This more detailed sales forecast is still relatively simple. Guess your sales by units, your price per unit, and your cost per unit. The math to produce sales and cost of sales is not complex. Ideally it should link to web traffic, as this forecast does. The math of the sales forecast is simple. The content takes work, but not the design of the table. It's built on common sense and reasonable guesses, without statistical analysis, mathematical techniques, or any past data.
In the example below, rows are horizontal, columns are vertical. Each line of sales occupies a row, and months and years occupy columns. The unit sales rows are estimates, and the total unit sales row sums the estimated unit sales for each column. The unit prices rows estimate prices for each kind of sales unit. The total sales rows contain the product of multiplying the units times the price for each kind of unit sales. The total sales sums the individual sales rows. The annual sales column sums the months for each row, including the total rows.
Sample from Web Strategy Pro.
The source spreadsheet hides the monthly columns for March through October for the purpose of illustration, so you can see the annual total without scrolling. The other months are there, even if they don't show. Note also how this forecast links the important engagements row to the estimate made in the traffic forecast. This is a Web plan, so it should where possible show some link between traffic and sales, just as this example does.
This units-based sales forecast has the advantage of breaking your assumptions down into meaningful parts. Depending on your type of business, most people find it easier to guess units and price per unit than to just guess sales values. Also, as you review and adjust your forecast, you can adjust either unit sales or price per unit as you make changes. And you can consider the impact of changes in either way.
As always, the quality of the forecast depends on how well you know your business and your market. The sales forecasting starts when the research is done. The mechanics of sales forecasting are relatively simple. Ultimately a forecast is a guess, but we want it to be an educated guess.
Summary
A sales forecast is hard for many people because they are unsure of how to forecast. Don't worry, if you know your business, you can give an educated guess of future sales. Remember, one thing harder than forecasting is running a business without a forecast.
