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Also, having been on one of the lifetime subscribers rides in Calderdale and blown up halfway up the second climb, I am not sure the invite to the owners ride is that great of an incentive for me unless they decide to hold them somewhere a bit flatter.
😆 "It's bad news I'm afraid ladies and gentlemen. The major stumbling block in our plans for world domination, the one flaw that we hadn't considered, is that our subscriber ride wasn't flat enough" 😉
One example is video production is a stalling point for us. It's what the market wants
This is a generational gap thing. I'm a similar age to Mark and Chipps, I was born and raised in the 1970s. Screens weren't a thing, books were. I read. I read a LOT and I read quickly. I don't want to watch a video where they tell you what they're going to tell you, advertise something, trail some other videos you might watch, ask you to HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON, then slowly and painfully explain something. I can read the article in about a tenth of the time it takes to watch a video.
Younger people though seem to have an aversion to the written workd and need someone on screen showing and telling them what's happening and how to do things.
I suppose then it depends on the target market and the usage profile of the site.
I'm considering investing, but not as a commercial thing - more to say thanks for being here and doing what you do, I've been knocking around since the start and have got a lot out of the site, even if we no longer read the magazine itself.
There’s no doubt that the loss of Hannah and Amanda have affected the content of STW but I’m amazed at the amount of content from such a small team, Ben must be out on the hills all day testing stuff!
Yes, the “glitches” are frustrating but it goes back to it being a small team. Hopefully this flotation will help, I can’t afford to lose any money but I have advertised (paid for) and will continue to do so along with continuing my subscription.
My inbox and DMs are open for any questions.
This seems an odd response to someone who highlighted that more details on the plans would be helpful so they can see what funds will be used for and decide if that is likely to result in a return on their investment.
I was also interested in investing but the lack of clear and upfront information on the what the raised finance will be used for is very disappointing. Surely it is up to the current owners to publish all the available information to encourage people to invest? At the moment it all seems quite secretive or suggests that you don't have a full business plan - if so why haven't you published that alongside forecast financials (P&L, Balance sheet and most importantly cashflow...cash is king!) as part of a pre investment pack?
I'm afraid at the moment this doesn't seem like an investment but more an additional request for donations which fundamentally will just be used to keep the mag (or perhaps more pertinently the forum) going and pay the owners their wages.
Perhaps they don't want to post all of the sensitive info on a public forum?
There is a discussion section on Crowdcube where you can post questions.
Understood but it could be sent direct to potential investors or maybe it is all available on the Crowdcube site and I havent seen it. Either way I think the onus is on those wanting investment to provide the information rather than expecting individual request/statements.
I get that. But there's a few issues that I need to be very careful about. One is that the campaign is FCA governed, which means as director anything I put on the site here and in public has to be considered very carefully. I'm not allowed to make any claims publicly that are not already laid out in the pitch on Crowdcube. Everything I say is considered financial communication when I say it publicly.
That's not an excuse - that's legal advice I've been given from Crowdcube.
There is a pitch deck document that is available through the campaign but at the level we are operating at and have paid for this is available only to Crowdcube's elite tier of investors.
Also, explaining in detail our business plan in public can be problematic. I've always been as open as possible when it comes to what we do at Singletrack and how the business is run and funded but publishing a complete business plan is probably a step too far and any business would be wise to consider what they make public for commercial reasons.
All that said - SOME broad strokes.
The plan breaks down into areas of the business that can be expanded in order to increase revenue and reduce operating costs. I've already alluded to video production as one area we have identified as a bottle neck. Video is lucrative - regardless of what your personal thoughts on it as a content medium. Personally I agree with some of the comments above regarding video. I prefer reading content to watching it. But I'm not here to run the business for me - it has to be run to be profitable.
Travel is another area for development that is profitable. It opens up new markets in the travel sector for us to earn revenue from. eg. Air Canada as a sponsor of our in production Canadian destination guides. Plus the associated tourist authorities that support this kind of content.
Marketing of our content is another area that needs development/investment. For 25 years we've relied on the fact that the website brings hundreds of thousands of visitors every month - that has meant we have not needed to spend on external marketing to gain subscribers/readers. That landscape has changed quite dramatically and there's a number of markets that we need to target to increase subscriptions growth. 1 example being lapsed subscribers (there are several in the plan). That level of marketing needs budget and time/staff. We don't have enough of either at the moment - hence the reason for investment.
