Things You'll Need:
- Past reports on expenses, profits and growth
- Industry trend reports
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Step 1
Analyze past reports. If this is a new business, you will be making educated guesses based on the trends in the retail industry. However, if you have been in business for at least a quarter, you can prepare a more accurate forecast.
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Step 2
Look for trends. Examine your past reports and look for trends in losses and profits. In retail businesses, it is accurate to assume that trends will continue. Usually there are only specific times of the year in which sales will dramatically increase or decrease in retail.
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Step 3
Estimate. If you are preparing a forecast for an entire year, remember to account for holiday sales and your decline in sales after the holidays. Outside of those specific times, your forecast should be pretty much the same year round. So just make an educated guess based on your previous information.
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Step 4
Make your charts. Now that all the information has been computed, input it into a chart or an Excel document. In Excel you can put all of the reports into one document. There will be a page in the document for each of the months for the first year and then yearly reports for the next three years.
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Step 5
Add the charts to your business plan. Once the reports have all been finished and they have been printed out, add them into your business plan in the appropriate area.
