Magazine Journalist Business Plan

Executive Summary

Write Bike is a home-based start-up business that provides cycling specific correspondent services in the form of written articles. Kraig Guthrie, the founder and sole employee will produce cycling related articles on a freelance basis for a variety of print and online magazines. By leveraging Kraig’s extensive industry experience, Write Bike will become a sustainable home-based business.

Services
Write Bike is able to produce a wide range of cycling related articles. Some of the articles will be product reviews. Through extensive testing and consistent criteria-based measurements, Kraig will be able to offer objective product testing. Write Bike also offers interviews, typically with professional racers as well as industry personalities. Kraig, having raced at the elite level in the past, is personal friends with many different racers and can offer written interviews to his different customer publications. Kraig will also sell reports from the annual bicycle industry trade shows, the premier place for new product launches. He will also be able to offer fitness and training articles, specific to cycling from his extensive riding experience and educational background. Write Bike will write articles either on demand or speculatively.

The Market
It was just several years ago when the only source of cycling information was either from the local bike shop or the printed magazine. With the proliferation of the Internet, there are many different cycling specific sites that act as online magazines. Write Bike will sell their articles either to the print magazines or the online magazines. Due to a consolidation phenomenon within the publishing industry, many different magazines are merging into larger units and many staff writers are being let go. This benefits Write Bike because it creates demand for freelance articles. The two target market customers: print and online magazines, comprise a total of 350 potential customers, 250 and 100 respectively. These two customer segments are growing at 2% and 8% annually.

Management
Kraig Guthrie brings a wealth of experience to Write Bike. Kraig received his undergraduate degree in Biology and Journalism from Brown University. While at Brown Kraig raced on their cycling team as well as wrote for the student newspaper. Upon graduation Kraig continued to pursue cycling, both at a competitive level as well as business related. Kraig participated at the Olympic Training sessions, riding as an elite cyclist. Additionally, Kraig managed a bicycle shop for several years. Kraig then went to work for Shimano America, the premier bicycle component manufacturer. Through a variety of jobs and responsibilities at Shimano, Kraig became intimately familiar with the industry and the people that make it up. Kraig’s expert knowledge of the industry will be invaluable in the production of articles.

1.1 Mission

It is Write Bike’s mission to produce well written articles about the bicycle industry. By leveraging Kraig’s extensive network of colleagues within the industry, Write Bike is able to offer a rare insight of the industry.

1.2 Keys to Success

• Create well written, insightful articles for the bicycle industry.
• Continue to develop a network of contacts, both as a source of information as well as to develop the market’s acceptance of Write Bike’s articles.
• Always remember the audience.

1.3 Objectives

• Develop regular, consistent article submissions with multiple publications.
• Create a profitable home-based business.
• Continue to develop and maintain a network of contacts within the bicycle industry.