Each of those examples (there are more) require time, skill and money. There is a detailed plan behind each.
One new idea that has come out of the Crowdcube campaign thanks to the chat I've had with a potential investor who wants to remain anon, is ringfencing editorial budget to be spent on paying for content from contributors under the age of 30. This very much fits with the long term objective of attracting new readers and new audiences. One problem I intend to tackle is the issue of the content creators creating content for their age group. If we keep cranking out content from our current demographic without considering younger audiences then the market we serve will shrink as, frankly, we all die off. I'm not looking to continue Singletrack as it is - that's like holding on to your CD collection and vowing never to stream anything.
One more project we created and then stalled due to lack of resources was the moderation tools on the forum - a topic I'm sure we can all relate to. We had developed an AI/LLM tool that was designed to help moderators home in on potential 'issues'. This was based on an early Google tool called sentiment analysis. In a nutshell it could detect if conversations were getting heated and then alert moderators that there may be something to keep an eye on. We built the tech behind it but we couldn't spare the time and money to polish it into a final product. My thoughts on that were we could build a system that could be sold/licenced to other online forums - potential R&D fuding etc..
So, we are not without ideas and we certainly have a lot of experience in this area. We are small and can adapt to big changes in the market without having to run thing sup a corporate flagpole - But the limiting factor really is time and money. Singletrack needs to adapt and change with the current markets and tech and trends in MTB if it's going to be around for another 25 years. That's not possible without investment in time and money.
Additional: I posted that having just come out of a meeting with a company/agency called BidX. They help companies develop bids for grant funding in areas of R&D and tech innovation. This is another avenue I'm currently looking at - In general though, grant funding requires the company to have a percentage of the funds in place. Again, that's predicated on a successful crowdcube campaign.
editorial budget to be spent on paying for content from contributors under the age of 30
ewwwwww.... young people?! What do you want that for?! 🤮 😉
NBT has perfectly summed up my position, and I think illustrates a key divide, between the 'fans' who see investing as an extension of the other donations and subscription they may have, and the more serious/ sensible 'investors'. The appeal is a bit different to the two groups.
Question: was the answer that this is UK only (you can register a non-UK CrowdCube account, but this offer is only available to UK investors)?
What else can I tell you?
I've just started a mini MBA at Lancaster University in Business Growth and Mangement. I've been doing this for 25 years but it's never too late to learn more and I want to make sure that IF we succeed with this investment campaign that I give that investment the best possible chance of working.
Thanks for all the updates and question answering - appreciated.
Do you have a minimum figure in mind that you need to raise?
I have a number of investment total points at which I've adjusted the plan. £40k is where are target is currently with more in the plan if we exceed that.
We used to have context from Benji all the time, Hannah all the time and others, every day or two you'd have articles coming up with various things, now a lot of them i don't think interested my hugely, but some did. There were kit reviews all the time, new bike reviews, ride reviews, adventures, but they've all gone away.
This hits the nail on the head for me. Apart from the forum Im not sure what else is being bought / invested in. I subsrcibe to the magazine but am rarely interested in more than half the articles as they dont cover my interests in the sport and I have no interest in gravel. Since I started subscribing many years ago the mag / site seems to be drifting away from core mountainbiking. That might be a deliberate stragegy or an accident of chaging interests of the editorial team, I dont know. But gone are the days I used this site to find out whats new or happening in the sport.
Increasing our editorial output IS very much part of the plan. One reason for the reduction in output is the simple fact the team is much smaller and so we have to pick our jobs very carefully.
@Mark the pitch deck is very high level. From my naive reading of the financial numbers revenue is down and loss is up year on year - is there a plan to address this? Can you share?
What's the relationship between gofar and singletrack media ltd? It's mentioned in the accounts for this year with transactions between the companies and a shared director. Does gofar or singletrack media ltd own the core IP assets (i.e the brand, the web address, user data, etc)?
I'm fairly inclined to invest as I've got so much value from this place over the years, but it would be good to see more of a plan...
Two years of losses up to Feb 2024. The latest accounts will be better - they are being prepped for filing at the end of November. Turnover is up for the last financial year by around £20k and costs have been considerably reduced in that period. I can't comment on the actual profit as that's not currently finalised.
Singletrack media is a legacy company that we mothballed 18 months ago. It came about from a time around 18 years ago when we considered a company name change from Gofar to Singletrack Media. We didn't bother in the end. It has no assets and owns no IP. We used it to manage a studio we rented for a time as it was there and we could. But it is in the process of being wound up.
