Vidyard, a leading video platform for business, recently released their annual Video in Business Benchmark Report and it is full of great information on how businesses are leveraging video to engage customers and prospects.  The study found on average 52% of viewers watch a video all the way through, regardless of the video’s length. But over two-thirds (68%) of viewers watch a video to the end if it’s less than 60 seconds. While only 25% will finish a video if it’s more than 20 minutes.

These are just a few of the many data points coming from the survey. And I recently spoke with Vidyard’s VP of Marketing Tyler Lessard, who shared his perspective on some of the key findings from the report. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation.  To see the full conversation watch the video or click on the embedded SoundCloud player below.

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2019 Video Marketing Trends

Small Business Trends:  Give us some of the major takeaways that you guys found in this one.

Tyler Lessard:  We just published our annual report, called the 2019 Video and Business Benchmark Report and each year we actually, we pull the data from two different sources that we work with. One is qualitative research that we do in partnership with a third party, that surveys marketers out there and how they’re using video. And the second is our own first party data in which we analyze more than 3000 videos published over a 12 month period from primarily B2B businesses and those using our platform. So they aren’t media companies. It’s not entertainment. These are all businesses using video to support their go to market programs and largely in B2B.

Within this report we end up seeing some really interesting hard data trends. As well as how do those correlate to some of the qualitative research that we’re seeing. And I think one of the biggest things that we saw this year compared to previous years was a really broad expansion in terms of the types of video that businesses are creating to support their marketing and sales programs. And if you go back, one, two, three years, the majority of businesses were creating fewer videos first of all. But they were also focusing them in on things like website explainer videos, product demos and online webinars. And traditionally, that’s often how we think about the basics of video in B2B.

Video Marketing Spreading Through the Sales Funnel

But this year we saw a huge spike in those reporting the use of, and creation of, videos for social media channels, videos specifically for their YouTube channels, videos to support the ongoing buyers journey, customer success videos, things like that. So we’re seeing sort of this rise of video throughout the full funnel. And sort of a correlated benchmark to that is more and more of that video creation is happening in house. So businesses are getting scrappier with saying, “You know what? We don’t need to outsource all of these videos. Yeah, that great explainer for our website, let’s get a professional to do that. But when we’re creating product demo videos, on demand thought leadership, how to videos, things like that, more and more of that is happening in house. That’s just a core part of the content that they’re publishing.

Small Business Trends: Could that also be a function of costs coming down, technology making it easier for them to do it and feeling like they can actually handle some more of it internally as opposed to externally?

Tyler Lessard: Yeah, 100%. And we see both factors playing in now, that there’s more demand for video throughout the buyers journey. Because audiences are just tending to go that way now. And if they have an option to engage in video, it’s working really well for marketers. So they’re seeing, okay, we should create more content. But at the same time, as you said, the ability to supply that content has come a long way. And so we can now create videos. I mean you and I right now are creating a video as we speak, right, as an interview style thought leadership video. And that’s something that we can put out there to support our program.

Video Length Getting Shorter

Small Business Trends: Right. One of the trends it looks like is taking place is videos are starting to get shorter and shorter and shorter.

Tyler Lessard: Yes. We saw year over year, this has been happening in the business world. And it’s probably not surprising to most people. If you go back two years ago, of all the videos published through our platform by businesses, the average length overall was about nine minutes. Last year, the average length was around six minutes. And this year it dropped down to four minutes. So of those 300,000 plus videos, the average length across all of them was four minutes.

Now the important thing to also look at is 73% of all those videos were less than two minutes, right? So there’s this big volume of videos that are less than two minutes. We’re still seeing that complemented with longer form content. Things like interviews and webinars and things like that. But more and more it’s about the creation of these quick, short form videos. Whether that be to explain a specific topic, to educate somebody in a how to, or to use them for short promotion on social media, email marketing and other channels like that.

