Business Plan For a Bookshop

Mr A

Books sell by the millions and it is quite possible to operate a bookstore with good profit. To any one who reads a great deal, there is a certain fascination in running a bookshop. It can be a very pleasant occupation. You can meet a lot of congenial people who share your own taste in literature.

Bookshops in most cities supplement their books sales with sidelines such as posters, magazines, gifts, and novelties or just about anything else the owner fancies. A particularly popular item is a line of modern greeting cards. The secret is that the same people who come in to buy books are potential customers for other items as well.

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Business Plan For a Bookshop

Your first step is to find a vacant store in a good location, which means a street where there is a lot of foot traffic, especially for young people.

Before concluding the deal for your location, contact local book publishers, wholesalers and publishers representatives. Then tell them your plans, and enlist their cooperation. If you do not know any publisher, just walk into a bookstore that stocks a variety of books, go through some of the books and you will find the names and addresses of most publishers or their representatives.
The publishers will be able to tell you which books are best sellers. They would be glad to advise you because if you make good sales, you would become a long term customer for them.

You could also visit a successful bookstore and make careful note of which titles they have most prominently displayed. Order the same books. Many publishers, though not all, will allow you to return unsold books provided that they are still in good condition.

What To Avoid When Starting a Bookshop

Somepeople who go into the book business do so because they themselves love books. Often they make the mistake of stocking up heavily on the types of books they enjoy reading and avoid books they dislike. That is a perferct way to go broke. In a bookstore, or any other kind of business for that matter, you have to give customers what they want, not what you think they ought to have. Some so called "trashy" books may be in much greater demand than so called "good" books. Your business is to sell books and satisfy your customers and not to be a moralist. Of course the discretion is yours. The more you sell, the better you are.

Profit and Revenue Expectations in the Bookshop Business

Many bookshops are doing some pretty good business. There are a handful of popular bookshops in Victoria Island namely Laterna, Bookworm and Success Books. When you visit these bookstores, your interest in opening a bookstore would heighten.
With millions of people in schools, from kindergarten to post secondary, the market is really wide. You can count on doing very well if you choose your titles and books well. Like I mentioned in the beginning, seek advice from notable publishers. It is not unrealistic to net N100,000 a month as a beginner, if you choose your titles well and your marketting is good. This business can also make you rich if managed well.

Jalingo Businesses.

How to Start a Bookshop and Sell Books in Nigeria