And when that list gets long or one item seems overwhelming, human nature kicks in and it's not often pretty. Nowhere have I see business owners procrastinate more or make more excuses than when I bring up the topic of budgets. So determined are they to "get out of" putting together a budget that they've offered up everything short of a permission slip from their mom to be relieved of the obligation.



Here are some common excuses for not organizing a budget, and why you should make one anyway.

Excuse 1: Budgets are too specific; I can't be expected to stick with my initial estimates for a whole year. In fact, though, even though you've created a budget, it doesn't mean you've done so in stone. The budget is yours and no one else's. It's not a legal document that binds you to any promises, nor have you made a blood oath (I hope) that you would honor it to the letter. In fact, some estimates say that almost 80% of companies who create budgets don't change them even a bit during their fiscal year. However, that attitude is not realistic. Not only can you change your budget, you should change it as circumstances make it necessary. You can also budget for a shorter time frame if that works better for you, such as per quarter instead of for the entire year.

Excuse 2: If I have a budget, I can't be as flexible in the event of a crisis. In fact, if you have a budget in place, you'll tend to be more proactive and flexible, not less. This is because a budget can help you foresee problems and take steps to stop them, sometimes before they even actually occur. Or, if problems do occur, you can probably catch them earlier while still small and therefore much more fixable, before they become full-blown crises.

Excuse 3: The budgeting process is too complicated and time consuming. Well, this is actually true for too many companies, but it doesn't have to be. Many companies spend months agonizing over their budgets and devote upwards of 20% of management's time to their creation. Although a certain level of detail is needed if the process is going to be effective, budgets can be fairly simple. And the time you invest in planning upfront is never wasted; it's time you save down the road reacting on the fly to decisions that need to be made anyway.

Excuse 4: My industry is in flux and ever changing, so I can't commit to a budget. In fact, every industry is in flux at every moment. Your industry is the same as every other, and you need a budget regardless. Of course, you can't predict unknown events, such as if gas prices will rise, whether laws will be passed that will impact your profit margin, or whether you'll need to hire new staff, but you can still use a budget to plan and set goals over the long haul. For this, you need to plan to take action at given times, which is under your control. You need to be able to look at your business with a critical eye and decide what you want to achieve in the next 12 months. If you can't do that, then it's time to sit down and figure out why that's true.

Excuse 5: Budgets are meaningless. Everyone just fudges the numbers to paint a pretty picture of how things ought to look. Creating a budget that is based on too-lofty goals, hoping it will provide the inspiration to achieve them, is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for failure and frustration. One internet post compared budgets to pornography: "a fantasy about how the author would like the world to look, having no relation to the realities of the world, designed to titillate, stimulate and motivate the reader, but ultimately resulting in a sense of alienation and despair." Long-term, that's of no use. When it comes to budgets, you can and should keep it real.

Excuse 6: I have a budget that I keep in my head instead of on paper. Of course, it's good if you can keep a running total of a few figures in your head for quick access if you need them. However, it's not realistic to be able to do this for every expense, number and project. You might be able to do it for a while until your business reaches a certain size, but eventually it will be too much to keep all the details straight just in your head. In addition, if you have people working for you, you're keeping them from taking some responsibility and accountability for your business' success or failure along with you. Even if you think you're of a small enough size that you don't need a budget right now, you will someday. Start good habits now and begin to keep one while your business is small so that it will be second nature when your business grows.

Finally, remember that a budget is really just a plan. It makes you step out of the small details that bombard you on a daily basis and forces you to look at your business from a strategic standpoint, so that you have to take note of where you are in comparison to where you want to go. If you don't establish a budget as a formal tool to prod you into action, it's likely that you'll put it on the back burner in favor of dealing with the other problems that crop up daily and demand you take care of them.

What will it be, then? Did your budget get put down your garbage disposal by accident? Do you need to paint your nails so that you won't have time? Did your uncle come in from San Diego to visit? Or are you ready to quit making excuses and get to work on those numbers?