Publishing Company Health Check
We are now offering scholarly and academic publishers a ‘health check’ to ensure that their publishing business can cope with the recession.
The problem with recession is that there is always a time lag before its impact on public spending is felt. It will take ten years or more to bring the budget deficit back to normal, so the pressure on the public sector generally, and library budgets in particular, is likely to persist for some years.
We see an impact already:
- Some publishers have announced that their journal prices will not increase in 2010;
- Libraries in the USA and the UK are cutting staff and significantly reducing their book buying to preserve their journal collections. But individual journals are still under threat;
- In the USA, where an average of 3% cuts have taken effect half way through the financial year, the ARL libraries are expecting a further 10% cut in 2010.
Sales revenues are likely to decline over the next few years. Budget cuts are feeding through to library acquisition budgets and are expected to lead to journal and database subscription cancellations and reduced spending on books. At times like these, it is vital that the organization is fully and sustainably equipped to weather the economic crisis affecting the publishing business.
John Cox has joined forces with Nawin Gupta of the Chicago based consultancy, Informed Publishing Solutions Inc to off a ‘business health check’ to focus on the preparedness of the business to grow through these challenging times by concentrating on:
- A realistic assessment of sales and cash flow forecasts
- The scope for reducing the cost base of publishing through concentrating expenditure on activities that are critical to the publishing mission and business.
- Practicable operational efficiencies, including efficient and effective use of marketing, purchasing of manufacturing and services, outsourcing, and the organization of the publishing business.
An objective overview of the business brings focus to publishing decisions that have to be made every budget year.
Both consultants have decades of experience in academic and scholarly publishing – including the recessions of 1973-74 and the early 1990s and know how to manage publishing operations through challenging times. The company health check is available for a package price, concentrating on sales and cash flow forecasts, the scope for reducing the costs of publishing by concentrating expenditure on mission-critical activities, and practical operational efficiencies, including outsourcing if it is appropriate.
The extent of the health check is dependent on the type of publishing involved – books, journals or both – and can be tailored to the publisher’s requirements. The standard review can cost as little as US$5,000, or GBP £3,250. It will be undertaken by John Cox in Europe, and by Nawin Gupta in North America.
To show our confidence in recommending savings worth more than the cost of the review. If a publisher implements the recommendations and can demonstrate that the savings yield less than the cost of the review, we will refund the difference.
For further information please contact:
John Cox, John.E.Cox@btinternet.com, Tel: +44 (0) 1327 861184
Nawin Gupta, Nawin@nawingupta.com, Tel: +1 773 623 9199, Web: www.nawingupta.com