More Viewers Staying to the End

Small Business Trends: So videos are getting shorter, but it seems like there are more people actually getting through the whole video.

Tyler Lessard: Right. Yes.

Small Business Trends: It sounds like things are starting to meet in the middle or something like that.

Tyler Lessard: No, you’re right. And that was my big takeaway this year, there’s this breadth of content being created, but in parallel, videos are getting shorter, but at the same time people are watching longer, and both percentage wise and absolute value times. And so I think what we’re seeing there is you’re right, things are sort of meeting up, where I believe that businesses are getting better at creating value in their content.

Business Getting Savvier

And that’s keeping people watching longer and I think that’s because we’ve been doing this now a number of years, and I think again, businesses are just getting savvier in what they’re creating. I think there’s more emphasis than ever on the value, the actual content value as opposed to the production value and so again, that’s where we’ve seen this rise of how to videos, thought leadership videos, things that are delivering real value in an educational format. And those tend to keep people watching longer.

It may not have as many views as those big promotional videos, but more and more of them are sort of targeting audiences and going deeper into the buyers journey. So I think we’re creating better content as an industry, at least I hope that’s one of the interpretations I can take from that data. But at the same time I think people are just more likely to consume video content now as it’s becoming more and more a natural part of how we consume information, whether it be in our personal lives or in our business lives.

Video Still Viewed on Desktop – Even in a Mobile World

Small Business Trends: One of the more interesting kind of factoids that came out of this for me is we are in a mobile world, and we see that more and more content seems to be being consumed via mobile devices.

Tyler Lessard: Yeah.

Small Business Trends: Not so much with some of this business video, it seems.

Tyler Lessard: Right. Yeah, we’ve seen that as a consistent trend for the last few years, that the majority of viewing of business related videos happens on desktops, not on mobile devices. And in fact, it’s been well over 80%, I think even over 85% for the last couple of years running. We did see a little bit of an uptick in mobile devices consumption in these last 12 months, but it’s still not a huge contributor.

And I think if you think about the world of business, it’s probably not surprising to put yourself through that through process. Most of these videos are consumed during the 9:00 to 5:00 workday, the most common time for people to view business related videos are mid-week, so Wednesday or Thursday, and typically in the morning, or early afternoon time period. Which I think is consistent with a lot of other types of content, so it’s the part of the week where people are willing to spend a bit more time researching, educating, or consuming, as opposed to Monday when you’re getting going and Friday where you feel like you just got to get things done and get out.

B2B Viewing Happening During the Day

But it mostly happens during the day, and in the business world, again, a lot of that video is for educational purposes, so people are still sitting down, their consuming it on their desktops, as opposed to the consumer world, where mobile video is largely about entertainment, right, and so we’re quickly watching, or communication, whereas in business, I still see a focus on educational content and as a result people are tuning in on their desktops.

And the one takeaway I’ll give you on that Brent, for the audience listening and what does that mean for most people, it’s that be mindful that because people tend to watch business videos on their desktops, we can take advantage of the bigger form factor, so we can create videos with a little bit more visual content and not worrying about is this always going to be viewed on a small device.

But also it does give us more liberty in terms of longer form content, right? People on mobile are more likely to consume short form, snackable content, you usually don’t sit on your mobile and watch an hour long video, but people will do that on their desktops. And so you have a little bit more liberty in the business world to create those 10 minute long interviews, those 30 minute educational webinars and expect people will stay tuned.

Analytics Becoming More Important

Small Business Trends: Yeah, one of the other kind of really interesting takeaways, is this whole area around analytics, and it seems like video creators are getting a little bit more sophisticated with the way that they analyze the performance of their videos. Maybe you can talk a little bit about that.

