Developing and managing a budget will help you stay on the right track. The key to managing any budget is to always track and measure your progress compared to your goals. If you are on track, then stay the course. If you are off track, then make any course corrections to save money to get back on track. We recommend you develop three yearbook budget plans: Most Likely Case Scenario, Best Case Scenario, and Worst Case Scenario. Each scenario is designed to help you address a “what if…” situation. Here is a breakdown of each scenario:
MOST LIKELY CASE SCENARIO: As discussed earlier, you probably have a set of specifications that provided you a firm quote based upon your requests as well as 100% on-time performance by your staff. Keep this as your “most likely case” scenario since you may have budgeted for this program already. Expectations are in place for a set number of copies as well as set number of pages and a specific cover design. If all works well on book sales, ad sales, and staff performance, you should be fine with this scenario.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Some people might call this the “dream” book. Take a look at your current program and ask yourself, ”If I had an extra 10% in my budget or if money was not an issue—what would I do to the yearbook program in the sense of pages, cover, endsheets, options, workshops, etc?” This type of thinking can lead you to develop alternative goals that rely on improved performance on yearbook sales, finances, ad sales, and more. Expectations rely on exceeding your budget expectations. The key to having this scenario in place is to have milestones or deadlines in place that can track to implementing such a program.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Some people might call this the “dread” book. Take a look at your current program and ask yourself, ”If I had to cut 10% from your yearbook program in the sense of pages, cover, endsheets, options, workshops, etc., where would I cut it?” This type of thinking can lead you to develop backup plans that rely on poor or low performance on yearbook sales, finances, ad sales, and more. Expectations rely on not meeting your budget expectations. The key to having this scenario in place is to have milestones or deadlines in place that can track to implementing such a program.
We hope you can plan for the best case scenario, but should course corrections have to occur, consider the following actions to positively impact your yearbook budget and develop a positive cash flow process.
• Consider developing a barter system with local companies you spend money at in exchange for advertisement space.
• Consider combining some pages to reduce the size of your yearbook—this will lower the cost of your book. If you have originally planned for a foiled, embossed cover (if you haven’t already submitted the cover), consider a full-color cover to further reduce book cost.
• Have a special combo sale of an ad space and a yearbook to both parents and businesses for a set fee that shows some sort of savings.