For nearly 25 years, Singletrack has served as an independent voice in the mountain bike industry. Now, facing the persistent challenges of the ever-changing publishing world, the company has launched the Singletrack Owner’s Club, inviting investment via Crowdcube, allowing readers and the industry to invest and help secure its future.
With the campaign nearing its final days, we speak to Publisher Mark Alker about what this collective investment means and how it will help them continue to develop and grow the Singletrack brand.
Why now?Â
Singletrack has been nothing if not adaptable over the last 25 years. From launching a print title into a busy magazine market in 2001 to launching the first cycling digital subscription in 2008. It’s been a story of continuous change and adapting to new technologies and market conditions. There remains no stability in the publishing world, and if anything, the pace of change is increasing.
Singletrack has always managed to adapt on a shoestring budget, but if we are going to remain a trusted source of bike-related content, we need to invest in our team. Bringing the community on board as stakeholders through Crowdcube feels like the right choice for the Singletrack brand. But stakeholders are not just readers. We are here to serve the bike industry as well as our readers, and we really want to encourage our industry partners to get on board and help shape our future.
In a nutshell, what does this mean for Singeltrack and its future?Â
Singletrack has two futures. There is the current status quo, where we continue to publish with limited resources across digital and print to our existing audience. Or there’s the alternative where we grow the Singletrack brand by reaching a wider demographic of readers via a wider pool of contributors and industry partners, where we adapt and exploit new technologies and use them to increase ROI for not just our readers but our industry backers, too.
You mentioned ‘looking at how we remain sustainable and not just survive but thrive as a media brand’ What does that look like, and what will the investment help STW achieve?
Content production by trusted sources across multiple media is the future of specialist journalism. Print plays an important part in that and enables us to offer a complete media spread that very few other media publishers can offer. If we can grow our audience, both through print and digital content, then we will have a sustainable future.
This investment round is designed to allow us to not only produce more content but to promote it widely and grow our reach and engagement. In short, I am certain there is a profitable business to be exploited if we can increase our content production and promotion in very specific directions. Trusted content from high-quality, human sources is already in demand, and it will only increase in the future.
I know you have tiers for investors with set rewards. But say, for example, industry wants to invest and there’s not a specific reward they are interested in, is there scope to discuss, or do you have to stay in those set parameters?
The incentives and tiers are a promotional tool built into the Crowdcube platform. Ultimately, we want investors to invest because they believe in what we do and what we can do with the right backers. Any industry backers are more than welcome to get in touch with me or any other members of the Singletrack team to talk about ways we can work together. The short answer is they are nice to have incentives, but off-platform discussions are very much welcome too.
What’s the reception from industry been like? Have you had much in the way of investment from brands, etc?
We have had a great deal of support from our industry partners in terms of wishing us the best and also with practical help in spreading the word of our campaign. Some individuals have invested, but I’d love to build Singletrack into a media brand that has more industry stakeholders.
For those who want to invest, but they’re on the fence, what do you say to them? What’s the value they might be missing when we think big picture?
That’s a tough question to answer, as people invest for all kinds of reasons. I’d point to the state of the mainstream cycling media as it is today and suggest that it’s not the best situation for any of us in the bike industry. If you like to have a thriving cycling media that can be trusted. If you like to see your products in print and online with the views of journalists paid to be experts at what they do, rather than by influencers with a list of sponsored hashtags, then this is a way you can have a real impact in preserving and developing something that is valuable to every part of the cycling ecosystem.
I don’t want to get too pessimistic, but this is an inflection point in the world of modern media, and if we feel there is value to be had in preserving independent journalism in whatever form that takes, then this is the time to support it. Don’t get me wrong – Content about bikes won’t vanish if Singletrack does. There will continue to be content created by talented people. The void will be filled, I’m sure. But I’m also pretty sure the loss will be felt, too. Investing in Singletrack is as much an emotional step as it is a rational, financial one, and I can only promise that there is a good plan in place to not just survive but to thrive.
There’s bound to be no straight answer to this due to a variety of factors. Let’s talk return on investment. Obviously, it isn’t something that’s guaranteed?
My absolute intention is to make Singletrack profitable, and I genuinely believe it’s possible with investment. Investors are real shareholders – they will get share certificates and legal stuff and everything. The profits we will make will be used well and carefully, but they will also head back to shareholders when they are available too. I have no qualms about giving up my own equity in Singletrack and sharing the proceeds with as many investors as possible.
That said, it’s a risk. Media is a tough game, and the risks are real, and it will be a lot of hard work that gets us profitable. But there’s another return on investment that is less tangible than profits. By continuing to exist and to thrive is a return on investment in of itself too. I have heard from many of our current investors who have all expressed their opinions on what a return means to them – There are those that believe there’s a profitable future ahead and that at some point they could very well see a financial return – but there are others who are happy to know that what they invest is being used to keep Singletrack on track. For them, that’s enough.
I appreciate there’s a lot of detail that can’t be discussed beyond what’s listed on the crowdfunding, but what are the main points you want to get across?
The main point is that the more investment we get, the more we can do with it and the more we can shape Singletrack into a powerhouse of content production that works for the industry as much as it does the readers. I see no conflict in having members of the industry join us as shareholders.
Where possible, you’ve been very open on the Singletrack forum with questions and made it known that you’re open to private discussions. If people have questions, what’s the best way to get in touch?
The best way to get in touch is by email. mark@singletrackworld.com I’ll always respond to questions about what we currently do and what the practical plans are to grow. I have a real plan with real steps that will begin from day one of the investment arriving. We have a minimum target for investment of £40k, but the plan expands with higher amounts. The more we get, the better the results will be for everyone.
Find out more on the Singletrack Crowdcube pitch.
