is the process by which

companies ponder and

prepare for the future. It

involves predicting the

future outcome of various

business decisions.

This includes the future of

the business as a whole, the

future of an existing or

proposed product or

product line, and the future

of the industry in which the

business operates, to name

a few.

How much profit will the business make?

How much demand will there be for a

product or service?

How much will it cost to produce the

product or offer the service?

How much money will the company

need to borrow?

When and how will borrowed funds be

repaid?

First, it enables management to

change operations at the right time

in order to reap the greatest

benefit.

It also helps the company prevent

losses by making the proper

decisions based on relevant

information

It helps management decide whether

the product or product line will be

successful.

It prevents the company from

spending time and money

developing, manufacturing, and

marketing a product that will fail.

#10 Not understanding the market

factors creating adoption of your

product

#9 Not responding quickly

enough (or being able to

respond) to changing market

conditions

#8 Insufficient market validation

#7 Using unreliable product

timing information

#6 Failure to recognize that

you shipped the prototype

#5 Inaccurately predicting

market adoption rates

#4 Inaccurately predicting demand fall-off

#3 Building the forecast

around the target

#2 Counting on complex

dependencies between

release time and revenue

#1 Failure to recognize your actual market