ForumsStarting a Business

A couple of good starting points for you would be SBA (Small Business Adminisration), and SCORE.
They may be able to tutor you and offer other kinds of assistance. Make sure you educate yourself
BEFORE you commit yourself to anything--preparation is the key, particularly in a tough economy.

Good luck.
AMSPCS
www.MerchantServices-help.com

You have gotten two great pieces of advice. We are all lost but some of us are better at pretending we know what we are doing.

Relax, think things through, plan them out with help, talk with family and friends and get as much information as possible. Your local college or university may even offer a small business course.

Welcome and good luck!

Iwrite

Artforart,

Thanks. I find it is a lot easier to not know everything - it is less of a burden than knowing everything and people like you more.

I once asked my mom how my dad learned to be should a great dad, and she responded, "Are you kidding?!! He's been pretending his way through since your older sister was born, we both have! We were kids ourselves when we got married, and we didn't have a clue so we started acting the way we thought we should. And all three of you turned out okay. But don't tell anyone."

That changed my whole world, she freed me to chase my dreams like I knew what I was doing. There are tons of business formulas and plans out here but in the end, you have got to do it your way or it isn't yours.

I like you artwork by the way. Interesting. Bullfight speaks to me.

Hello alynnc25,

Here are some big picture steps you can take to help you with starting a bookstore.

1) MARKET RESEARCH
Primary: go to a nearby bookstore. Monitor how many customers it gets, how many customers buy there, what the bookstore offers besides books, shop layout (is it comfortable, does it look like a library?). Take notes on what it does well and what it lacks that you want to have in your own bookstore. Maybe if the bookstore is privately owned, you can have a candid conversation with the owner and ask him/her about the do's and don'ts of setting up a bookstore. Make sure you don't say you want to open one next door to his/hers. Should do at least two in your neighborhood.

Secondary: Check the internet on the bookstore industry, is it growing, declining? Can the industry be broken down by niches? For example, if your neighborhood (within a 10 mile radius?) has a high percentage of fashion designers living there, then you may consider opening a bookstore that has a huge inventory of fashion mags/books that other bookstores don't stock. The US Consensus Bureau is a great resource for this.

2) BUSINESS PLANNING
You conclude that opening a bookstore is feasible through your research. Now you'll need to work out your finances. Do a 3-year projection on how much you can make and how much your costs will be. Calculate your initial investment. If it's more than the cash you have, then look to banks, friends, family, P2P lending, for the remaining balance.

3) EXECUTION
It's time to find a location, contact book distributors, find an interior designers to help with shop layout, buy furniture and fixtures and get a merchant account. The biggest part to this is negotiating a lease for your shop. Hopefully you can find a good real estate agent who can help.

4) MARKETING
You can do this in tandem with step 3. How will you let people know you're opening? Send emails to friends and ask them to send their friends and so on. Post an ad in a local newspaper? Or do nothing and let the people driving by notice your "Bookstore Opening Soon" banner?

I do not own a bookstore but these are the steps I would take. Again, there is no one better to speak to than a bookstore owner about this. It's a huge project so you should consider taking up partners.

Hope this helps. And if you decide to open one, I'd like to hear about your experience. Best of luck!

Incorporate, pick a plan, and establish business credit.

Sincerely,

Ilya Bodner
Small Business Owner
Initial Underwriting Group
www.initialunderwriting.org