How Do You Budget When You Don't Know When Your First Dollar Will Arrive?


Every pre-revenue founder faces this puzzle: making spending decisions today that need to last until revenue starts, but revenue timelines rarely match projections in your business plan.
The solution: Reverse budgeting Read more: https://futurecryptonews.com/2....025/09/eim-on-budget
According to EIM's approach for pre-revenue startups, traditional budgets start with income, then subtract expenses. But when there's no income yet, you need to flip the equation.
EIM's Reverse Budgeting Method:
Step 1: Start with what you know - your current cash position. If you've got $75,000 in the bank and need it to last six months, you have $12,500 to spend each month, max. That's your burn limit.
Step 2: Create milestone-based spend mapping - assign each dollar a purpose tied to your roadmap goals. Months 1-2 might focus on product development, months 3-4 on user onboarding, and months 5-6 on fundraising readiness.
Step 3: Build in contingency - hold back 10-20% of your cash for corrections or delays. The startups that survive budget for when Plan A doesn't go as planned.
What Gets Priority vs What Waits:
Budget for:
Product development that gets you to MVP
Tools that save time or prevent errors (like cloud accounting solutions)
Legal and accounting support for raising or incorporating
Modest founder compensation to survive, not scale
Freelancers who unlock real speed or traction
Should wait:
Branding agencies (unless investor-facing identity is urgent)
Marketing spend not tied to validated funnels
Full-time hires before product-market fit
Travel, sponsorships, conferences
Expensive systems you can't fully use yet
Every line item should answer: How does this bring me closer to revenue, a fundable milestone, or core validation?
#startupfinance #cashflow #financialplanning