How do I lower Misc. expenses?

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

At the start of my game, my Misc. expenses were $900,000. Now, eight months later, it's over $2,000,000. I didn't do anything that would add to the Misc. expenses as far as I'm aware, but now I'm losing money every month (at International!) because of it. I need to lower this as soon as possible.

[LoganRodzen]

Have you been offering contracts with relocation expenses included? What's your drug testing policy? Upping peoples morale by giving them bonuses? There's a ton that factors into that one category. The misc. expenses automatically go up with each promotion size but it ultimately depends on your financial habits.

 

My Misc. expenses have exceeded 5.7 million in one month at Global. Keep in mind that I'm always grabbing Australian, European, and Japanese workers and relocating them at 25,000 a pop.

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

Have you been offering contracts with relocation expenses included? What's your drug testing policy? Upping peoples morale by giving them bonuses? There's a ton that factors into that one category. The misc. expenses automatically go up with each promotion size but it ultimately depends on your financial habits.

 

None of the above. I haven't done relocation. I have no drug testing whatsoever. I don't usually give bonuses, certainly not enough to jack up my Misc. expenses that much.

 

My Misc. expenses have exceeded 5.7 million in one month at Global. Keep in mind that I'm always grabbing Australian, European, and Japanese workers and relocating them at 25,000 a pop.

 

How do you make enough money to pay for that? I have B popularity across the board, but I only draw about 10,000 to my weekly shows and 30,000 to PPV shows. PPV revenue is low to begin with, and production costs for television shows are over $1,000,000 all by themselves. It's weird, too, because my competition has the same level of popularity I do and they draw almost 30,000 to even their weekly shows, and I can't figure out how to do that. So how do you make enough money?

[Linsolv]

This might be a stupid question, but.. you're running house shows, right? And you're holding your actual shows in areas where you're popular?

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

This might be a stupid question, but.. you're running house shows, right? And you're holding your actual shows in areas where you're popular?

 

Yes, of course, four days a week on house shows and always holding shows where I get maximum attendance.

[Stennick]

You're not paying for travel expenses for ANY of these workers? Seems kind of crazy that you wouldn't be offering travel expenses of any sort. Those can be a few hundred bucks a worker.

[ampulator]

You're not paying for travel expenses for ANY of these workers? Seems kind of crazy that you wouldn't be offering travel expenses of any sort. Those can be a few hundred bucks a worker.

And that's why I never pay for travel expenses unless the workers absolutely demand it. Travel expenses can be very high for workers with a lot of respect. You end up on the losing end, because respect will increase over time.

 

I just give an increase to pay per appearance or month to avoid paying for travel expenses.

[LoganRodzen]

How do you make enough money to pay for that? I have B popularity across the board, but I only draw about 10,000 to my weekly shows and 30,000 to PPV shows. PPV revenue is low to begin with, and production costs for television shows are over $1,000,000 all by themselves. It's weird, too, because my competition has the same level of popularity I do and they draw almost 30,000 to even their weekly shows, and I can't figure out how to do that. So how do you make enough money?

 

Popularity is B+ throughout the US and a B throughout in Mexico / Canada. I run house shows 6 days a week for all three of my brands (two major and one minor) - the only day each brand gets off is the day their TV show is live or taped. Both of my major brands have 2hr TV shows that get around 10,000-13,000 while my minor brand has two B-shows that are taped on the same night and get 2,500 - 2,900 at a created venue that can hold 3,300. Each of the PPVs I put on usually have 30,000 unless I run it at the venue I built in the Tri State area that I can sell out with 37,000.

 

I'm going through some serious hardship right now because the wrestling industry and economy are horrible. They're still going down and it doesn't look like it'll be going up anytime soon.

 

That month I was referencing was the last month in my 2020 game. We actually lost 500k because of the spending. I never said I made money when I spent that much. Keeping my Misc. expenses at around 3.5 million a month allows me to bring in 2.5+ million in profit. I have a medium drug testing policy and give guys bonuses all the time to keep them happy. I'm the absolute definition of a flashy spender in TEW.

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

You run six house shows a week? Don't your workers get major fatigue from that? I thought workers needed a day off to restore their condition, otherwise they get overworked and start showing fatigue.

 

As for the rest, yeah, I only have one A show and one brand because I wasn't able to get a B show because of things discussed in another thread (which I am remedying; I was tricky, I sent out negotiation requests for free stations a week in advance, then cancelled my current TV contract right after my final show of August, meaning no time off the air and now I have an A show on a network I can get a B show on next cycle).

[LoganRodzen]

You run six house shows a week? Don't your workers get major fatigue from that? I thought workers needed a day off to restore their condition, otherwise they get overworked and start showing fatigue.

 

The rotation of workers I use is always changing because my roster is massive (in the hundreds). Nobody over 35 years old work my house shows either.

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

The rotation of workers I use is always changing because my roster is massive (in the hundreds). Nobody over 35 years old work my house shows either.

