Definitive Business Plan, Second Edition, The

Crystal ball gazing

There are six steps to painlessly producing successful forecasts, listed below. The first three steps require varying degrees of thought. The second three are mechanical. It is all much more straightforward than it might appear at first glance.

Cash flow projections reveal your funding requirements – or cash surplus. It may be that when you see the bottom line you will need to work back through the numbers to bring the funding requirement into line with reality – or to put the surplus to good use. This might involve revisiting the marketing strategy or some other part of the plan.

Note

Six steps to painless financial forecasts

1.	Project sales revenue. This is the most important step. It builds on the market analysis that ...