A new export often needs several levels of folders. mkdir creates a directory, while its parent option also creates missing ancestors. Existing directories are safe with that option, so a setup command can be repeated.
Files already in the workspace must remain untouched. Plan the complete tree before running the command: creating one leaf isn't enough when a second report folder is part of the handoff. A command such as mkdir -p exports/raw exports/reports creates two branches with a shared parent. The space separates two paths. A slash continues one path. If a regular file already occupies an intermediate name, the command can't turn it into a directory; inspect that collision before changing existing data.