2024 Financial Report

And what to expect in 2025

The numbers are in for 2024. Revenue more than doubled from $259,672 to $631,990. Gross profit almost tripled. Net income increased from $4,093 to $153,033.

Our main business of board games saw almost half a million dollars in revenue last year. The cost of that revenue includes not only the production costs, but art and graphic design, shipping, transaction costs and royalty payments. The buying and selling of baseball tickets was transferred to Fort Circle - it is a low margin business except when the Washington Nationals make the playoffs. Circle DC 2024 was a marketing success but a financial loser due to venue costs. Consulting revenue is unpredictable because it is not a focus of the business but I certainly will not turn down interesting consulting opportunities.

Our boardgame sales to date have been respectable for a small specialty publisher. Votes for Women is almost sold out of its second printing and will be reprinted this summer. The Shores of Tripoli sold out of its first printing and is in the queue to be reprinted. Shakespeare’s First Folio, Hunt for Blackbeard, First Monday in October and The Halls of Montezuma are all in the publishing queue.

On one hand, 2024 was a pretty successful year for Fort Circle. But on the other hand it was a disappointment. When I posted the 2023 financial numbers, here were the predictions for 2024:

The 2024 targets are 20,000 games sold, $1.1M income, $400,000 in gross profit and $250,000 in net income.

Instead, we only sold 8,169 games and obviously fell short of our projections. The single reason why we failed is delays in getting games to market on schedule. Night Witches and Peace 1905 both were scheduled to be Kickstarted and both The Halls of Montezuma and Hunt for Blackbeard were expected to have been delivered to backers and on sale in stores. None of that happened in 2024.

Production delays really are the biggest threat to the company. They are a threat to cash flow - right now I have almost $200,000 tied up in production - and they are a threat to our reputation. A lot of the delays are out of my control - the Baltimore port closure, the artwork for Night Witches being a year late, extended production times with our manufacturer, just to name a few items - but some of the delays are on my shoulders. It may make sense to bring on another person to help ensure all parts of the business are running smoothly.

I am not going to make any predictions for 2025. For now, the focus is entirely on production. Getting The Halls of Montezuma, Hunt for Blackbeard, First Monday in October and Shakespeare’s First Folio all out the door and getting The Shores of Tripoli and Votes for Women reprinted. Then we will focus on Kickstarting Night Witches and Peace 1905 and producing our new line of small box games like Open Windows.