In: Operations Management
Answer: Sales and revenue forecasting is based on a number of variables that forms the basis to make such predictions. For 1-3 years forecast which is a short to medium term forecast I will consider the following variables
1. Past sales/revenue figures (if available): These can be obtained from the past company records
2. Projected growth in the industry during this period: This can be obtained from industry reports
3. Goals and objectives of the business plan: From the business plan itself
4. Projected economic growth during this period: Government projections and reports from various financial institutions
5. Consumer sentiment: Consumer sentiment index/industry/economic reports
6. Expected rise/fall in disposable income of the consumers: industry/economic reports
7. Credit policy: Government documents
8. Company’s internal factors like resources, existing customer base and so on: Internal analysis of the company and past document
A sales/revenue forecast is a technical document and the above mentioned variables have to be considered by applying forecasting tools and expertise