The budget that you allocate for your business is unlikely to be something that you didn’t put much thought into. It’s probably something that you arrived at based on the hard numbers provided by your income and outgoings, and likely with the help of accountants and other financially minded employees in your business. On top of that, it’s something that you’re probably adjusting regularly to fit new circumstances.
Why though? As your business grows, changes, and expands, the budget that once made sense for you will naturally no longer apply. However, sometimes the shifts that require you to go back to the drawing board can be smaller than you expect.
The Need Arises
As difficult as it can be to come to terms with, unpredictability plays a large role in business, and that can mean that a template budget that you try to follow regularly will frequently be disrupted. This isn’t even a phenomenon that’s unique to business. If you’re trying to budget in your personal life, random breakages or unexpected bills can put you in a position where you’re having to take money from somewhere to cover those expenses. The same is true here.
If your place of business begins to struggle, you might need to cover some maintenance costs that can allow it to continue as a viable hub for your business operations. Perhaps salaries need to be raised in order to keep up with demand, or maybe you need to hire someone new.
However, it doesn’t always have to be reactive. For example, it might be that you’ve identified types of API that would allow your website or app to flourish, in that case, this cost becomes something of an investment that might pay off down the line.
External Conditions
Other times, the need to allocate more funds to an arm of your business won’t have anything to do with you – at first glance. Your business does not exist in a vacuum. Not only are you part of a wider industry, but that in itself is part of a wider economy. This means that there are any number of shifts and changes to these ecosystems that will result in financial shifts for you personally.
As frustrating as this can often be, it’s part of being in business. You have to be adaptable and ready to take the unexpected and make the most of it. Sometimes, there will be nothing you can do to put a positive spin on the situation, but understanding how you can take a negative financial situation and reduce the impact that it has on your business is a skill that will undoubtedly prove useful.
The Positive Outcome
It’s natural to think of times when your budget needs adjusting as usually being negative. ‘Adjusting’ can begin to sound like a euphemism for ‘finding more money somewhere,’ but there are times when the connotation is generally more positive.
When your business does well, or when a product or piece of marketing pays off more than you expect, you might find yourself with more money than you were expecting. Of course, putting this back into your business can be done in any number of ways. Bonuses and salary increases might work as an effective means of retention, or this could be a valuable opportunity to turn your attention to repairs and maintenance that you’ve needed to look into across your business.
That being said, it can also be an opportunity to change your own circumstances – investing in new technology or a new member of staff. It’s up to you to judge how this makes sense for your business and to weigh it up against the other uses for the money.
