How Mint.com Can Help You Budget For Your New Small Business

How Mint Can Help You Budget For Your New Small Business

Many of us, at one point or another, have dreamed of opening our own business, with the ability to work how you see fit, and finally free of annoying bosses and those bosses’ bosses and those bosses’ bosses’ bosses refusing to take you seriously as either a worker or a person because you’re not them.

Besides, what better way to curb unemployment than by looking into a mirror and yelling, “I’M HIRED”?

However, if you’re going to go this route, keep in mind the costs. The money needed to operate a small business, especially in the early goings, can be quite steep.

As such, you need to budget for everything. Take your everyday life budget, add in a slew of extra numbers, and you’ll begin to see how financially daunting a new small business can be.

Yes, it’s all tax-deductible, but it’s not like the IRS gives it all back to you in April. “Oh, you spent $700 for office electricity? Here’s a $700 check from us, with love!” Tragically, it doesn’t work that way and never will, unless the next person in charge just happens to be the most understanding individual in human history.

When you’re budgeting for a small business, there are four main categories to keep in mind, all of which Mint.com’s budgeting software can help you organize and incorporate into your financial bottom line.

As costs change (along with more earnings to budget with, hopefully) simply logging into Mint and adjusting your figures will keep you, your business, and your savings on track.

Log onto Mint and get started on your small business budget today!

One-Time Fees

The first cut is the deepest, says Sheryl Crow. As will you, once you start opening up your wallet and handling all the one-time starting costs that come with beginning a new business.

There are incorporation fees, that hefty down payment on your brand-new office, and those all-important signs you stick outside to let the world know you exist and are open for business.

Luckily, those costs are usually one-time-only, so once you tick those off your budget, they’re ticked off for good.

Fixed Ongoing Fees

These are the bills that you have to pay all the time, even if you don’t really want to. We’re talking about rent, website fees, administrative costs and that cursed necessary evil we call insurance. Once you enter these into your budget, there’s not much chance of them going away anytime soon.

On the plus side, the cost of these fees are roughly the same every time, so you can at least prepare for the financial blow. The same cannot be said for …

Variable Ongoing Fees

Few things make creating a budget more challenging than fees that come up a lot, yet constantly fluctuate, such as inventory, utilities (you’ll pay a lot more for heat in January than you will in August, after all), shipping and packaging costs, taxes, or even sales commissions (employees that excel at their job gotta get paid after all, even in a small business).

Casting a wide-open budgeting net for these categories will make accounting for everything easier. Don’t tell yourself you have X amount of dollars to spend on inventory this month. Find a good high/low range, based on the past few months of business. That way, whether the new month is lean or prosperous, everything will be accounted for.

Optional Expenses

Finally, we have those bells and whistles that give a business personality, but aren’t necessarily required for success: decorations, a PA system playing today’s hit music, pleasant aromatics, coffee for customers (a good Keurig isn’t cheap,) even a children’s play area to keep Junior entertained while Mom works out a last-minute deal.

If, after budgeting for everything required of a small business AND accounting for savings toward the future, you can afford optional “fun stuff” to give your workday a little extra color, go for it.

But don’t shirk what’s important just to do so. No business has ever survived that can’t cover inventory costs and the light bill, even if their waiting room smells like cinnamon buns.

Let Mint help you turn your small business into a plethora of riches. Start using our simple and effective budgeting software by signing up today!