Plan like a CEO from day one — even if you haven’t earned a dollar yet
You don’t need revenue to start running your business like a real business. In fact, the best time to set up a budget is before your first sale.
A budget helps you understand what you’re committing to financially, where your money will go, and what kind of revenue you actually need to be sustainable. It gives you clarity and control — not just over your money, but over your entire business strategy.
Here’s how to build a simple, intentional budget before your business even starts making money.
Step 1: Estimate Your Startup Costs
List the one-time expenses you’ll need to get your business off the ground. These could include:
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Legal fees (LLC registration, trademark, etc.)
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Website setup or hosting
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Branding or design
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Initial inventory or samples
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Equipment or software
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Business licenses
Tally these up and determine how much cash you’ll need to launch confidently. This becomes your startup budget — the first section of your business budget.
Inside The Small Business Planner, we walk you through exactly how to map these out with templates that fit your business model.
Step 2: Identify Your Ongoing Monthly Expenses
Next, list out all the recurring costs you’ll have once you’re operating. These might include:
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Software subscriptions
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Marketing tools
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Accountant or bookkeeper
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Product materials or packaging
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Co-working space or utilities
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Business insurance
Even if you haven’t signed up yet, researching these numbers now helps you build a realistic view of what your monthly baseline will be. This is your operating budget.
Step 3: Set Your Personal Income Goal
If this business needs to support your life, you need to know how much to pay yourself.
Estimate what you’ll need to cover your personal expenses each month — rent or mortgage, food, insurance, savings, etc. This becomes your Owner Pay goal.
Don’t wait until the business “makes more” to figure this out. The earlier you define your income needs, the better you can price, plan, and grow toward them.
Step 4: Add a Tax Estimate
Even before you earn income, it’s smart to build tax savings into your plan. Set aside at least 30% of revenue for taxes, depending on your structure and local laws. If you do this you will never be short come tax time.
This reminds you that not all revenue is yours to spend — and keeps you from surprises when your first profitable quarter rolls around.
The Small Business Planner includes a bank account structure that makes this automatic from your very first sale.
Step 5: Forecast Revenue to Cover It All
Now that you know your expenses, Owner Pay, and taxes, reverse-engineer how much revenue your business needs to bring in each month.
Total up:
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Monthly expenses
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Owner Pay target
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Tax set-aside
This gives you your minimum monthly revenue goal — the number you need to hit just to break even and cover your life and business.
Now, divide that goal by your pricing to see how many products, clients, or projects you need to sell. This creates real targets and keeps you focused from day one.
Final Takeaway
You don’t have to wait until you’re “established” to take your finances seriously.
Setting up a budget before you make your first sale is one of the smartest moves you can make as a business owner.
It helps you price correctly, avoid debt, build confidence, and grow intentionally — not accidentally.
The Small Business Planner includes a full pre-launch budgeting system with customizable templates, so you can build a business that’s financially sound from the very beginning.
Explore The Small Business Planner now → https://smallbusinessplanner.com/products/planner