Thriving on adrenalin

In July Adrenalin Publishing, the home of NZBusiness, celebrates its 30th birthday. Owner-publisher Cathy Parker talked to editor Glenn Baker about a three-decade rollercoaster ride.

For Cathy Parker, owning a magazine publishing company was never high on the agenda early in her career. When she embarked on the journey with the purchase of NZ Company Vehicle and NZ Windsurfer magazines in 1993 she had zero experience. In fact, despite graduating from Auckland University with an engineering degree, her career background largely consisted of managerial and sales roles across both the alternative fuels and car leasing sectors.

Looking to put corporate life behind her, purchasing both magazines seemed the perfect solution, particularly considering that windsurfing was her main hobby.

“While I had no experience around publishing, I did possess sales, IT, HR, strategic planning and management skills, as well as a strong knowledge of both product areas – vehicles and windsurfing,” she recalls.

Her passion for sports photography was another contributing factor towards taking the plunge.

Having caught the publishing ‘bug’, the business grew steadily, with Cathy initially taking on multiple roles across sales and admin.

After five years there were four magazine titles in the stable and her windsurfing magazine had already been sold in order to focus more on the trade and automotive space.

By the late noughties and thanks to some serious growth by acquisition, Adrenalin Publishing peaked at almost 20 staff and nine magazine titles, all with an online presence.

“That really stretched our resources,” she recalls. It was also noteworthy that the business went full-circle back to work-from-home (WFH) status for staff – originally as a result of needing to downsize premises but, of course, ultimately fuelled by Covid-19’s lockdowns.

Niche magazines lend themselves to the WFH trend anyway, Cathy believes, with central-office set-ups handicapped by high overheads.

“In some ways we were also fortunate that Adrenalin started out just as the industry was moving from traditional design and print, involving paste-up and typesetting skills, to digital pre-press.

“This meant we had no legacy investments.”

So, looking back over the past 30 years, does hindsight deliver any regrets?

“In the early days I did develop some strong skills in buying underperforming magazines and revitalising them,” Cathy recalls. “I have wondered if that might have been a better, alternative business model – buy, fix and sell each magazine when at their peak!”
Of course, there have been challenges and lessons.

“Perhaps the biggest lesson came through one particular contractual publishing agreement I entered into which demonstrated that it always pays to look hard at the potential downsides of a project,” she says. “Consider the consequences if things don’t work out as planned, and could your business cover that worst-case scenario?

“Don’t just consider the upsides as we all tend to do,” continues Cathy. “Ask yourself – could you absorb that loss?”

As for the Covid-19 pandemic, like most business owners Cathy found it an immensely challenging time. Particularly as it followed hard on the heels of a major restructuring of the business in 2019. Surviving the past three years has required a total focus on cashflow, and she’s grateful for the government assistance, and for having such an understanding team of contractors.

“It took some ‘zigging and zagging’, but we made it through.”

Team effort
Cathy takes some pride in her ability to, if required, step in and perform any role within the business if needed – with the exception of design. Sales is one particular skillset she finds satisfying; however, she’s quick to give credit to a succession of highly motivated sales managers at Adrenalin.

“I realised as my business grew that I needed people around me who could not only do the overall work needed, but do the individual roles better than I could,” she explains.

“Adrenalin would simply not be where it is today without the great team of people we have now, and have had over the years, to achieve this.”

She admits to still “getting a thrill” when a new magazine issue arrives from the printers.

“Recently I’ve been editing one of our titles, which is even better – it’s nice to see the results of all your hard work.”

Challenging times
Looking to the future, Cathy predicts further industry changes ahead. She believes printed magazines still have a solid future; however additional revenue growth is more likely to happen through digital publishing.

Publishers will have to stay well informed, because there’s no crystal ball out there, she says.

“Social media platforms are a real challenge, as some recede and others emerge,” she adds. “So which ones do you hitch your star to?”

Other challenges lie in the need to keep websites regularly upgraded, as well as staying abreast of Google’s changing algorithms, and more recently dealing with the fallout from artificial intelligence (AI).

“AI may well begin to intrude, but the jury’s still out on just how that will happen,” believes Cathy. “AI can write a basic article and can certainly help on research, but I’m not sure how much use that will be in the creative space.”

For anyone looking to break into the publishing sector, her advice is to opt for the hybrid model of digital first, followed by print.

“Smaller niche opportunities can also work well for enthusiasts with strong connections and a solid knowledge of a particular industry.”

A governance perspective
With experience on a number of boards over the years, Cathy is well aware of what Kiwi companies are facing in 2023. The big one is inflation, she says, which particularly impacts those sectors in which businesses don’t have the total freedom to just increase prices in response.

New Zealand is also teetering on the brink of a recession, she believes, with reduced demand for a number of products and services.

“Good governance means keeping a close eye on the progress of your business and its KPIs, and not being afraid to make the required changes.”

Managing a SME can often be a lonely journey too, Cathy reminds us. But you needn’t be alone.

“You can’t share all your concerns and challenges, so having external mentors is very important.

“The events of the past few years have brought, and continue to bring, mental health and resilience issues to both business managers and their teams. Fortunately, the world is now more open to acknowledging and discussing what were formerly taboo subjects.

“The move to a more diverse and accepting society is also welcome. It is one I have personally looked to do my bit in through organisations such as the SuperDiversity Institute and SuperDiverse Women.”

When asked about the future of business publishing, Cathy is optimistic, and backs the ongoing success of the digital/print mix. With the challenge of covering all the major digital platforms, not surprisingly there are very few money-making digital-only magazines out there, she says. High volume print magazines still have a strong following, as do hybrid home-based, owner-operated titles.

You can guarantee that whatever twists or turns the sector takes, Cathy will be tracking with it all the way.  

By Editor Glenn Baker