What the forecast line means

The graph on your dashboard has two lines, and they mean different things. It is worth being precise about this, because one of them is real money and the other is not.

The forecast is a plan, not a promise

The Sales forecast line is the plan you accepted when you set up your business. It is what a business of your kind, doing the work every week, could look like.

It is not a prediction of your results. It is not a guarantee. It is not based on what your business has actually done, because when it was drawn your business had not done anything yet.

Your results will differ from it. Most will not match the line, some will do better, and many businesses do not reach it at all. Nothing on this page or in your dashboard is a promise of income.

Your sales are the real line

The Your sales line is money that actually arrived. It is drawn on top of the forecast so you can see the two side by side.

This is the only line on the graph that is a fact.

The dashed end

The dashed segment at the right-hand end is the week you are in now, which has not finished yet.

Every other point on that line is a completed week. To make the unfinished week comparable, it is drawn at the pace the week is running at: what it would come to if the rest of the week matched the part that has happened. It is labeled on pace for that reason.

A pace is an estimate of an unfinished week, not money you have. It moves as the week goes on, and it settles into a real number when the week closes.

The break-even line

The flat line low on the graph is what your business needs to sell to cover what you pay WPMaven. When your sales pass it, WPMaven has paid for itself that week.

That marker is only ticked by money actually booked, never by the pace.

Reading it honestly

• Compare your sales with your sales a few weeks ago. That is real.
• Use the forecast for shape and direction, not as a target you have failed.
• Ignore the dashed end early in the week. There is not enough of the week yet.