Page 10 - Budgeting for Managers

Preface

remember the first time I made a budget. I had just started a
I new job, my first time as a manager. My boss, the dean of the
school, said, “Sid, we have $50,000 to spend on computer sys-
tems this year. Please prepare a budget.”
Wow! All the exercises in school, all my thinking as I started
the job and wrote out a plan for my work, hadn’t prepared me
for that. $50,000 for my first budget. And it was up to me to
plan it well. If I did, then the computer labs for students would
run well for the year, professors would be able to do research on
their new computers, and—most challenging of all—I would
build a network for the school’s administrative staff. I don’t think
I need to tell you how nervous I was.
This book is written for the young manager I was then, just a
few years out of college with a liberal arts degree. It’s the book I
wish someone had dropped into my hands on that day. It’s also
written for you if you’re working your way up from line supervi-
sor to manager, or if you’re working day and night to make your
small business succeed, or if you’re setting up a new depart-
ment. It will help you if your business is growing, or shrinking,
or launching a new venture. Managing our money well is a key
ingredient for business success.
My first budget succeeded and, three years later, I launched
my own business. Since then, I’ve been training new managers
and consulting for all kinds of businesses. I’ve learned a lot from
my large customers, written books on best practices, and taught
these methods to the new managers and small business execu-
tives who are willing to learn and want to succeed. I hope I can
do the same for you.

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