Would it be ridiculous to open a bookshop?

[GoneAndDoneItAgainAgain]

To be perfectly honest, I don’t need money and I’m lucky enough not to actually need to work. I’m recently divorced and have 2 school age school.

I live in a lovely tourist town with a really eclectic mix of independently owned shops. I’ve always wanted to have a bookshop. Well, I’ve always liked the idea of sitting in a bookshop and it somehow being a career.

I could afford to rent a building and that has become free with rates and based on a very rough idea of quotes I could afford to get fixtures and stock it without needing to get a loan. I wouldn’t expect to actually make a profit from it but would ideally be able to cover the cost of employing someone a few days a week so I wouldn’t be doing it on my own. The building itself is an old sail loft that used to be my dads office so I think a lot of it is an emotional tie to the building. But it would make a fucking awesome bookshop and it’s right on the harbour so in the right place too.

Would this be daft? It’s something I’ve been dreaming of for years but it just seems ridiculous to open a bookshop because I want to sit in a bookshop and sell people books rather than actually make any money.

This is my dream too.
But please remember when it comes to property costs that in addition to the rent you would also be responsible for repairs to the building and these can be a huge shock to people renting commercial property.

We live in a pretty deprived areas, with a fantastic bookshop that opened a couple of years ago.
They get in masses of world book day books, and invite tye kids from the local schools to walk over and exchange their tokens. They get authors to come in, and talk to schools, with signed copies of books available. During kick down, they hand delivered books. There is a book club, junior bookclub, cafe. I'm sure much more if I know about these things. It is as much a (tiny) community centre as a book shop. Its fabulous. I dont know how much money they make. I do buy stuff from them if I want to go browse. I Amazon stuff I'm prepared to choose blind.

It sounds lovely OP, but tread carefully. There's a huge difference between not needing to make a profit and being able and willing to continue putting money into something making a loss.

Lovely idea, just bare in mind the heavy lifting which will be daily and constant and also the stock losses that will inevitably happen.

I would say though amazon aren't as cheap for books as they were, so i think now might be a perfect time.

Lovely idea. I would love to do this but only do it if you can afford to take a hit on the money you will be putting in. Hopefully it will make a profit and be a nice place for people to go to aswell. Unfortunately with kindles and other e-readers I am afraid a lot of bookshops might well be a thing of the past.

It sounds amazing and I'd love to be one of your first customers through the door. The only thing I'd say it think about what your motivation is. You say you don't need the money but money is a great motivator, especially in the early days of a start up when you encounter setbacks that are more often than not unforeseen. Are there many competitors in the area? Are you prepared to adapt and remain as motivated as someone else who sees their business as a much needed source of income?

Best of luck

I’d love to open a used book shop- I hate foraging in charity shops etc I’d much rather go to a nice little shop

Is your name Florence Green?

Might work if you have the coffee/cake bit too. Does sound like fun. Another thing you could do to bring in ££ is to offer to sell local crafts for a commission.

You sound like you’re in a holiday destination. I think this could make it more feasible. I think people are more likely to buy in real life on holiday than order online. I love an independent bookshop.

Do your homework, put your business head on, don't be silly - and then employ me!
You can pay me in cake. And books, obvs!

I’d come and work in it for free for you.

Damn I've just been undercut by AgentProvocateur...

Can you afford to make a loss?

Sounds fab. I think you need to do the coffee & cake bit too. If you can get up there Wigtown in Scotland is the place to do your research. Also Barter Books in Alnwick has such a reputation it's a tourist destination in it's own right.

If you’re happy for it to become a huge money pit...

I love to look in bookshops but like a lot of people, I order them much cheaper online

I think you'll lose money, unless you work very hard. Being in business is complicated and relentless. It's also exciting and good fun.

But without a clear set of figures you are basically just taking on a lot of business expense to play shop.

Best thing you could do is work in a bookshop for three months to a) learn about the business and b) see if you actually like it in real life.

This is pretty much my fantasy op except I want a coffee shop inside too and minimal NEW books. If you can afford it, and say go for it

I think it's a bonkers idea. Everyone buys books online now and that was before cv. Who is going to squash in to a small bookshop now. You won't just not make any money, you'll lose it hand over fist. It may be 'the dream' but it still has to be grounded in a modicum of economic sense.

I think it's worth a try but you don't really want to lose money on it. You could have a second hand section. And it would be nice to offer coffee and cake. And also run a book club. Children's story time too. And local authors

My town has an independent book shop in it, which is one of a chain of two. One of the ways in which it keeps/develops customers is through a brilliant ordering system - you go in, ask for a book if its not in stock, there's an automated text you get when it comes in a couple of days later. It is also very up to date with new and interesting releases, has a brilliant selection of local-related books, and (in normal times) promotes talks and book launches, sometimes using larger premises for these. So, I'd say that you need to be on top of new and forthcoming book releases, and understand which are most relevant for your market, you need to have good systems in place, and you need to be quite entrepeneurial as well.

@sashh But you wouldn't make any money at all!

Yes but I won £100 mil on the lottery. it wouldn't matter.

Yes its great idea. Do you homework - look at other tourist towns similar to yours and see if they sustain a bookshop. Think about what you would offer that would make people come come in. The independent bookshop in my tourist city has a lot of non-book gift things in it that draw people in. (As do Waterstones) A lot of independent bookshops also seem to operate as a cafe with added books. Do you have a particular passion to offer a speciality. So perhaps children's books or local history ? Would you want to run a book club? But absolutely go for it if you love books. Look at the Bookseller too. I'd do it if I could afford to!!

Remember to factor in the costs of insurance etc. See if there is a local enterprise type course if you haven't run a business before.