Page 40 - Budgeting for Managers

The Parts of a Budget
Budget and Vision
In this section we’ll talk about one of the best things a manager
can do and one of the worst mistakes we could make.
The best thing to do is to bring vision to your planning 23
process. To have a vision means to see what you will do, to pic-
ture it ahead of time. Some companies have statements of
vision, mission, and values. If yours does, that is the best place
to start. Plan the work of your department to match the vision
of the business. Then, plan a budget to meet that vision.
What do you do if your organization has no written vision
statement? Every organization has a vision, even when it’s not
written. Talk to your boss or read articles written by senior exec-
utives at your company. Read the annual report to stockholders.
Do senior people at the company talk about customer service?
Do they talk about competition and increasing their share of the
market? Do they talk about cost saving and efficiency? That will
give you an idea of the company’s image for management and
their vision of what they want it to be.
What is the one thing you don’t want to do? Don’t think,
“New numbers come from old numbers.” For example, it would
be a mistake to think, “We had about $50,000 in sales every
December for the last three years, so I guess we’ll do $50,000
again next December.” Each year’s sales come from the prod-
ucts, marketing, and sales efforts of that year. This year might
be different. Sales results, and every other dollar fig-

Sharing a Vision with Your Team
Just as an organization should have a vision, you may decide
that your team should have one as well. A good vision is
short and simple. It could be, for example,“Make every customer smile.”
You can encourage a positive attitude and focus your team on doing
good work without rocking the boat. And you can change the focus
from time to time. Maybe you used “Make every customer smile” for
the big Christmas sales season. Now, you’re struggling to get through
the summer doldrums, so you go for “Make every penny count.”