That time of the year: How to make budgets less painful

That painful time of the year has arrived where it’s time to get your budgets and cost-saving measures in order. This is in anticipation of the new financial year! But first, it’s important that you take the time out of your day to consider your business goals and priorities for 2016-17.

Every business needs a plan and writing down your goals, milestones and budgets will help you visualise things in a clearer light. You'll also find yourself getting much closer to your targets if you've already mapped out a way to get there. After all, a goal without a plan is just a wish!

BUT HOLD UP! This does NOT mean your business should be taking away from its marketing and investment activities. Often when a business is under financial pressure, marketing is the first thing to go. And where might this leave you? Hmmmm perhaps in an even worse off position than before… The ironic thing is, whenever a business is trying to grow its market share, MARKETING is the first thing to be implemented!

So, where does this leave your business?

Many high profile business professionals recommend allocating up to 10% of a businesses’ Gross Revenue to marketing activities. And if you don’t believe us, look it up! However, we’ll let you off the hook a little bit there… The minimum a business operating in a smaller market should be allocating to their marketing budget is between 2.5- 5%. Therefore, if your business is turning over $1,000,000, then you should be reinvesting $25,000 - $50,000 into your marketing activities annually. If your business is new to the market or operating in a competitive industry, then this should be increased accordingly.

The question on many people’s minds is “why should I invest in marketing activities when there is no clear return on investment”? Well, the answer is simple… If you aren’t at the forefront of consumers’ minds in this world of increasing connectivity, then you are currently at risk of losing market share at the hands of your competitors. So basically if you snooze, you lose!

Going forward, the Government has created some great ‘templates and tools’ for Business and Marketing Plans.

Check them out: https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/templates-and-tools

If you have any questions, give us a call on 1800 356 164 or email info@atmmarketing.com.au. Our advice is FREE!