Can I be rude and ask what Chipps involvement is on a day to day basis?
To the casual observer it seems he's semi-retired from STW contributing the editorial for each magazine, the email newsletter and a few articles now and again. Especially as he's no longer a director of GoFar Enterprises. And why did he resign as director if still actively involved in day to day running of the company.
If you are basically running the show should the dilution of shares come from Chipps holding and not your own (not sure how this is doable!).
Re Singletrack Media Limited - it's been charging a management fee of around £50k per year to Gofar Enterprises - what was that for if it was essentially a dormant company?
Singletrack Media did do a job for Gofar Enterprises ltd for a time. It managed a studio, equipment and dealt with rents but it was just a pain to run and for net zero benefit, which is why we decided to simplify and wind it down.
Chipps is very much active in Singletrack. He checks in daily with the rest of us from France and he's currently neck deep in proofing and editing all the content for Issue 164. His shares are his shares (currently 50% like me). I suppose he could offer them up for sale somehow but then what is raised would be his and not be available to invest in the company. By creating more shares for investors we dilute our own shareholding BUT the investment raised through the sale of the new shares all goes to the company, where it's needed.
I'm sure there are lots of different ways to do this but going through a service company like Crowdcube means we don't have to get buried in the legal stuff - they are the experts at this kind of thing and we are not - they will be handling all the legal and financial jobs for us and we can focus on making the investment work.
Since I started subscribing many years ago the mag / site seems to be drifting away from core mountainbiking.
I don't think it's drifted. When it was launched it occupied a space between MBUK (shredding the gnarr) and MBI (preoccupied with racing, although the bike reviews were good). It seems to me that that is still the space it occupies - some special events, big days out in the hills (in the UK and abroad), natural stuff, no bike parks. Question is whether that is still a viable position.
Is this the thing that was talked about a year ago (or that’s how it feels)
I genuinely hope it works out for STW and those that invest
However I don’t see the core demographic changing , or an attempt to try and change the core demographic.
If it’s going to change from what mtb to what zimmer frame then fair enough, but STW doesn’t appear to be attracting a younger user. Also the forum appears at every step to try and discourage new users and be happy with a strategy of we don’t care and it’s better if you pay.
Is this the thing that was talked about a year ago (or that’s how it feels)
I genuinely hope it works out for STW and those that invest
However I don’t see the core demographic changing , or an attempt to try and change the core demographic.
If it’s going to change from what mtb to what zimmer frame then fair enough, but STW doesn’t appear to be attracting a younger user. Also the forum appears at every step to try and discourage new users and be happy with a strategy of we don’t care and it’s better if you pay.
what makes you think every website visitor is a forum user? Compared to here, pinkbike’s forum is a ghost town, maybe 10 long running threads that get updated every other day, next to no non bike threads, yet they seem to manage.
It’s important to not focus on one aspect. I’m certainly not. It’s a holistic change. Video is one piece, the forum is one piece, albeit the most visible piece. The magazine is another, our demographic with its strengths and weaknesses is another. Travel content, content aimed at 30 somethings, marketing of what we offer, website ads, print ads, sponsorships… I could go on. It’s all of the above and more that fit together to make Singletrack. The core business is very diverse. To succeed we need to address all of it. We can’t while we are spread too thin but we can with your support.
The landscape is changing and while the print mag is not what matters to many people it is certainly a solid part of the whole. What I’m seeing across all specialist media (not just bikes) is that the strongest brands still have print in the mix of what they do. Print is a strength if done well and for us it certainly is. Having a physical product is really important. I know that for many reading this it is far from important, but as a business asset it is still key. Print is NOT a money pit for us, despite what is commonly thought. Being in a position to offer a marketing spread across ALL media gives us an advantage that pure digital do not have. Not just in terms of a physical medium but also in credibility. Publishing digitally is pretty easy - we all do it to one level or another on all the social platforms. But print is really hard to do. We do it well and in marketing conversations with advertisers it’s definitely a strength.
But print is still just one part of the business. The key to success is bringing them all together to work as a brand that you guys can get behind and also the wider bike industry (and other markets).
The point of this investment campaign is to put us in a position to do that.
Everything that@nbtsaid above re video. I was trying to find a way to write exactly that but he nailed it.
