Abhishek Sen

 Whether you're launching a new product, planning next year's budget, or pitching to investors, forecasting is the compass that guides your business decisions. But there’s often a key question that causes confusion: Should you forecast from the top down or build it from the bottom up? Both approaches can get you where you want to go—but the right one depends on how you like to navigate. Let’s break it down in plain terms. What Is Top-Down Forecasting? Think of top-down forecasting like looking at the map from 30,000 feet. You start with the big picture—like the total market size or company-wide revenue targets—and then divide that number into smaller chunks for teams, products, or regions. How it works: Let’s say your company aims for $10 million in revenue next year. With top-down forecasting, you might allocate that target across departments based on historical performance. Maybe marketing gets $2 million, product A gets $4 million, and so on. Why companies like it: ...

 **Using the Correct Metrics for Financial Analysis and Strategy Formulation** The right financial metrics are a must in today's competitive business world for performance evaluation and strategy formulation. Financial metrics form the quantitative foundation for decisions, allowing companies to gauge their position and make plans for expansion in the future. But the usefulness of these metrics is not in their numbers, but in how they relate to company goals. Prime indices like revenue growth, net profit margin, return on investment (ROI), and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) provide essential information on operational efficiency and profitability. Revenue growth monitors sales performance over time, whereas profit margins indicate the effectiveness of cost control. ROI provides an estimation of the effectiveness of capital deployment, and EBITDA indicates core profitability, ignoring non-operational costs. For strategic planning, future-ori...