a previous period. With this data, you can estimate your future expenses and keep them in mind when planning your business budget.

Learn more about different reports available for 黑料门 stores and how to use these insights to grow your business.

Fixed Costs

These are expenses that remain constant regardless of changes in production or sales levels, such as rent or insurance payments. Fixed costs are typically easier to estimate since they are consistent month-to-month.

Variable Costs

These are expenses that fluctuate based on changes in production or sales levels. Variable costs may include raw materials, labor costs, advertising costs, and shipping expenses.

Variable costs can be harder to estimate since they can change based on external factors.

Set-Asides

You should set aside specific funds to handle key aspects of your business, like covering liabilities or building a growth fund.

Think of these set-asides as parts of your budget earmarked for certain things, making sure you have money ready when you need it for financial responsibilities or chances to expand.

Cash Flow

This is the movement of money into and out of the business. A positive cash flow indicates that more money is coming into the business than going out, which is a good sign for the health of your company. It is important to track and manage cash flow in order to ensure that necessary expenses can be covered and any financial goals can be met.

One tool often used to help with cash flow management is a cash flow statement, which tracks the inflow and outflow of cash over a specific period of time. This statement can help you identify patterns and areas where adjustments may need to be made in order to maintain positive cash flow.

Creating a Comprehensive Business Budget Plan

Now that you have a better understanding of the components of a business budget, it鈥檚 time to learn how to make a budget plan.

Assess the Current Financial Situation

Take a look at where you stand financially by estimating all your expenses. Make sure to set aside a percentage of your income to build a growth fund. This way, you can figure out exactly how much money your business needs to make to keep going strong.

Regularly reviewing your expenses helps identify areas where you can cut back or find more cost-effective solutions. For example, negotiate with suppliers for better prices or explore different vendors for cheaper options.

Review Financial Statements

Analyze your balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statements to gain insights into your business鈥檚 current financial position.

Balance sheet is a snapshot of your company鈥檚 assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time. It shows what you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities), as well as the net worth of your business.

An income statement shows your business鈥檚 profitability over a certain period by comparing its revenues against expenses. This helps track changes in revenue streams and identify areas for improvement.

Cash flow statement tracks the movement of cash in and out of your business. It helps monitor how much cash is available for day-to-day operations, investments, and debt repayment.

These documents provide a snapshot of your assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses, helping you identify trends and discover where you may be spending too freely.

Identify Revenue Streams

You can have a revenue stream from products, services, or investments. An income statement helps you see which streams are doing well and which might need a little boost.

The report for 黑料门 stores comes in handy when you need to track your online store鈥檚 revenue. It even provides insights on average order value and average revenue per customer and visitor.

Checking average revenue per visitor in 黑料门鈥檚 reports

Figure out where all your revenue is coming from and put your energy into what really brings in the cash.

For example, if your business sells both products and services, you can use the income statement to see which one is generating more profit. This information can help you make informed decisions on where to allocate resources for further growth.

Since marketing is a big part of running a business, it鈥檚 important to analyze your marketing expenses as well. For instance, if a specific marketing strategy makes more money than it costs, think about investing more there.

黑料门 makes it easy with built-in reports. You can easily check where your orders are coming from, whether it鈥檚 a Google ad, a Facebook post, or an email campaign.

黑料门鈥檚 Marketing reports provide you with an easy-to-understand overview of your sales sources

Channeling your resources into the most profitable marketing channel will likely boost your business鈥檚 overall revenue. Discover how to use Marketing reports and leverage their data to make smart, data-driven decisions.

Categorize Your Expenditures

Start by taking a look at your essential operating costs — things like utility bills, rent, and other basic expenses that keep your business going.

Once you鈥檝e got those sorted out, check out your production-related costs, such as materials and payroll, since they鈥檙e crucial too.

For every expense, ask yourself, “Do I really need this for monthly production?” Things like printers and laptops help with production, but they should be funded from set-asides instead of being seen as core operating expenses.

