Budget for Marketing

Today we shall talk about one of the most important aspect of business, and that is marketing. People often compare between banking finance and marketing, trying to come to a conclusion which is more important for a business. And the politically correct answer to this question would be, it depends, and it can be both as well.

However, if you are talking about a small business that you are starting up, marketing would definitely be the MOST IMPORTANT thing that you be bothered about. It will be what makes or kills your business. 

Let's see this in another simpler way. Suppose you have only a hundred dollars in your only single bank account, would you be bothered to constantly check that the sum of money that you have in your bank? The answer would be most likely be no.

On the other hand, suppose that you have multiple bank accounts, and in each account, there is at least a few thousand dollars, will you be more inclined to check regularly that the sum of money in your accounts tally to the correct amount? The answer would most likely be yes, since now we are talking about a larger amount of money here.

So the point that I am trying to get across here is that, if you are starting a small business on your own, chances are the finances that you are dealing with in the initial stages would not be large enough to warrant so much attention to the point it overshadows the emphasis that you are placing on marketing. Not that I am saying the finances should not be looked after, it is still important, but it would not be at the level of a MNC, if you know what I am saying.

Marketing is extremely important for a startup to build a customer base. With the onset of social media such as facebook and twitter, you might be hoping that marketing cost can be cut to virtually zero. But, i would beg to differ.

Through the use of Facebook, you must have come across contest posts whereby businesses/stores giveaway free products when participants likes and shares their posts. By giving away items, it is already spending money on Marketing. But, the good side of this, is that usually, this move creates a lot of publicity. I mean, who doesn't like free stuff right =)