Most revenue budgets start with a top-down number: add 10%, push sales harder, and hope the math works out. That’s why so many plans collapse by spring. 

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In Part 3 of our Budget Season 2026 Series, I sat down with Kim Clark to break down how to build revenue the right way: from the bottom up. Kim shares her 12-step revenue forecasting process and shows how to build by product, segment, and pipeline. We talk about aligning sales, marketing, and operations so the plan is deliverable — and how to connect the revenue build-up directly into the budget model from Part 2. 
 
This isn’t about sales stretch goals or wishful percentages. It’s about creating a clear, defensible revenue plan that finance can trust and owners can use to make boardroom decisions about hiring, capacity, and cash. 
 
In this episode, Kim and I screen-share and walk through the 12 steps. If you want to see the forecast in action, check out the video version on YouTube or Spotify. 

What We Covered 

Kim Clark is a sales and marketing strategist who helped scale ITR Economics from a founder-led advisory firm to a professionally managed company that exited at eight figures. As head of sales and marketing, she built the firm’s first CRM, content strategy, and inbound engine—moving the company from personality-based selling to a system built on data, automation, and strategic execution. Today, she works with business owners to build marketing engines that align with their strategy, team, and long-term cash flow goals—so they can grow without chaos and delegate without losing visibility. Her frameworks are directly aligned with the "Predictable Revenue" module within the iBD Ownership Operating System. 

Chapters:  

Resources: 
Kim Clark LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-clark-79634845/ 

Ryan Tansom Website https://ryantansom.com/