This is an important question for any adviser looking to start a business.
Completing a business budget for your new advice business is a powerful way to maintain a financial plan that enables you to control your cash flow instead of having it control you. The most effective financial budget includes a month by month and a year-long plan that you use for your financial reporting.
Starting with the first month, you need to establish specific budgeted dollar amounts for each category of your budget. The sales numbers will be critical as they will be used to calculate your gross profit margin as well as determine operating expenses, accounts receivable and other levels necessary to support your financial advisory business.
To assist you with setting up your One Year Budget we guide you through the more important components of an advisory business budget allowing you to also capture your researched and relevant numbers.
Here are a number of key takeaways you should know before we start on your budget:
· Be intentional and consider your budget to be a decision-making tool.
· Focus on the most important things that could change business practice and process.
· Use a good budgeting tool
· Know the key metrics that will impact your business
· Work with an accounting service that offers advice, cashflow forecasting and help you track your overall financials.
There are no average costs to starting up a business simply because there are no average advice businesses. Each advice business has its own opportunities, target market, opportunities and challenges which all makes for healthy competition.
Beyond start-up costs and the income you will need to live on for at least a year, the cost of starting your business depends on what your service proposition is and the clients whom you want to service.
Please read through each section and capture those basic expenses you anticipate when launching your new business. At the end of the process, we will present your budget to you.