“You have to look for aberrations, what caused a significant reversal or change in trend. We need to identify what happened to prevent it from happening again.”
-Randal A. Simonetti, CPA
“We’re a full-service accounting, business con- sulting and reputation management firm. We’re in the top 105 firms in the country,” Simonetti said. His expertise in the art of sales forecasting and the importance of planning ahead for any situation is used to help owners plan out the year ahead and protect their business from any number of risks.
Look Back to Plan Ahead “First and foremost, look historically back to see what the trend is,” said Simonetti, adding that three years is a good sample size for already estab- lished businesses. “You have to look for aberra- tions, what caused a significant reversal or change in trend. We need to identify what happened to prevent it from happening again.” An example of this would be skyrocketing fuel
costs. That could cause an aberration in some countries because so many businesses depend on fuel for travel or transportation of products or
services. This is something that businesses are required to anticipate.
If you look back five years you might encounter
geopolitical factors, such as when Greece declared bankruptcy, which affected numerous companies with ties to country. Then, there are events that hit closer to home, like the financial difficulties the American automotive industry went through following the recent recession. “You look back and look for aberrations,” Simon-
etti said. “Once you know these changes, you try to anticipate them. If you think they could be factors in the years for which you are projecting, you have to take them into account and adjust accordingly.”
Eyes on the Competition Business owners need to be continuously aware
of what’s going on around them. It is important to look at competitive trends. Is the industry growing at a specific rate? Is there an industry change that
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