Year Wheel · The cycle · Component
The demand cycle
When customers buy across the year — measured from the organisation’s own history rather than assumed from the sector.
The deliverable
What it is
Almost every business has a demand shape across the year, and most know it approximately and have never plotted it.
Plotted, it usually turns out to be sharper than expected and to peak slightly earlier, which changes when preparation has to happen.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Plot it from sales rather than from budget. The budget encodes what was hoped.
The other components in the cycle
The operating cycle
When the organisation is busy internally — which is a different shape from the demand cycle and rarely plotted alongside it.
LearnThe collisions
Where the two cycles land on top of each other — usually the same two or three months every year.
Learn