Fall is here! Time for: Budget Prep 2013 - Phase 1

As the saying goes: 'when you fail to plan, you PLAN to FAIL'; yet in the Health and Fitness Industry we tend to get overburdened with the here and now, so any kind of pre-planning for the next year goes out the window in favor of the 'crisis du jour'.  The problem with this is that we then get caught in a time crunch and either avoid the whole budget process entirely, or develop financial targets without the benefit of a good analysis that could help in making the best decision when the need for troubleshooting comes or natural disaster hits.

So, don't put it off--- there are simple Prep steps to do now that will make the whole financial planning process less painful: after-all, don't we tell clients that if they shop for the right food, prepare good meals the night before, they then have a better chance of making good food choices throughout the day? Similarly, your business needs a good budget plan in order to operate most effectively in the coming year.

1) Begin with researching your business performance history, to spot trends and plan accordingly.  If you have been in business for awhile, then pull at least the last 3 years financial statements to review. If budget planning is a new concept for you, then collect whatever you have (tax statements, checkbook registers, etc.). Get it all together in a nice little pile.

2) Conduct some kind of CURRENT Market research.  what you did last year, is 'so last year'! If you have access to consumer and economic data that is helpful to incorporate, but even  a simple SWOT analysis will help identify your current business Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, to assist you in developing your plan . If you are not a one man operation, encourage your employees to do this for their department; you will gain valuable insight that you may have otherwise overlooked, and it will be helpful in getting your team on the same page moving forward if they are engaged in the planning process.  Then gather all that information together in another nice little pile.

3) Access a good budget template.  If you are skilled in Quickbooks, fabulous! If not, don't get hung up on the need to master that program before starting to budget plan, because chances are you won't.  There are plenty of low cost and even free budget templates that you can download. The SBA offers a variety of financial templates from balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements,etc that you can access for free at:.http://web.sba.gov/busplantemplate/FinMan.cfm.

If the above steps seems too overwhelming, then get assistance from an accountant, business consultant or contact your local Chamber of Commerce regarding any available budget planning workshops that may be available.  Starting your prep now, will make the actual planning easier so you will be set up for a profitable 2013!

Stay tuned for "Budget Planning-- Phase 2.  Enjoy the fabulous fall weekend!