 

Please elaborate. I already have a huge wage bill with only 40 or 50 on my bloated roster (which is about 15 over what I need). What is this rotation? I know main eventers have to be used on every show in order to not get unhappy. Is there a rotation mechanic in how house shows work or something? I just have every available worker working my house shows.

[LoganRodzen]

Please elaborate. I already have a huge wage bill with only 40 or 50 on my bloated roster (which is about 15 over what I need). What is this rotation? I know main eventers have to be used on every show in order to not get unhappy. Is there a rotation mechanic in how house shows work or something? I just have every available worker working my house shows.

 

I'm always adding and removing guys from the house roster. Main Eventers don't care about house shows. Nobody cares about house shows. I use house shows to keep people from getting rusty. I have so many workers that get used for angle purposes only that they may not see a single on-air wrestling match for weeks and weeks.

[Greg McNeish]

From a strictly mechanical sense, with a roster of 40, you can have every single one of your workers wrestling on only 1 of every 4 house shows. That's LOADS of time to rest up.

 

In order to run house shows, you need to have a minimum of 10 wrestlers on written contracts, that include working house shows. There is absolutely ZERO benefit, from a business standpoint, from having more than 10 workers on a house show. So, select 10 to be on the house show roster, move ahead one day, deselect all of them, and add the next 10.

 

Repeat ad infinitum.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Have you increased in size in this timeframe? Becoming a much larger company will take a lot more money to keep it running behind the scenes - things such as administration, legal, bills etc.

[Remianen]

I know main eventers have to be used on every show in order to not get unhappy.

 

Where are you getting these misconceptions? What you "know" is absolutely wrong. Main eventers desire to be used on every OTHER (non-B) show and even then you don't need to adhere to that (they'll get 'irritated' but that's meaningless).

 

I have to wonder what you're actually doing. I can make money at National with a roster of 72, regardless of economy or industry. Something's not jibing here. Have you ever played any of the C-Verse promotions for any length of time? That might at least give an idea of how the financial side works (default promotions are set up to be functional from game start).

 

Did you raise all your ticket prices $4 across the board?

Are you on a pay per view or TV carrier befitting your promotion size?

Are you letting said pay per view or TV carrier push you around (by not giving you a decent cut of the proceeds)?

Are you running a late-WCW type of promotion where everyone with a pulse is getting top dollar?

Do you have everything in the 'backstage rules' section checked?

What are your production & merchandising settings?

 

At National and higher, you should be making money hand over fist, unless you have extreme spending fetishes like Logan (or me, come to think of it). Even then, you're not likely to lose enough money to worry about, unless you're not doing all you can to maximize revenue. House shows four days a week? Mine are always seven (two don't happen because I tape my A and B shows on two different days and only run one brand. I also lose one house show a month to my PPV. So 9 house shows a month don't happen). Nobody on my roster has any bonuses in their contracts (no PPV bonus, no percentage of merch, none of that).

 

There's something you're not telling (or don't know or think you know but is incorrect). Did you start at International? If not, have you lost money all the way to International? I always advise folks to start with a small promotion, so you become familiar with the one part of the promotion that could get you fired regardless of how good the onscreen product is (read: If you're Paul Heyman, you'll go the way of (real) ECW). Many of the vets here start every game with the same routine (ticket prices +4, Just in Time, etc) because it works.

[bookerman]

So what are the best starting settings besides ticket prices +4 and merchandise set to Just In Time?

[funkyzafara]

I will ask the same question here as I asked in the small questions thread:

 

I just reached the +10,000,000$ investment from ZEN, and at the end of the month, my Misc. expenses was 2,7million$.. I did nothing out of the ordinary in that time, signed 1 person with travel expenses, but it's approx. 100$ pr. show... Really bedazzled as to what went wrong.

[Greg McNeish]

Well, as you'd said in Small Questions, it's likely taxes. That would be a Misc. expense.

[Greg McNeish]

So what are the best starting settings besides ticket prices +4 and merchandise set to Just In Time?

 

Auto-Push the roster, then sort your non-wrestling talent. Make any adjustments to your schedule that you deem necessary (including setting up house shows, if you're able to). If applicable, send out PPV requests.

 

That's all I can think of, at the moment.

[MaxxHexx]

What is the advantage to auto-pushing the roster there?

[Greg McNeish]

So that people don't complain about their push, unless their assh*les.

 

It also gives you a much quicker look at where people stand, relative to each other.

[ampulator]

So that people don't complain about their push, unless their assh*les.

 

It also gives you a much quicker look at where people stand, relative to each other.

I want to add you want auto-push every once in a while, to see who should be where.

[Greg McNeish]

Oh yeah, sure. In fact, I do it after every single show. Is this necessary? Not at all. But for the 2 seconds it takes me, I'm willing to sacrifice, in order to avoid as many morale issues as possible.

