Saturday, June 29, 2013

Advice Needed About Owning a Business

So I need you guys' help. My main goal career wise is to own a business of my own. In particular, I want to own a bookstore. This has been a dream for quite some time, and I intend to make it happen sometime in the future. I have done and am still doing a ton of research about owning a bookstore, so I have read a lot of the facts, statistics, and logistics of opening a small business. But what I do not have are first-hand accounts. This is where you guys come in. I need advice from people that have opened a business, know someone that has opened a business, or is just very knowledgeable about the process.

Some of the questions I have are as follows:

  • What was your experience opening your own business?
  • Would you recommend starting a business?
  • Are you familiar with owning a bookstore?
  • How did you fund the start-up costs?
  • Any advice on handling the legal issues?
  • How did you furnish your business?
  • How did you go about finding a place to lease?
  • What sort of marketing ploys did you use?
  • How did you get your inventory?

Also, I need some opinions on one other topic. Considering that the market for bookstores isn't at it's best due to the age of e-books, Amazon, and eBay. I need to ensure that a bookstore I opened appealed enough to the general public that they would want to come buy their books from a local shop versus online. So let's get hypothetical here. Say I was opening a bookstore near you, what kind of store would you want to see? Used vs. new? Would you want to have the option of hanging out and having a cup of coffee while you browse? Basically, what would lure you into a local bookstore to shop instead of shopping online? What would a bookstore need to have to entice you to come through it's doors?

The idea of opening a bookstore has been stewing in my mind for quite some time, but it is still a long way away from happening. I am definitely still in the researching/brainstorming phase of the project. I just really wanted to see what kind of advice you guys would be able to offer. Although this is a big dream of mine, I know it has to be something that is practical. Therefore, if you have advice to offer that could really put things into perspective for me, please share!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

By the way, if you'd rather message me directly, my email is lyndsey.mosley@gmail.com
Thanks!

Krista Johnson said...

From a consumer standpoint.... Definitely with a coffee shop inside. One of my favorite things about weekend nights as a teenager was going to Barnes and Nobles to get coffee and look through books. Free WiFi is a must. Since I'm assuming it'd be a small venture at first, it'd be neat to host a monthly book club there. You'd get people in and they could buy the book of the month from you. Having an online presence, either just social media and a simple website or the ability for people to order things from your site and pick up in store would be good.

Unknown said...

Great ideas Krista! Thanks girl! I am on my way to check out your new blog!