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Guide • Budgeting
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Budgeting for Innovation: a Few Things I Wish I’d Known Producer Suzy Glass shares her tips and insights into budgeting for digital innovation projects.
While budgeting can be a natural skill for many people, not everyone is so fortunate. What happens though when you’re starting work in a space that you haven’t encountered before? Projects that have innovation at their core are by definition dealing with the unexplored to some degree. How do you budget for that? When faced with a significant but necessary level of uncertainty, you need flexible, fluid and responsive budget management. Not only is that a difficult thing to do, it is also an almost impossible thing to offer generic advice about. However, having worked in this space for the last five years, there are a few things I’ve learnt — often the hard way — that I wished I had known before.
Fight hard for a decent contingency Add a couple of percentage points and build up defences because this is a contingency you’ll need. You will discover barriers you had never anticipated and those resources you’ve safe-guarded in your contingency line will be vital as you attempt to clear them. You may be told your contingency is too high — after all you’re probably not dealing with huge health and safety risks, or items that are subject to overnight price inflation. You will therefore need to have a strong and cogent argument that illustrates the inherent instability of the space you’re working in and explores the type of impact this could have on your process and therefore your budget. A decent risk assessment can be helpful here, focussing on the unpredictable nature of your innovation practice.