Yes, it is harder to set budgets when you don’t have past budgets to go on. In this case, you do not have any past budgets to be considered for the next. Still, even a new company needs a budget. If you do not have historical data available, the process is more challenging, but still doable. Your reliance on industry information is going to be greater and it will require more research to formulate your projections. Take advantage of the tremendous amount of marketing information through resources that may be available at no cost. In most all cases, each industry will have a trade association, a website, and at least one publication in existence. You may also be able to leverage information from other industries that might provide you additional insight. For example, a restaurant may want to know more about new home construction projections in their immediate area as they attempt to predict next year’s growth.
There are ways to reap enormous marketing benefits from free activities, barter, alliances, and public relations. In that case, you can use your creativity to gain the profits. Creativity is a budget’s best friend. You may also want to consider some non-traditional ways of maximizing your budget dollars and including those into your budget projections. A large percentage of advertising on the radio is on a barter basis. Manufacturers may offer co-op dollars for advertising efforts. Magazines may extend your payment schedule to allow you to generate sales from the ad before you pay the balance.