Simbarashe

20 September 2013,

 It doesn’t matter what your business is, there IS money to be made.  This applies even more if you are seeking to establish a newspaper or magazine in Zimbabwe.For the past month, I have received feedback from many of you who want information on establishing a newspaper or magazine in Zimbabwe.  In fact, from reading the emails I have received I am beginning to see the opportunity.

If you are interested in investing in Zimbabwe, ask questions through our comments tab or contact me through our contact us page. I would ask that you PLEASE do so today! Your feedback and questions doesn’t only help me as a blogger but it helps in making sure I give you quality and relevant information. I want to know how I can help you with investment knowledge about Zimbabwe.  To do so, it’s essential that you tell me what your most burning questions and issues are.

Okay, now back to my story – how to establish a newspaper or magazine in Zimbabwe. A lot of people have been asking me to write an article around this issue. For one to own a publication, one has to be registered. The responsible authority at the moment is called The Zimbabwe Media Commission. At the moment of writing this article, they are located at Rainbow Towers. There are basically fifteen steps you have to climb up to own a publication. I shall go over them one at a time and briefly explain.

Financial Projections – cashflow statement

We all enter into business to make money. The newspaper industry is not an exception. Like any other business, you have to show your financial plan. A projected cashflow statement of up to three years is a must. A cashflow statement is a statement which shows cash inflows and outflows in a company. You will have to list all your cash inflows and then less your cash outflows. For the first year, I suggest your prepare a month on month or quarterly projected cashflow statement to really substantiate your business case.

Balance Sheet

Attached to this should be your projected balance sheet statement. A balance sheet is simply a statement of assets and liabilities of a business as at a particular date. It shows the financial position of a business as at that particular date. If you are not an accounting person, you don’t have to worry. You can ask a friend or higher the services of a professional person to prepare the statements for you. All you have to do is provide the figures. You can also include a Profit and loss statement to substantiate your cash movement position shown by the cashflow statements.

Editorial charter

The major aim of an editorial charter is to provide editorial guidelines that the news content will follow. In other words, it’s the editorial policy governing the content of the magazine or newspaper, the editorial line it wishes to take for each target, the magazine or newspaper’s writing conventions, contributors etc. Using ziminvestors.com as an example, my editorial charter may include things like the editorial expectations for each page template (e.g. start-ups, growing, financing etc.), specific web-writing techniques, the rules that facilitate accessibility and natural referencing etc. If you are serious about establishing a magazine, I will assume you already have the services of a journalist or someone who has experience in the newspaper or magazine industry. They know how to prepare an editorial charter. If you do not have anyone, I have a friend who has experience in this field.

Code of ethics

Code of ethics is designed by organizations to help employees define what is right or wrong within that organization. It outlines the values of the company that must be preserved in the company’s fight to meet there objectives. Code of ethics also referred to in other circles as code of professional conduct is a set of principles guiding professionals to do business honorably and with integrity. Breaking the code can result in suspension or dismissal. The code of ethics should provide pre-emptive warnings in cases of breach. You can hire a Human Resources consultant to perform the task for you. One can also define a code of ethics as a statement of policy for your magazine company. Once your company is operational, make sure the ethics code is readily available to stuff. A good example for the Newspaper Industry can be prohibition on the use of unnamed sources.

Code of conduct for employees

For your magazine business, the code of conduct for employees reflects the standards of personal behavior of employees at work. The code outlines the values and describes standards of conduct. An HR consultant can help you come up with a standard code of conduct for your magazine or newspaper business. As you set up your company, train your management and employees on these codes and make the code available to them. This code also protects employees against things such as racial indisgression, sexual harassment, gifts policy etc.

Market analysis

If you have decided to start a newspaper or magazine business then you would have carried out a market analysis. All that is left is to put it to paper and include it in your application for a newspaper or magazine license. Your market analysis should however show you have studied the attractiveness of your magazine or newspaper niche. It should include use of the global environmental tools like SWOT and PEST. Through this analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your magazine will be identified. Market analysis should also include issues like market segmentation and pricing. Segmentation is the basis for a differentiated market analysis for your newspaper. To write a sound market analysis, you need to engage the services of a marketing consultant. There is deep market research required. Alternatively, you may get assistance from University students around Zimbabwe who are either studying towards a marketing or journalism profession. I will write a separate article about how to write a market analysis to exhaust all the points but below are the key points not to miss when preparing one:

• Size of market and projected growth rate
• Industry cost structure – this includes the costs involved to come up with a complete magazine or newspaper. Most local newspapers and magazines are priced between a dollar and two dollars.
• Distribution channels – Munn market is the biggest newspaper and magazine distributor in Zimbabwe. Contracting them will widen coverage of your magazine or newspaper.
• Market trends –
• Government data
• Trade associations
• Financial data from major players
• Customer surveys
• Projected profits

Certified copies of directors identification particulars

These should not give you any problem as they are the same documents you used when you registered your company and when you opened a bank account. These should be government issued identification documents like passport or national identification card.

In house style book

In house style generally refers to the domestic writing way your magazine reporters stick to. It is however not a standard industry wide hence the name in house style. It differs from news room to news room. A good example of an in-house style that you can adopt for your magazine is referring individuals by their names with no titles. John Doe is referred as such instead of Mr. Doe. Another example is saying 80 percent instead of 80%. There are a lot of examples of in-house style but if you would like a professionally designed and in-house style book, you have to construct it with consultation with someone who has worked for a magazine or newspaper. Let me also reiterate that if you are engaging in this business, you need to have at least one person in your team with magazine or newspaper experience.

Magazine dummy

This reminds me of the movie the secret. One guy states the important of having a model of what you want before you have it. It’s the same concept that is applied here. If you have not watched the secret and you are serious about starting a business, then it’s high time you should. You have to create a dummy magazine or newspaper which is an exact replica of how your magazine will look like. This means that before you think of registering your magazine or newspaper you should have done all the research including the structure of your magazine. This is an organized industry which needs organized and serious business persons.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a key tool which is as important as your business plan. It is a statement of purpose for your magazine company. In a very few words, your mission statement should show why you started that magazine business. “Mission statements help clarify what business you are in, your goals and objectives,” says Rhoda Abrams It exposes the goals and provides a general guideline for decision making. A mission statement often includes things like aims of the organization, how the organization will provide value to stake holders. In brief, a mission statement answers the question, “Why do we exist?”

Certificate of Incorporation & Memorandum of Association

This is a no brainer. These are your company registration documents. Make sure you register your company as a magazine, newspaper or publishing house. To register a company in Zimbabwe with the help of a consultant costs about USD300. It is usually easy to go the consultant route but if you wish to do it alone, then you can save almost half of that amount. I will dedicate the procedures to follow when opening a company in Zimbabwe in a separate article.

Registration fees

At the time of writing, the costs of establishing newspapers weren’t even prohibitive. The application fee is a mere $500.00 whilst the registration fee is $2,000. This is not much compared either to the return or other industry requirements. My team at www.ziminvestors.com have ready niche reports in both magazine and newspaper industries waiting to be exploited. This week a new magazine has also been launched called Technomag.

And if all else fails, there’s always money in the Zimbabwe soils. Farm it

To your continued Success