If you are thinking of opening a new brick and mortar & There are some things you should consider before you take the plunge.
1) Open price
Depending on where you live and the amount you want this can vary from $5,000 to $50,000. You should have a budget of about $25,000 to $30,000
$2,000 – $3,000 for a trailer
$2,000 – $5,000 to acquire stock
$5,000-$8,000 for inventory and POS systems
$3,000 – $5,000 for 1st month rent, last months rent and security deposit for your space
$2,000 for decorating and remodeling
$2,000 for Signage
$100 to Checkout Video
$500 – $1,000 for book display units
$500.00 for Utilities (Phone, Electric, Water)
2) Starting Inventory
There are many ways for beginners to gather inventory inexpensively. One way to sell yard is to space 6 to 8 months before you start your store. Don’t pay more than $.35 to $.50 for books unless you are positive about the current resale value. You can also visit local and regional Libraries Family book sale (a list can be found at booksalefinder.com. ) This is the best Bet you can attend four or five sales within a 1 to 2 month period and have enough books to stock up. When it comes to reading books make sure you have a different amount.
for 1200 sq. Plenty of feet is a general rule;
250 – 700 Western and/or Historical Fiction
800 – 1200 Human Adventure
2000 – 4000 Romance (avoid older series like Harlequin and Silhouette as they usually don’t hold their value)
2000 – 3000 Mystery
500 – 700 Horror
1000 – 2000 Sci-Fi/Fantasy (while you probably won’t have a lot of Sci/Fi readers, they will come back often and make a lot of money if you have a large and diverse section)
D – 3000 Children / YA (Depends on your cities)
300 – 600
200 – 300 Health
200 – 400 Cookbooks
100 – 300 True Crime
200 – 400 Craft Books
200 – 1000 Religion (Depends on your cities demographic)
50 – 100 Art Books
50 – 100 Pet
50 – 100
50 – 100 True War
50 – 100 Sports
These numbers will start in the general library used. They will be accommodating once you open and see what sells best in your area.
3) Place
I often see chicks in horrible places. It has been a fully established community library for 3 years. If you’ve picked a rental with cheap rent, then your walk in weight ratio will reflect that. If you pick a rental from a foreign road, then you will save money< /a> not to be in a higher profane place in the infinite Advertising amounts are spent so that people learn about your store. If the site is uncomfortable for consumers then you are going to be fighting an uphill battle for the day, you will never be able to win.
My store is a shopping center busy with upscale grocery chains and other small businesses that serve the local community. . Since day one the store has triple netted and while I’m doing the show I’m not making more than $300.00 a month.
Try to choose a place in an area where people shop. I know this sounds obvious, but to some it is not. Talk to other small-business-accounting”>small business owners in the area and ask them how they do their business and how many customers they have per day.
Most bookstore owners start with at least 1,000 Sq. ft., you need a lot of space to offer a wide variety of books to your clientele.
After taking up your space, you try to deal with the Head. See if they are willing to pay for their services at a discount. If the space needs some remodeling, it’s a good idea to do it and get a reduced estimate from the owner. Likewise, some landlords may be willing to offer a lower rent if a longer lease term is signed.
If applicable, make sure to include an exclusivity clause in your lease barring them from renting to any bookstore or general store owner that sells books< /a > as long as you are a tenant.
4) Inventory Control/POS system
It’s not required that you have more than a register register and a calculator, but it’s a good idea to start with an inventory control / POS system.
Two of the biggest in the industry are Anthology: http://www.anthology.com and UBIC: http://www.ubicsystem.com. Another option that is relatively new to the industry is Ka-Zam: http://www.Ka-Zam.com
The anthology is mostly at New Bookstores so I won’t go into their program in detail
Ka-Zam is web based and charges a 4% monthly fee based on your revenue. The best thing about Ka-zam is that you won’t have a big initial financial outlay, but 4% will add up quickly and if for some reason your phone service goes down then you won’t be able to do your business. They also integrate all online book selling venues (about which I will discuss more later).
UBIC is a complete inventory management and POS software. The cost with all the equipment is around $7000 and $2500 for monthly database updates. UBIC is designed and used by Brick and Mortar Book Stores owner and thus has many useful features. The entire package will be delivered with the UBIC database and all its features, a metal coin pocket, a hand-held Bar Code scanner, a receipt printer and a barcode label printer.
Some features of UBIC include:
-Database of over 150,000 books with their bibliographic information and original publisher price
-Ability to research in and out of books
-Ability to configure credit and track customer’s credit
– Ability to track the customer’s reading history and suggests whether the customer has already read the book in the marketing ins and prior to the sale
-Ability to configure scores according to dollar amounts spent
-Ability to build a customer database including phone number and email address for marketing purposes
– Ability to sell new and used books
– The ability to reserve books as well as support notifications when a reserved book is scanned into the inventory
-Ability to track sales by genre
-Ability to upload database in online venues
Several other things. The downside to UBIC is that most of the fictional database and most of the non-fiction titles as well as Children’s books will be manually entered into the database. It is not a hard process but it is time consuming. Also, it does not have the ability to update the online inventory in real time like Ka-Zam, but requires online loading . sell venues to remove books that have sold in store.