I think the risk with video is that if it's very good, it gets lost in amongst the dross and if it's very poor, it just is the dross...
That's like being a new musician and saying you will not be releasing any music because it's 1887, poetry books are still popular and a few people who bought your poetry books previously have said they don't like gramophones.
OTOH every other advert I get at the moment is for AI enabled browsers that will watch a youtube video and summarize it for me. So don't drop the written content!
The problem I'd question with that as a business decision though is that GCN/GMBN have already saturated the market with "how to fix a puncture" videos which are likely the ones that get the regular clicks and drip feed income for years to come. ST magazine has always generally been more about ride/routes/stories/interviews/travel and that sort of video content is going to be significantly more expensive to do well than studio content, how to videos or yet another variation on the question whether aero or weight saving actually matters. ST feels more like the longer format documentaries following endurance athletes on the TCR/HT550/GBDuro and that comes from established media companies like Red Bull with added brand sponsorship. I'd be curious to know what something like "I just want to ride" cost to produce. That got ~2million watches, most similar similar documentaries get ~200k. Unfortunately cycling is niche media*, there are narrowboat blogs with higher figures!
*mass participation though, we just don't watch youtube it seems.
Oh don’t expect us to be copying GmBN et al. You won’t be seeing g puncture fixing videos from us 🙂
what makes you think every website visitor is a forum user? Compared to here, pinkbike’s forum is a ghost town, maybe 10 long running threads that get updated every other day, next to no non bike threads, yet they seem to manage.
Fancy having a biking website where the forum is dominated by threads about biking. Whatever next
And yet MBUK manage to keep the lights on with hardly any meaningful online presence, an old tech website and a YouTube channel that brings in views but nothing with mega viewing figures - just the one that's nearing 200k. 🤷♂️
Looks like they've knocked out a lot of content in the last ten months since their channel started - not sure what their ROI is - perhaps Mark has some insider info!?
I'll be honest looking the the CrowdCube figures I take my hat off to Mark and the team - you are doing a cracking job on what looks like a shoestring budget! 👍
Two years of losses up to Feb 2024. The latest accounts will be better - they are being prepped for filing at the end of November. Turnover is up for the last financial year by around £20k and costs have been considerably reduced in that period. I can't comment on the actual profit as that's not currently finalised.
Singletrack media is a legacy company that we mothballed 18 months ago. It came about from a time around 18 years ago when we considered a company name change from Gofar to Singletrack Media. We didn't bother in the end. It has no assets and owns no IP. We used it to manage a studio we rented for a time as it was there and we could. But it is in the process of being wound up.
Thanks @Mark much appreciated.
Fancy having a biking website where the forum is dominated by threads about biking
Yes, but... part of the appeal of the STW forum is the off topic stuff.
Shows how out of touch I am - I'd completely forgotten about Bikeradar! It somehow never seemed mainstream.
huh - I tend to visit it a few times a week. Not all the content is up my street, but it is well written and engaging, so works for me. Different from STW though, of course
Firstly, just to get this off my chest: it is Algorithm, not Algorythm (pitch slide 2)
From what is shared I get why you need investment and change (although I had to cross-reference between the equity offer and pitch it isn't clear in either individually). However, there isn't enough shared on what the intended change is or how you intend to change to entice me to consider a significant investment. Too many unknowns creates uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to cold feet.
I know from my work in innovation that, when setting out to change, building the right thing is usually the bigger & hairier problem compared to building things right. I appreciate that there is a level of detail you don't want to share publicly. However, I feel that sharing, at a conceptual level, what you intend Singletrack to become and your longer-term plans/role/commitments as the two existing shareholders would really help to eliminate uncertainties and help people to judge the risks and rewards enabling them to make investment decisions.
Also, you only mention mountainbiking, which gives me the impression that other sectors of offroad cycling (namely gravel) are not part of the growth plans - I perceive that to be limiting potential opportunities.
Good points.
TLDR version: My inbox is open for questions about details.
I'm not allowed to make any claims in public that are not approved by Crowdcube or already approved in the pitch/campaign. In terms of the pitch slides, Crowdcube restrict everything that can be said by me down to less than 80 words per category and their template has a restricted number of slides that can be used. I found it very restricting.
