Starting a Book Store
Ever dreamt of starting your own bookstore? Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to run your own bookstore? This article briefly discusses the ABCs of the bookstore business.
Books have a universal appeal, whatever the genre or classification, be it sci-fi or fantasy, romance, thrillers or mystery, horror, contemporary literature, historical literature, kids and young adult literature, fiction or non-fiction, etc you will surely find a customer eager to purchase a title or two.
Owning and running a bookstore is many an avid reader’s dreams. If you wish to turn your dream into reality but don’t quite know where to begin, here is a list of some of the things you need to consider before you proceed with your endeavor.
Business plan – don’t get the impression that a business plan is only necessary because you want to get outside financing. That is incorrect. A business plan is essential because it serves as the backbone of your business. It will guide you and keep you focused on your goal. A business plan has several sections. It includes a description of the objectives of your business, your mission, your company summary, list of owners, start-up summary, start-up costs, location and facilities, products and services, a source for your inventory, projected products, and services, market analysis summary, market need, list of competition, market segmentation, market strategy, competitive advantage, pricing scheme, financial plan, projected profit and loss statement, list of assets and liabilities, source of financing, operating expenses, projected start-up and operating expenditures.
Location – choose a place for your bookstore that has a good amount of foot traffic and is highly visible and easily accessible. Preferably, select a location that is near or next to an establishment often frequented by people, a grocery store for example. To give your bookstore a better fighting chance, choose an area that is not saturated with competition.
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Store Size – a bigger place can hold a larger amount of inventory therefore, it can generate more sales. This is true most of the time however, you need to be prudent too. You have to ensure that the size of your store is proportional to the demand or the projected volume of customers.
Inventory – decide on whether you want to sell general books or you want to build a market niche and sell specialized books. You may also want to include other products such as office supplies, greeting cards, audiobooks, e-books, and so on.
Marketing – This should be a priority. We all know how important customers are to any business. As such, it is essential for the business owner to attract and retain as many customers as possible. Devise a marketing strategy to promote your store and your books. Make sure your advertising campaign is geared towards the profile of your target market. Advertising cost is a necessary investment so don’t skimp on it. You will reap the returns eventually.
Competition – A highly populated locale can support multiple bookstores; a smaller locale however can only support a limited number of bookstores. Survey your competitors in the area. You must have a clear idea of how successful (or not) your competitors are. Find out why this is so. You have to maintain your edge above your competition. Do everything you possibly can to be more creative in your marketing. Set your price at par or lower than what others are selling and offer repeat customer incentives like discounts if you can.
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+ What is the best option for getting the starting funds?
+ Any idea on how much is the profit margin for a bookstore?
+ Who should be my provider? Publishers, wholesalers or distributors?
+ How do the publishers/distributors work?
Thanks for your cooperation
but being passionate about books is a great strength/self supporting factor in itself. so within india any format of book business is thought about drop in a line and we will see how to filter your passion into a business reality. there are several round of questions a person has to go through to finally decide the location/reader level/catg of books/retail or supply etc. many of them. it can be like a franchise format with a life long relationship philosophy which will matter to both, us and you. all the best. the email id is anilkamail@gmail.com
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
@Rahul K, for starting online bookstore you have to be able to define the geographical location properly so that your buyers get clarity on services at the specific locations. licenses are few that too if at all your business goes to certain extent and for certain nature of setup but it is requires a lot of working. like having logistic in place, payment system, tieup with bank. the best is to tie up with a famous online model and take the franchise for a particular geographical location. then all you need to do is to mkting and follow the franchisors directions. the local bookshops have no business except they have get prepared for the competition if you have created one for them.
Hi...I want to start an online bookstore in Thane(Mumbai,India). What are the basic requirements for this? What kind of licenses do i need? Where will i get those? But before actually starting it online..i want to start this business in my local area. This i will do by offering the people books at a lower cost and with free home delivery with return back policy. For this which license will i require? Will the local shopkeepers oppose me legally as i am selling books at low cost than them and with free home delivery? Plz help soon
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
@VANEESHA, have you done any kind of research to understand the market ie what nature/genre of books could be necessary in a market you want to start, investment size, hr issues, out of subject interest and passion it will sound good. finally when it comes to money things have to be clear. idea and reality journey can be quite different than we imagine. this applies here too. in fact there was a lady in india who was so passionate about similar idea and she is yet to get back. it already 2 months. the reason to quote this to highlight the clarity in the journey.
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
@GULSHAN RAI GUPTA, we need to do several rounds of discussion. good that till few steps you have clarity. how soon you want to start. do you want start at the same location of medical shop. you have a list of product requirements. what support and guidance are you expecting.
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
@glory ilami appiah, its good that you see a market for a specific product. you have NOT MENTIONED YOUR CITY/country NAME. if it is new to your market it will simply do great sales. of course the market size etc will decide the speed of your success.
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant
anilkamail@gmail.com || Consultant