5) Precautions
I had my behavior down from my spouse and I was able to save a lot of money and the savings were built exactly to my determination. I called on prompt and the cost for a 4ft by 8ft cabinet was around $200-$300. It’s also made for me from the price range. I could have bought the shelves at Wal-Mart or Staples for about $80.00, but they would be too deep for my needs meaning I would have to spend the first retail space with a half-empty shelf and give away 1/4 of my inventory.
I have 4 X 8 cabinets that are 8 inches tall. My fiance used 16ft pine boards and luaun for the back shelves. He sand-sanded both strips, and threw a light coat of crust over them. The guards are also adjustable. The total cost for each shelf was $65.00. To this day people still come in and ask who made the crusts and comment on how beautiful they look.
6) Signage
Check your location and see what the sign is. We were asked to have a Neo channel sign letter. We got lucky and found one on eBay but were quoted $2,000 for a sign that simply said Book Store
7) Deliver the plan
If you’re going to operate a Book store, you’re most likely going to get books on the market. to faith This brings new inventory into the store and helps build goodwill with your customers. You absolutely need to get paid at the end of any business. Business cards that inevitably make 2 for 1 deals. There’s no way to make ends meet and make a living if you’re literally giving away books for free. People can be cheap and if you set your store as a 2 for 1 store, then they will bring you 20 books and they will have exactly 10 and spend no money. This will be your client base. Your navigators and financiers won’t have enough to tell the difference especially when they find the art plan.
The standard strategy in the industry is 1/2 cash and 1/2 credit. That is if they bring in $20.00 worth of books at Publishers prices give them 1/4 of that in credit or $5.00, with a $5.00 price they buy books from you, they give you $2.50 in cash and you take away $2.50 credit leaving them with a $2.50 credit balance that they come next time.
This credit plan works, you will always have cash and it leaves you with a smoother opportunity. Remember I said I would never pay more than $.35 to $.50 for a book? Here’s why: Let’s say Mary Jane comes into the store and brings you a bag of Nora Roberts books, chances are you’re all by now you have books in multiples, but because of the design of your art you can give it a little credit that makes Mary Jane more likely to shop in your store. She buys 3 books at $7.99 retail and only pays $6.00 in cash and $6.00 in trade credit. She’s happy because she got a deal, she’s happy because she spent money at your store and when you paid the most $1.50 for the books she bought. It’s a win-win situation and Mary Jane will probably come back because she has some brand credit left.
8) Proscribe
You will receive the absolute best advertising by word of mouth. If you provide a pleasant, warm and clean shopping atmosphere, then people will be more likely not only to return, but also to tell their friends. Go the extra mile to please your customers and I promise they will come back to you again and again
When advertising, think about what has worked for you. Have you ever felt compelled while in your car or office to joke about something you heard on the radio? Radio advertising can be extremely expensive and difficult to hit your target audience, the same is true for TV advertising.
Advertising in a newspaper can prove prohibitive depending on its readership and the cost of advertising. Remember that you should do the campaign at least three times. If you subscribe to any weekly or monthly circles, make sure you can put a coupon in your ad so you can track how well it’s doing or not.
Try forms of advertising that get your name out there without spending a lot of money such as Author signs, book clubs, networking with other local business owners , and sponsoring a community event.
I have seen how in the free some one is made to be great. The teacher is a friend of mine and I had an influx of free books that I just couldn’t use. They were a little too rough (but not ratty) for my books, or I had too many copies, so I gave them to him and his school. She talked to her at the beginning and my store is now mentioned in every sports book and I feel that it is good to be able to encourage the love of reading in a new generation of children.
Think outside the box when advertising!
9) On the Sales line
You don’t have to sell online to have a good portfolio if you’ve planned your site well enough, but it doesn’t hurt to have another sales outlet on those slow days that will happen no matter where you are.
On line Venues;
http://www.Amazon.com Pro-seller subscriptions cost $39.99 a month plus 15% of each sale before shipping
http://www.Half.com There is no monthly subscription fee, but a percentage is charged when
http://www.Alibris.com subscription fee is tied to how many books you count plus 15% of each sale before shipping
http://www.Abe.com The subscription fee is tiered depending on how many books you list plus 15% of each sale before shipping
eBay stores Store Subscriptions, $.05 listing fee for each book that renews every 30 days plus 8% each. sale
http://www.BN.com As of this writing there is a waiting list for new sellers prior to approval; once approved no subscription fee but 15% of sales before shipping
http://www.Chrislands.com will provide a custom built website for your bookstore for a $199.99 fee plus a monthly fee based on the amount of books in inventory
http://www.Fillz.com/ http://www.Aob.com A website that will maintain your inventory across multiple sales channels
General tips:
– Don’t keep more than two copies of a book on the shelf unless it’s an author who flies out of stock on a regular basis. My best seller as of this writing is Janet Evanovich so I keep everything I have on the shelf but I have the hat and most of the other items with 2 copies . Too much of the same book takes up too much space and doesn’t allow you to have as much choice and takes away from the urge to get a sense of the shopper. If they see that you have 4 copies of the book they want they will expect to think that they will come back next week or next month and pick it up. You don’t want it to be forgotten or found in a sale or a flea market.
– Keep the store bright, organized and clutter free.
– The more credit they have, the more money they will have in store
– Make sure your advertising dollars are as high as possible
– Offer something like returning customers to the rewards program so they continue to shop with you and not your competitor
– First of all, do your research, visit operating stores and see how they do things, talk to other bookstore owners and see what works for them.
Have fun with your store!