Tyler Lessard: I think it’s a great extension to the other trends that we’re seeing. As businesses do more and more video, even if they’re creating them in house, that’s still a bigger and bigger investment, right? Because it’s still people’s time, their energy, and it’s a bigger part of your programs. So as you’re doing that, you start to have that need to make sure that you are tracking the data, to know what’s working, what’s not, am I applying these resources affectively and how do we get the most out of these videos? When you’re just doing one-offs, it’s not as big a deal, and you usually look at things like view counts and basic engagement on them and say, “Hey, is this getting some good sharing and are people staying tuned?”

Customer Tracking Becoming More Aggressive

But as you start doing video more aggressively throughout your marketing and sales, and throughout the buyer’s journey, you want to start to be able to track things, like who’s actually watching these videos and how is that influencing net new leads, and ultimately the business related metrics, like influence on pipeline or revenue.

And then also understanding, where are they watching these videos, if it’s embedded in multiple places, can I tell where people are finding it, where they’re consuming it. So lots of different things that we’re seeing businesses start to do and I think we’ll continue to see as we move forward, as businesses rely more and more on video, that that trend will continue and more of them will start to look at these richer analytics through more sophisticated video platforms.

Social Media Dominated by On-Demand

Small Business Trends: When you talk about social media, using social media as a place for video, does that also include the live streaming aspects, or is it more just natively posting videos?

Tyler Lessard: What we’re seeing for most businesses and people responding to the surveys is that primary use on social is just on-demand videos that are being published, either on their main profiles, and or by their employees and their evangelists and their executives. As well as a growing use of their YouTube channels as a specific place to publish content. Less so for live video, we still haven’t seen huge adoption of live streaming within the typical business world. You know, those who do report using live streaming we see are using for things like ask me anything sessions, with people from their company or executives, things that are maybe interview style, but they want to take advantage of live to see if they can pull an audience in in real time.

But we still haven’t really seen a silver bullet from anybody in terms of the real business use of live video, so I think it’s still a lot of that on demand content.

LinkedIn Live Becoming Big

Small Business Trends: I just got the access to LinkedIn Live and I’ve been playing around with it, and I’m pretty surprised at how, at least the first one I did… I guess people aren’t used to getting notifications about live video on LinkedIn.

Tyler Lessard: Right.

Small Business Trends: And so, there was a curiosity factor or something, because I literally did like a minute and a half, me just staring, trying to get this thing to work, and that has over 2800 views and like 60 something comments and it seems like it’s just right now it’s more of a curiosity, but do you have a sense for, if something on the LinkedIn platform since it is business oriented, may actually have a pretty significant impact on the way video goes in the future?

Tyler Lessard: I do. And I think that to your point, it is an opportunity right now to be creative in how you might use live streaming on any of these platforms and LinkedIn certainly. And it’s partly because those social platforms are incentivizing the consumption of it, right? So they, as much as we hate to say it, we need to play those games of if LinkedIn is going to drive people to come watch my live streams because they have their own motivation behind it, then we need to think about that, and see if that’s a way to leverage their reach and get more audiences in, then that’s something we should consider.

LinkedIn Video Ramping Up

And even on LinkedIn now we will more often than not include a video in our posts, even if it’s just a short video that’s just like a quick summary of what we’re talking about, and it’s because we find that they just get broader reach because LinkedIn is motivated to pull people into posts with native videos as opposed to those without. And so I think there is an opportunity there today and with live streaming to your point, it’s new to market, especially on LinkedIn, there can absolutely be that curiosity and novelty factor, but also we know that LinkedIn is motivated to get people to watch, so they’re doing things like notification and others. So if you can be smart, and come up with good content, because the problem is using it and abusing it.

Small Business Trends: Let’s talk to the folks who have not really gotten started with video but have, they realize it’s going to be important to them to do so. And let’s frame it in the sense is, this is an SMB company….

Tyler Lessard: Yeah.

Small Business Trends: Limited resources, but they know that this is a way for them to get their name out, start building their brand and start connecting with prospects. What are some of the best ways that they could actually get started doing that?