Public facing Crowdcube campaigns get lots more room for details and access to detailed business plans but a public campaign is much more expensive. We've had to pay upfront for our current campaign. These closed/private Crowdcube campaigns are designed for businesses like us that have an existing community that we can promote to. We don't get access to the wider Crowdcube community of existing investors or the more professional investor. Our campaign level is designed well for fan based community businesses.
I can't publish our business plan here - 1) it would not be wise commercially and 2) Crowdcube would not approve that.
So, it's not ideal for investors who want to see everything and all the detail laid out in the campaign pitch but my inbox is open for private discussion. How far into the weeds we go may have to involve an NDA style agreement. But I'm ready to talk details with any and all serious potential investors.
hese closed/private Crowdcube campaigns are designed for businesses like us that have an existing community that we can promote to. We don't get access to the wider Crowdcube community of existing investors or the more professional investor. Our campaign level is designed well for fan based community businesses.
I might be unduly cynical, but this sounds like we dont want serious investors who will create more accountability and demands for financail returns to be delivered. This takes us back up the thread to where this is effectively an enhanced donation as no one is likely to see good returns. Thats fine if thats the basis indiviudals want to invest on.
I think Mark has made it clear he's more than willing to talk directly to any major investor. And anyone investing multiple thousands would be daft not to do so.
Anyone putting in a few hundred won't see much of a return, but you won't see much return by putting a few hundred into any investment.
It does appear to be a UK resident only campaign
In that case it might be worth considering a donations type option for non UK folks like I think had already been mentioned. It might not raise huge amounts but it sounds like there are a few of us who would like a chance to help move things on even if we can't invest directly
It hadn’t crossed my mind that some may want to donate rather than invest. But I hadn’t taken into account the limitations set by Crowdcube.
this link is for our 502 club donation page. I’ll take the 502 branding off it shortly but it still works. I will propose that any donations will be treated like an investment as far as the Crowdcube perks go.
Gravel's just mountain biking on a roadbike - it's not a separate thing! 😉
Cyclist Magazine (traditionally a roadie publication) has dabbled a bit in gravel stuff. Various routes, tests of gravel bikes etc.
It splits the readership right down the middle; half the people saying it's wonderful that gravel is being accommodated and half saying that gravel biking is the spawn of the devil!
🤣
It hadn’t crossed my mind that some may want to donate rather than invest.
Realistically, this feels like semantics. Don't get me wrong, it's unarguably kudos-worthy that ST is still going strong, what with its unholy union of a legacy forum that's unashamedly about anything but biking and a print magazine that's the exact opposite. But... I find it very hard to believe that a small, specialist publishing company with an ageing customer base is ever going to be a credible 'investment' opportunity. As an opportunity to put money into something you like with no real expectation of returns, then fine, but investment feels like a stretch.
It all feels a little like wishful thinking. Particularly the bit where you expand the brand's reach into a younger audience simply by bringing in younger contributors. Like it or not, your content is very much defined by a sort of world-weary, slightly nostalgic ennui and a studied reluctance to embrace any sort of enthusiasm. Just watch the Mega Sack videos, which mostly feature two quite bored people being quite bored about products they're presumably being paid to, effectively, promote. That's kind of the brand you have. How you change that, I really don't know.
ST to me feels like a magazine and website aimed at people who used to ride mountain bikes and very occasionally still do. Of course that's probably a reflection of my own current grumpy state, but my main takeaway is that you need to ring fence a part of the editorial budget for brilliant content, regardless of the age or demographic of the contributors. It doesn't matter if it's video or fantastic original writing or poetry or stunning water colours, it just needs to be good and it needs to sparkle.
Sorry, that feels a bit like kicking an ageing cat because it's not chasing a ball of wool like a hyperactive kitten, but there you go. Don't get me wrong, I love the forum in particular for its mad range of comprehensive knowledge and information underpinned by the same world weary cynicism - and yes, I can see the irony in that - and I'm a paid-up member because I want to support and continue to use it, but I find it hard to see how you change that markedly without shedding your existing audience and brand at the same time. But there you go, as the clichéd ending goes, prove me wrong 🙂
Gravel's just mountain biking on a roadbike - it's not a separate thing! 😉
I'd consider that more Cyclocross, whereas Gravel is headed towards putting drop bars on a mountainbike. 🤓
Apologies, there are probably higher value things to discuss here. The reason for my comment was pointing out the lack of explicitness on what sectors will be targeted. But on reflection it isn't super helpful feedback as the offer is closed to Singletrackers who should be familiar with what Singletrack does.