[DreamGoddessLindsey]

Did you raise all your ticket prices $4 across the board?

Are you on a pay per view or TV carrier befitting your promotion size?

 

Yes and yes.

 

Are you letting said pay per view or TV carrier push you around (by not giving you a decent cut of the proceeds)?

 

They always force me to give them like 70% of the cut. There's nothing that can be done to lower that as far as I'm aware. It's not like there are any options. There's just the one box for the cut they get. Same for TV, actually, except you have a few more boxes that it seems they're pre-set in forcing you to take, including making me eat 80% of the costs and give them 80% of the cut. I haven't found any way around this. I tried lowering the number of seasons, changing the time slow, changing the amount of time (though I technically wouldn't be able to run the promotion with less than a two hour show), nothing changes what they want for the costs and cuts. Especially not with PPV (which is odd because I thought PPV revenue was one of the biggest money factors for a wrestling company in real life, but I get very little out of it, about $1,000,000 a month). There's no way to get them to budge, they're all pretty much pre-set. When negotiating, I always start at 50% and keep moving it one spot until they agree. It's not like they'll change their mind if you ask them again with the same conditions. So yes, they bully me, and there's nothing I can do about it. The TV networks force me to eat 80% of the production and give 90% of the profits, and there was no option to change that.

 

Are you running a late-WCW type of promotion where everyone with a pulse is getting top dollar?

 

I pay as little as I possibly can, though I do have to make PPV cut and merchandise concessions, or pay them $5000 or $10,000 more than the baseline, which then jacks everyone else's pay up because they complain "I'm not getting paid as much as so-and-so at the same level" crap. So I go for the lowest possible wage. I try not to give any extras, but sometimes they won't sign until I do. And it's not like I can just let them go.

 

Do you have everything in the 'backstage rules' section checked?

 

Oh hell no. I have no drugs, no smoking, all workers must remain for the whole show, catering, organized transport, and organize accomidations.

 

What are your production & merchandising settings?

 

Just in time and DVDs.

 

At National and higher, you should be making money hand over fist, unless you have extreme spending fetishes like Logan (or me, come to think of it). Even then, you're not likely to lose enough money to worry about, unless you're not doing all you can to maximize revenue. House shows four days a week? Mine are always seven (two don't happen because I tape my A and B shows on two different days and only run one brand. I also lose one house show a month to my PPV. So 9 house shows a month don't happen). Nobody on my roster has any bonuses in their contracts (no PPV bonus, no percentage of merch, none of that).

 

How the hell do you do that? I've negotiated over and over, and some people just won't sign unless you give them bonuses. Some flat out refuse, with no way around it unless you pay them top dollar, which gets expensive, and dangerous since I have a salary cap of $45,000 and am always in danger of losing the guys that keep my promotion running because they all want outrageous amounts (mainly the guys in the A range popularity; I'm about to job one down in an attempt to get his pay cut down significantly). How do you get around that?

 

Also, how do you get around fatigue if your roster is working every single day of every single week?

 

There's something you're not telling (or don't know or think you know but is incorrect). Did you start at International? If not, have you lost money all the way to International? I always advise folks to start with a small promotion, so you become familiar with the one part of the promotion that could get you fired regardless of how good the onscreen product is (read: If you're Paul Heyman, you'll go the way of (real) ECW). Many of the vets here start every game with the same routine (ticket prices +4, Just in Time, etc) because it works.

 

Started at National, worked up to International. Also, I was doing fine with money, making about $1,000,000 a month, until my production costs increased from $640,000 to $1,536,000 (on the dot) each month (which is strange because NOTHING happened the month the change occured; I got on a bigger PPV carrier a month before and a bigger TV network two months after, but nothing the month the increase happened) and my Misc. expenses jumped from under $1,000,000 to over $2,000,000 with no increased means of revenue. Now I'm lucky to make $100,000 a month, and some months I'm losing that amount.

 

The big thing that hurt me was the production costs increase. I can't figure out why it happened. I'd already had a bigger PPV and bigger TV deal in the months before the increase, so that can't be it because they would've increased the months it started.

 

Wait, better explanation. March 2002 it was $640,000, April 2002 it was $1,536,000. I gained a new time slot, in Japan, in February, and that started airing in March. I got a deal for a bigger network in May, but that started in June. I also started airing on a bigger PPV network starting in March. So where did the increase happen? NOTHING happened in April. It's the one month in there nothing happened in. That's what's killing me. As I said, those are the exact amounts, and there's no explanation that I can find because literally nothing changed in April. Oh, and strangely, it was $400,000 in February, which I also can't explain.

[Linsolv]

I want to add you want auto-push every once in a while, to see who should be where.

 

I consistently auto-push after every PPV. That said, I'm still a Local company. And because I tend to A) use really unknown talent and B) have personal projects [i love to push Mario da Silva to the moon. I mark for the Kimura.] that means there are ALWAYS people moving on the roster.