Small Businesses Rethinking Video Marketing

Tyler Lessard: I talk to a lot of smaller businesses around how they’re thinking about video and trying to get going. And the one thing to start with, as you think about this, is to be mindful that video is another content medium to deliver your message through the different channels or paths that you probably already use today. So don’t think about it as something totally separate. I think you need to think about it more organically, as a content type.

And if you do email marketing, most of your emails are probably text based today. Should there be videos that become the call to action to those? Maybe you have a blog? Should you be incorporating videos as a way to deliver your message on your blog? You do thought leadership content. So like you and I are doing right now, maybe you want to do video based interviews or video podcasts. Even an episodic video series to support that content strategy, that blog strategy and so on.

Video Entering Sales Process

And the other place to think about it is of course, with your sales team. If you’re a small business, maybe you are the marketer and the sales person and the business owner. And think about as you are reaching out directly to prospects or customers. Are there videos that would help to shorten those conversation cycles?

If you had a really quick, simple video that just clearly explained what you do. Doesn’t have to be something where you’re outsourcing to an agency, getting drone footage and doing all this big production. It could be something as simple as you hopping on camera. Maybe in front of a whiteboard, with a couple of images up there, and just genuinely explaining, “This is exactly how we help businesses solve these problems.”

And just by being able to share a video of you explaining that compared to written text and bullet points, it not only gives the audience a different way to consume the content in a way that they may prefer, but it also gives you the chance to be more authentic and to build a more personal connection.

Video Helping to Build Personal Connections

Because when people watch a video of you explaining what you do versus reading some copy on a web page, just picture it yourself. The video you immediately, you see that person. It’s very transparent. You can hopefully see their passion come through, if they’re really got positive energy. And it builds a level of trust right from the beginning. Whereas copy on a web page really doesn’t do that. It’s informative. But it doesn’t create any personal connection.

So I think just having that mindset, that video can be, it’s an organic part of how you can communicate, it can be a very conversational medium, you don’t have to go overboard with heavy production and you just got to start thinking about, “I want to deliver this message, would video be a good way to do that?”, and just start trying it.

Businesses Seeking Way to Get Started

Even if you don’t have a dedicated producer or content person in house, now is the time to think about what are the simple ways I can dip my toe in. And that might be by doing Skype based interviews and recording them. It could be turning on your iPhone on a nice little tripod and recording some thought leadership content. It could be interviewing your customers on camera, and doing some really basic editing afterwards. And if you don’t know how to do video editing, like 20 minutes on YouTube, you’ll be an expert. It’s easier than ever. It’s more approachable than ever. My 10 year old son edits videos.

Small Business Trends: Wow.

Tyler Lessard: I think you just got to get started there. And think about how can I create some of this content to support my programs. And not every video has to be a big, viral sensation. It’s just got to support your sales process.

This is part of the One-on-One Interview series with thought leaders. The transcript has been edited for publication. If it’s an audio or video interview, click on the embedded player above, or subscribe via iTunes or via Stitcher.

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One of the ways hackers penetrate a large corporation is by first breaching the weakest link in the supply chain of an organization. In many cases, these are small businesses. But it is wrongly assumed they are the weakest link.

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Supply Chain Cybersecurity Statistics

A new study from (ISC)² reveals large partners are actually to blame more than their smaller counterparts. According to the report, 54% of enterprises said the third-party breach was caused by large partners. This is compared to 46% of small partners or businesses.

Additionally, 14% say they experience a breach as a result of a small business partner. However, it goes up to 17% with large partners.

The difference is not dramatic, but it lays to rest the misconception small businesses are more responsible for breaches in the supply chain. As long as the business has a strong security protocol in place, the size is irrelevant.

In the release for the report, (ISC)² COO Wesley Simpson addressed this very point. Simpson says the key is to build a strong cybersecurity culture with the right best practices to maximize security effectiveness. If everyone does this, the entire supply chain is more secure.

