How far into the future should I plan?

kamolahy

The nature of the business I`m building is that it grows fast and changes quick. It`s becoming very hard for me to project my financial statements beyond three years. Is it generally acceptable that, if my business requires, I can just do a 3 year projection?

sooon

in this I have other take.normally people do 1, 3, 5 year plan. but I think another alternative is your goal plan. for example, let say i m starting some web 2.0 company and web is ever changing. so i have to set a target to achieve that only i can take my next step.for example, only after i can get 10,000 user base then only i can start roll out shopping cart business. or, everyday i get a 5000 unique page view then i roll out my e-commerce plan. etc.of course, if you are doing this, you has to have a good view of where your company will go in milestone. and I think this will let you manage and measure your achievement better and more dynamic.my 2 cent.

katscoolcorner1

Collin, For any funding sake you should at minimum have a three year projection. Update it as you go past 2- 2 1/2 years.  That way you can aticipate a changing market and if it`s a ferocious growth you will also numbers documented for three years with the modifications towards ferocious.
kat.