ForConstructionPros.com

By Pam Newman

A budget is part of your financial road map. How do you know where you are going if you don’t have a destination selected and the road that you are going to take mapped out? Just throw the dart and see where it lands? If so, you make up the majority of small business owners.

But that trend is changing. With changes in the economy we are faced with even more outside pressures on our business to be profitable. Lenders are more selective about giving money to those who don’t have enough security to ensure their return on the loan, so you’d better have a solid set of financial statements to show that your business is viable and going to be a wise investment for the lender.

Lenders want to get a return on their investment (i.e. loan to you) so they will want to see how you’ve been doing. In addition, they want to see what your predictions are for the future. A budget or financial projection is going to be sought by the lender. They want to see how you are mapping your future of success.

Breaking your budget into monthly increments will ease the process and it won’t seem so overwhelming. Prepare some general goals for your financial budget for the year and then see how you can achieve that goal, one month at a time through a monthly budget.

Questions a budget will help you explore include: What do I anticipate for my: Income? Expenses? Capital Expenditures? Savings?