Simpson adds, “It’s a good reminder that in any partner ecosystem, the responsibility for protecting systems and data needs to be a collaborative effort, and multiple fail safes should be deployed to maintain a vigilant and secure environment. The blame game is a poor deterrent to cyberattacks.”

The Issue of Supply Chain Partners and Digital Security

The most famous (or infamous) security breach associated with a partner is the Target data breach in 2013. In that case, 70+ million pieces of data were compromised after the network credentials from an HVAC contractor was stolen.

When the case settled in 2017, it was revealed 41 million customer payment card accounts were affected. And Target had to pay $18.5 million to 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Small businesses are more aware of cyber security because of this specific case. And as the (ISC)² report points out they are doing much better today.

More Supply Chain Cybersecurity Statistics

The key takeaway from the survey is the conflict large enterprises are experiencing regarding the risk small businesses really pose. This is because the data, according to this study at least, proves small businesses are more secure.

The report also points out fewer than 32% of the data breach large enterprises suffer comes from a third party. So, more than two thirds or 68% of breaches are coming from other forms of attack.

Nevertheless, 32% is a very high number. This is because 64% of large enterprises outsource more than a quarter (26%) of their daily business tasks. With so much data in the hands of third-party businesses, the threat and concern are clearly obvious.

Almost all enterprises or 96% have contract provisions specifying how third parties access, store and transmit their data. And 95% also say they have a standard process for vetting small business suppliers’ cybersecurity capabilities before providing access.

As far as responsibility, 69% of enterprises will hold a third party fully accountable for a data leak or breach by mishandling their data. And 73% of small businesses say they will feel liable if a client experiences a breach. Even if their action is indirectly responsible for the security incident.

At the end of the day, an almost equal number of enterprise respondents feel they are to blame (48%) as much as the partner (52%).

Recommendations from (ISC)²

For three decades (ISC)² has been providing a safe and secure cyber world. The organization is an international nonprofit membership association. More than 140,000 certified cyber, information, software and infrastructure security professionals are members. And their goal is to make a difference and help to advance the industry.

These are the recommendations from (ISC)²:

The Survey

The supply chain cybersecurity report comes from an online survey conducted by (ISC)² and Market Cube in November 2018. A total of 709 IT, ICT, and cybersecurity decision-makers took part in the survey. This includes 354 small businesses with 250 or fewer employees and 355 from large enterprises with at least 1,000 employees. All the companies are based in North America.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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When a company allows its workforce to work remotely, it benefits both parties. It gives the employee the flexibility they need to achieve a work/life balance. And the company saves on costs which go into having an employee on premises.

But according to a new report from Clutch, a large percentage of employees (83%) want at least some office time. And only 17% want to work only remotely.

Finding the right balance and making both options available is key for companies. And whether they work remotely or not, they have to be welcomed in the office anytime.

Kristen Herhold, who wrote the report for Clutch says businesses have to create office space that makes employees excited to come to work.

Herhold goes on to say, “Employees value time in-office because it helps them feel like they are part of a company’s culture. Employers should ensure there is a space for remote workers when they do come to the office.”

The report, titled “What Employees Want in an Office Space,” comes from Clutch’s 2019 Commercial Real Estate Survey. Clutch surveyed 503 full-time employees across the U.S. made up of 61% female and 39% male respondents.

Half of the respondents work in an urban area (50%); 38% work in a suburban area; and 11% work in a rural area.

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Where Do Employees prefer to Work?

If your remote workers are not freelancers, you should make an effort to make your employees welcome anytime even if they choose to work remotely.

As Herhold says, feeling part of the company culture is essential for full-time employees. In the report, Bethany Babcock, owner of Foresite Commercial Real Estate, hits the nail in the head explaining the reason.

Babcock says, “Most work-from-home employees I know enjoy knowing there is a spot, even if not a designated spot, for them at the office when needed.” Adding, “The alternative sends the message that you belong at home, not here, and this isn’t your office.”