Maintaining Your Business Budget

Now, let鈥檚 talk more about set-asides. These are funds that you designate for specific purposes like unexpected expenses or future projects.

Liability Set-Aside

Set aside a percentage of your profits, like 5%, for covering any surprise liabilities that might pop up and cost your business unexpectedly.

Usually, this is handled through a business savings account, but without clear rules on using these funds, there鈥檚 a risk of spending them on other things like new equipment. This could leave your company open to financial trouble.

So, just setting aside some money isn鈥檛 enough. You need clear rules for what you can spend those savings on.

For example, you might decide that these funds can only be used for emergency repairs or legal fees. This way, you have a safety net in case something unexpected happens, but you also have guidelines to prevent it from being misused.

We all hope emergencies don鈥檛 happen, but it鈥檚 crucial to have some savings set aside for those unexpected moments. Sure, insurance helps with some things, but it doesn鈥檛 cover everything.

Consider how unprepared many companies were for COVID-19. Businesses lacking savings struggled greatly, with some forced to close. At the close of 2019, 43% of small businesses were in “very good” health. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, this figure dropped to 25% by the end of 2020.

US Small Business Index: overall health of business 2019-2024 (Source: )

So, having a financial cushion means your business can handle surprises better and stay strong through tough times.

Business Growth Set-Aside

Set aside a percentage of your profits for business growth. This fund is all about fueling your business鈥檚 expansion, whether it鈥檚 hiring new employees, buying new equipment, or other crucial stuff. By putting these funds aside, you鈥檙e setting the stage to invest in your business鈥檚 future success and growth.

Marketing Fund

If you don鈥檛 market your business, people won鈥檛 know who you are, and that makes it tough to grow. The amount you should spend on marketing can change depending on the industry.

For example, in franchising, it鈥檚 normal to set aside 5-7% of revenue for marketing. We mention franchises because they鈥檙e businesses with a track record of success, offering a solid model for others to follow.

It really depends on what you鈥檙e aiming for. If you just want to keep your current revenue steady, putting might do the trick. But if you鈥檙e aiming for rapid growth, you might need to up that to 20% or more, depending on your industry and business type.

If you鈥檙e just starting out, it鈥檚 a good idea to set a fixed amount for your marketing spending since your revenue might be too low to use a percentage of sales as a guide.

A Safe Option

To keep your business growing and shielded from financial risks, figure out how much income you need to cover your set-asides. This will help you find your “break-even” point. Until those set-asides are fully funded, your business isn鈥檛 financially secure yet.

A smart business owner makes sure to set up reserves right away and keeps a budget that makes it look like there鈥檚 no extra cash lying around. This way, it helps avoid overspending and keeps the business strong and growing over time.

Additional Resources

If you want to make budgeting easier, consider using business budgeting software like Quickbooks, Xero, or Freshbooks. They help with tracking expenses, invoicing, and reporting.

By the way, 黑料门 by Lightspeed integrates with all the above-mentioned software, making it easy to sync your store data and automate routine accounting tasks.

If you鈥檙e not ready to dive into accounting software, starting with a business budget template could be a great first step. It provides a structure for organizing financial data and setting financial goals.

You can find business budget plan samples and templates online — . They are frequently provided in standard formats and ready for use across various software. For example, this Excel business budget template for .

Wrapping Up

By carefully planning your income, estimating expenses, and setting aside some funds, you prepare your business to handle both expected and unexpected challenges. These strategies aren鈥檛 just about keeping your business going; they鈥檙e about driving it toward greater success and stability.

Remember, it鈥檚 key to allocate every dollar wisely and make sure your financial decisions match your big-picture goals for growth and sustainability. With smart budgeting for a business and good financial habits, you can turn growth potential into real, lasting success.

Consider adding 黑料门 to your budget to enhance your online store and grow your business.

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About the author

Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at 黑料门. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs鈥� daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.