Finally, when you do present your initial sales forecasting data, make sure you include either a narrative or bullet points that explain how you came up with your predictions. The longer you have been in business, the more data points you will have to predict the future. Either way the first stage applies to most food or drink products or service; that is identifying the unique selling points and long term objectives. Note that different lines of products may require separate analysis to improve accuracy. Proven techniques involve correlation analysis, regression analysis and other statistically modeling. The ongoing process of analysis will help hone your skills in making 3 to 5 year sales forecasts and ultimately improve the reliability of your estimates. Start the process by making a one year sales forecast. Part 1 describes the start of the sale from the seller’s perspective. Learn to part the clients that are weak and wouldn’t convert into beneficial customers. After the initial six-month period, expect the curiosity of customers to slow and keep your predicted sales constant for the following six months.

Keep in mind, that in most states, off-site sales people are required to receive overtime pay where onsite sales people are not. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG lost in its endeavor to not pay sales representatives who visit doctor’s offices and must now pay approximately 2,500 current and former employees from March of 2000 through April of 2007 tons of overtime pay. Companies like Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Starbucks are also awaiting court decisions filed by some employees who want answers to the question, “Are salesmen due overtime pay? Some home buyers who are unable to pay off their debts on time and they know that their property will be ceased in some days, so they consider short sales. Don’t forget that when you own a home, you get to deduct the mortgage interest you pay on your loan from your taxes. If you want to get on with the latest summer trends, you must look for shield sunglasses when shopping for women’s and men’s sunglasses online.

Why would you want to attempt this process for an even longer period of time? A business owner is more likely to have a feel of changes over a one year period. Bloggers have for many years delivered free content to their audiences, in a wide range of topics. We are talking about a marketing campaign in the range of 4k to 5k a month minimum in advertising within those areas. Make Your Predictions – For month one in your Excel Sales Forecast, take the price of your product or service and multiply it by the number of sales you expect to make that month. Reevaluate Your Predictions – Once you’ve been open for three to six months, you can reevaluate your sales predictions and make adjustments where necessary. Although your lender or investors may want to see a full year or two of predicted sales, once you get through at least one quarter, you can compare actuals to predicted sales and make adjustments if necessary. The more research that is performed on variables that impact sales, the better the predictions.

Changes to internal factors will also impact a sales forecast. Once you’re armed with this real data and what consumers are really buying, next you’ll need to learn how to forecast initial sales with the information at hand. Most likely the questions of lenders and investors (in the real world) comes to you slowly, giving you ample to adjust or reevaluate your projections. New business owners should expect the loan process and lender interest to come slowly, which is common in the small business world. Another example that is also available to download is explained in the article Sample Sales Forecast Template for the Small Business Owner. Although elaborate software products are available for this process, an Excel spreadsheet, such as the one that accompanies the article Developing a Sales Forecast in Excel will do the job. In the article Explaining Common Sales Forecast Formulas, various mathematical techniques are described.