Only a small percentage of workers in the survey want to be fully at the office (11%) or work remotely (17%). The rest is a mixed bag of choices, with the majority (29%) opting for half remotely and half in office. Another 24% say mostly in-office and the remaining 20% mostly remotely.

There is no question working remotely provides multiple benefits, but for employees who are not freelancers, it can create a disconnect with company culture.

What Employees Want in an Office Space

The one thing this survey reveals is the different types of employees a company has within its organization. This raises the difficulty in making everyone happy in regard to the office space they like to work in.

The top choice for office space in the survey is a private office (52%). This was followed by 28% who prefer an open floor plan and another 20% cubicle offices. But the report says office spaces are trending toward open floor plans.

Considering the different tastes, the report says variation is key in an office. And the survey reveals businesses have a variety of location in place on their premises.

Almost 3 in 4 or 74% say they have personal spaces, with others responding they have places to relax (51%) and quiet spaces (41%). Large meeting rooms (56%) and collaborative spaces (53%) are also part of the new crop of office spaces businesses are including.

Which Space do Employees Value Most?

For 53% of the respondents, the answer is their personal space. But as Herhold says in the report, “The best kind of office is one that offers employees workspaces to accomplish their different tasks successfully, whether that involves quiet and privacy or collaboration and meetings.”

This may not be possible for small businesses with limited space and resources. But with the flexibility of remote work, it can be achieved.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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In this age of information overload and uncertainties, even the slightest carelessness may lead you to go over budget. This makes it crucial to create a budget plan that can protect you from such setbacks and unexpected developments. Surprisingly, 61% of small businesses didn’t even have a budget in 2018.

We generally make a business budget through the following steps:

• Estimate revenue.
• Estimate fixed and variable costs.
• Keep a general contingency fund to pay for unplanned expenses.
• Create a profit and loss statement.
• Outline your budget.

But all of this cannot guarantee a foolproof budget. You need to think beyond traditional budget planning considerations. If you want to create a budget that never fails, you can’t constrain yourself to these traditional considerations.

This will involve a lot of research, for which you need to use advanced tools and strategies, consult with experts and department heads, and collect relevant data.

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How to Create a Business Budget

Let’s take a look at a few ways you can create a business budget that is least likely to fail.

Perform Micro-Level Cost Research

Lean organizations have a greater likelihood of succeeding as a business. So, adopt a minimalist approach and research cost at a micro-level. Don’t underestimate the cost involved in some of the ventures such as marketing.

A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) will always help you make quick decisions. However, a CBA doesn’t work in more complex situations.

For some projects, cash flow comes in a recurring fashion over different periods of time and with varying returns. You can evaluate the cost of these projects using a Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

Have Realistic Financial Projections

To succeed as a startup, forecasting revenue and growth is extremely important. You can use advanced tools or hire experts for this. Even a slight mistake in forecasting cash flows and profits can spell disaster for your startup.

Estimate Your Expenses First

At the startup stage, it’s easier to calculate your expenses rather than revenue. Estimate the most common expenses first such as fixed costs and variable costs.

However, you should remember the golden rule here.

Advertising and marketing costs are likely to shoot up, so you should always consider them to be twice your estimate. Also don’t underestimate legal, insurance, and licensing fees.

You can then keep track of your expenses using an app like FreshBooks or Expensify. An app will help you understand the accuracy of your projections and use those insights to make even more accurate estimates.

 

 

Forecast Your Revenue

Have two sets of revenue projections – conservative and aggressive. A conservative projection is the normal realistic estimate, whereas an aggressive projection is a more optimistic forecast. Aggressive revenue projections can act as a big motivational factor for your entire team including investors.

Perform Reality Checks for Key Ratios

Working with an aggressive view sounds good and brings a much needed optimism. However, to pay your fixed overhead costs, you need to perform a series of reality checks for key ratios.

