The case study of a label services company in growth.
The objective for this label services company (the company) was to develop the digital side of their business to capture the growth in the market powered by diversified digital opportunities.
As the company's growth objective was defined as working with more well-known and higher grossing digital clients, they needed better control processes in place to win over the confidence of the new clients they approached and to ensure the margin in the new growth projects.
At this particular company, we implemented a strong but simple expense management system, which empowered the growth on three different levels;
Firstly, they were enabled to include the new process language in their contracts making it easier to win the confidence over bigger clients.
Secondly, it enabled them to set up and track the actualization of budgets informing the continued spend and growth objectives.
Thirdly, it ensured accountability and transparency throughout the project.
The first advantage was the improved contract wording describing the system. It resulted in more confident negotiations around the level of investment the company could commit to and ensured the client of the controls available to keep the company transparent and accountable. What is generally absent from the list of services a label services company provide, is business management which is an area where artists and smaller labels are needing an increasing level of support. Here, the company and client have a chance of reaching a mutual understanding of how to run a profitable project from the outset.
The conversation started during contract negotiations links directly to creation of the project budget. Today, it is important to budget for a more gradual revenue curve as opposed to the traditional big spike. This requires constant insight, ongoing engagement and performance tracking. How do you put a long-term marketing approach into practice in your budget? Negative equity in a record/album cycle can easily extend to 6-9 months and beyond if it is not realistically managed. The company now had the capabilities to closely manage cashflow, margin, further investment and client expectations.
Having the right processes and controls in place enables the company and the client to continuously engage in an informed conversation regarding the profitability of the project for both parties. In this case, the process also ensured the company had a right and actual opportunity to recoup on all expenses as everything could be traced back to an informed client approval.
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Cecilie Dreyer is a strategic and analytical creative industry professional supporting companies in growth by implementing performance measurement infrastructure, process optimisation, operational and budget control. Dedicated to taking creative businesses to the next level. Read more at www.c8associates.com