Advice for New Booksellers

Starting A Bookshop

Owning a bookshop may seem a natural and attractive proposition if you love and have a great knowledge of books. However, your love and knowledge have to be combined with business acumen if your bookshop is to succeed. Remember that at the end of the month, like any other retail business, you will have to meet the cost of rent, rates, telephone, electricity, bank charges, and salaries, not to mention payments to your suppliers.

In addition, you will be competing against existing bookshops. Try to think of a special niche to fill, sell something different, or in today's business jargon, come up with a unique selling proposition.

So make sure you:

• have the necessary knowledge and experience;
• have the right financial backing; and
• are prepared to work hard.

The Complete Guide to Starting and Running a Bookshop, published by the Booksellers Association, is an excellent starting point which provides the reader with the necessary background. To order a copy, please contact us at 020 7802 0802.

In addition, the best way to learn about bookselling is to work in a bookshop. Even a week or two can give you a sense of the day-to-day realities of the trade, such as dealing with all those unfamiliar faces and demands, working on a till, ordering stock, looking after the existing stock, handling invoices - an experience otherwise impossible to achieve in any other way. If you are new to business, see if a local college runs courses for business beginners.