Greatness & The Value in Budgeting

Phin Barnes - First Round

I am a witness to greatness

(original post from Barnes' blog Sneakerhead VC)

Scenario:

• Company X is doing amazingly well.
• At an investors meeting the CEO apologizes for not having the 2015 budget ready yet.
• Investors are okay with the delay since they know the company is doing well.
• Investors joke about the pain of budgeting.
• CEO of company X surprises investors, silences them in fact, when he expresses excitement about getting the budget ready.

"I am excited to build out the budget because it will save us a ton of money. The reason you create a budget is to drive financial literacy around company priorities into the organization. The budget will empower every employee to make better decisions and help us to be more efficient as a business. This is critical to our success." -- CEO

Barnes' conclusion:
I've always thought of budgets as constraints, but this guy thinks of them as empowering. This mentality is one that embodies greatness.

Takeaway:

• Budgets are empowering. When done well, they decrease uncertainty and provide clear financial boundaries within which your team can operate. (So get your budget right.)
• To be great is to look past the status quo and see value in things others might shrug off, or, in this scenario, see as a constraint.