A hostile economic environment calls for tough decisions by publishers aiming for gross revenue and bottom line maintenance. And even tougher choices when targeting gross revenue and bottom line growth. Often the problem is not that publishers aim too high and miss; rather, they aim too low and hit!
Managing for maximum profit regardless of the economy requires four steps; 1) identify your business’s history, 2) select a management model, 3) budget to this model, 4) disciplined implementation.
The history simply is an examination of your most recent three-year track record gleaned from your in-come statements. Since your income statement is the initial building block, make sure it’s based on an appropriate chart of accounts; posting all income and expense categories in a format that accurately and thoroughly tells your tale.
The second essential ingredient is a time-tested management model that assigns a percent of your annual gross revenue to each department. What percent of annual gross does a savvy publisher spend on editorial, advertising sales, production, circulation and administration?
A budget emerges when you “mold” your historical numbers into your management model. The model must dominate, dictating logical operational changes.
Now you’re ready to move to the fourth and most challenging step which is disciplined implementation.
Through years of examining publishing businesses of all sizes GMS has developed model charts of accounts for publishers with and with-out web presses.