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Cheltenham managing director James Watts has told Gloucester Live that the club needs to produce more revenue and he has a plan to achieve it.
The former Hereford general manager recently left Swindon.
"It’s a role I’ve wanted for a while and I am enjoying it so far," Watts said.
"I wanted to run the day-to-day operations and Cheltenham is within an hour of my previous clubs, so it falls within the network of contacts I’ve built up.
"I’ve known people who have played and managed here, as well as having contacts in the academy set-up, so this role stood out for me and as soon as I had a conversation with owner Mike Garlick, it was where I wanted to be for the coming season.
"The potential is there for the club to be bigger than it’s ever been, You don’t want to run before you walk, but there is definitely potential for the club to win promotion.
"If the club were to achieve that in the next 18 months or two years, the next stage is to make sure we are sustainable in League One because a lot of clubs go up, come back down and struggle, or drop into non-league.
"We have to keep expectations realistic, but there is no reason why the club can’t grow its fanbase with its location and being an affluent area; I see potential there.
"We have to build structures and processes correctly to make sure that if the club goes further on the field, we are able to match it off the field. If that doesn’t marry up, we’d be in trouble.
"Historically, I think Cheltenham fans understand how difficult League One is. For the club to go back to that level, with even more investment and bigger wages in football now, we have to be commercially and operationally in that position. I don’t see any reason why we can’t get there."
Watts has plenty of ideas.
"There is the possibility of a summer concert, which would generate revenue, but that’s just like one more match day and it needs to be a venue as much as a football ground.
"The fanzone we’ve had for the England World Cup games has generated money, as concerts could too. Oktoberfest, a Christmas Fair and Santa’s Grotto - there are loads of things we have the ability to do to generate that extra revenue, along with room hire, parties, wakes, weddings and conferencing.
"What I’d like to do is aim for 40 revenue-generating days instead of 28. A lot more can be done here because of the location and that’s something I’ll be looking to drive forward with the team here."
Currently the average gate at Cheltenham is around 4000.
"I have always tried to bring in more young fans, going into schools with the community foundation, running soccer camps and introducing ticket initiatives, as well as having more mascots, and that’ll be an area to target here.
"It’s also about giving value to your commercial partners, who’ll then tell other companies and your client base grows. It was something I did at Newport and Swindon, building that commercial area to drive attendances, which has helped both clubs.
"We also need to start targeting national businesses outside of Cheltenham. There is no reason why we can’t increase crowds by 10 or 15 per cent and, if we are winning games, why not 25 per cent or have sell-outs?
"As long as Steve Cotterill is winning games, we have to ensure the commercial operation is the best it can be. If fans are enjoying what they are watching, we can add extra elements to create both a family environment and a commercial environment. It all goes hand in hand to help the club reach the next level."