Direct Cost Margin = (Revenue – Direct Costs) / Revenue

Estimate Your Gross Profit Margin

Gross Margin = (Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold) / Revenue

As your revenue grows, your operating profit margin should move upward. Don’t assume that the break-even point will come early or that you don’t need any financing to reach that point. This is the actual indicator that shows you are doing fine as a business. You may reduce costs and move up the profit curve.

Use a 12-Month Cash Flow Projection

A cash flow projection gives you a clear pattern of how and when money is coming into your business. Projecting cash flow over a 12-month period will help you get an idea about your expenditure on a month-to-month basis. This will help you control your expenses and schedule payments, especially for a seasonal business.

Adjust for Uncertainties

Your cash flow projections will remain incomplete if you don’t have a plan to deal with “predictable uncertainties” such as payment defaults, late payments, and seasonal fluctuations.

You’ll also need to consider economic and industry trends to forecast your cash flow and develop a budget.

Defaulters, Unreliable Payers, and Late Payers

Some customers are habitual late payers and this affects your cash flow. The best way to deal with such people is to chuck them out.

Occasional late payments shouldn’t be allowed for more than three times even if they are big clients. Introduce late payment charges and penalties to discourage late payments and prevent bad debt from occurring.

Seasonal Fluctuations

If you want to create a budget that never fails, make adjustments to seasonal fluctuations. There are peak seasons and there are lean seasons, and you can’t continue to spend in the same fashion throughout the year.

Plan your spend based on your seasonal needs. For instance, you may need to hire temporary staff during peak season. This will help you save money during lean seasons because you wouldn’t be spending on unnecessary workforce.

You can use tools like PurchaseControl to create more accurate budgets that take seasonal fluctuations into consideration. This tool can assign annual and monthly budgets as well as project-based and multi-year budgets. These are restrictive budgets to ensure that you can’t overspend without approval from the right person.

Economic and Industry Trends

You can’t make a sound budget if you overlook economic and industry trends. If a particular industry is facing a slump in demand, it’s wiser to cut costs and minimize production. Keep an eye on the events and forecasts by reliable industry experts.

Human Error

Sometimes, your business might have to deal with expensive mistakes, which would come under an unexpected expense. For instance, you could accidentally pay twice for the same order because you lost some vital paperwork.

Minimizing this type of human error can significantly help you reduce unnecessary and unexpected spending.Automate your workflows and maintain a complete audit trail of your orders for this.

Hire Consultants for Guidance

Hasty and short-term cost-cutting activities won’t work in the long run. Set your objectives, seek the advice of experts, and implement workable strategies to cut costs in the long run. Hiring consultants is very important for targeted cost reduction.

Spending on technology and other aspects of your business needs careful planning. For instance, you might not need to invest in an expensive tool just to use it for one project. With the help of a consultant, you might discover alternatives and options that are cost-effective and work quite well.

You might even be able to use free or inexpensive mobile apps in place of an entire software suite.

Get Insights from Managers and Project Heads

Your managers and project heads have first-hand experience of your business operations. They might be able to help you identify areas in which you are overspending. They might even have some ideas and suggestions to improve productivity.

Don’t hesitate to outsource certain processes if that’s cost-effective for your business. Figure out one-off and necessary expenditure and incentivize performance.

Have a Contingency Plan

Though a traditional budget planning consideration, having a contingency plan always helps. Setbacks and calamities are quite normal these days. Have a plan for financial underperformance so you can minimize the loss in critical areas.

Review Your Budget Regularly

Regular budget reviews and a proactive approach always help. Don’t refer to your budget only in the event of a crisis or setback. If your financials are deviating from what you had planned initially, review your budget accordingly. And repeat this process on a regular basis.

Final Thoughts When You Create a Business Budget

According to Grant Cardone, a self-made multimillionaire, and entrepreneur, budgets don’t work. What actually works is cutting costs, finding new sources and opportunities for generating income, and having a plan to face uncertainties and surprises. However, if you create a budget plan using the tips above, you are more likely to succeed in your business venture.

Image: Depositphotos.com

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