We hit October this week, which means you only have just 3 months of the year left...

And (not that I’m wishing time away), it’ll be the end of the year before we know it.

I want to do a final check-in to see if you’re aligned and where you want (and need) to be.

Specifically:

• How is your 9+3 Forecast - your 9 months of Actuals and 3 months of Forecast?

• Are you on track to hit your Quarter 4 targets? By how much?

• Are you below target? What are you planning to do to get back on track?

Your response will fall into one of these:

1. You won’t have this information to hand, nor even know where to start, because you never actually started...

2. You’ll know where to go to get the information from, will quickly review it, then bury it away again until December, and hope for the best...

3. You know your current position and will know there aren’t any issues because the business hasn’t alerted you to any, or, you may be behind, but as you’re aware of this, you’re taking action to catch up...

Now, ask your Team the same questions…

I’m tempted to bet that they haven’t been able to answer any of these questions.

Whatever category your response falls into, I cannot stress the importance of getting clarity across your entire team on how far on or off target your business is by implementing a Rolling 12 Month Forecast Plan (even if you haven’t started at the 3+9 stage, then start NOW!):

• 3 + 9 Forecast shows 3 months of actuals and 9 months of forecast.

• 6 + 6 Forecast shows 6 months of actuals and 6 months of forecast.

• 9 + 3 Forecast shows 9 months of actuals and 3 months of forecast.

At each month end its good practice to track your performance against the Forecast to see if you’re on track.

And, as the year progresses, the Forecast for the year should become more accurate the more it comprises Actual months and fewer Forecast months.

Please don’t leave this to your accountant or assume they’re doing it!

By making this routine, everyone across your business will be united and focussed on the end goal, and you’ll never miss target – you’ll just run out of month!

Any questions, you know where I am.

Martin

Martin Norbury

Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays