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.

You could sell gifts as well as books.
Nautical themed clothing and souvenirs, cards and stationery etc.

I'd love this and if there was a local independent bookshop I'd buy from it.

It sound lovely and I get that you dont need money but in my humble opinion i do wonder if you might be knowingly squandering away money that could benefit your children in the future.

18 months does sound short for a commercial lease. I'd be wary of the landlord having alternative plans for the property once that expires.

The last thing you'd want is to spend tens of thousands on fixtures and fittings only to lose them again in 18 months.

A lovely idea but I think Sir Humphrey would describe it as "a brave decision, GoneAndDoneItAgainAgain."

It's a lovely idea but I think you would have to be very careful.

Personally I rarely buy new physical books any more. I tend to browse the library and charity shops as I like the more limited selection forcing me to try different things. If I want a particular title, I buy it on my kindle, and avoid paying more than £4-5.

I've been to author events at our local annual literary festival and buy full price signed copies from the independent bookshop who organise it. I like attending their talks and interviews too so I support them in buying tickets for those. I hope Covid hasn't killed it! I've also bought a few antique books from there over the years.

This is my favourite ever thread on MN! So positive and such a lovely idea. I love the sound of a bookshop in an old sail loft and really love the sound of the ladders. It sounds like you have the resources to at least give it a go and see what happens. Best of luck OP!!

As someone currently counting down the months til our commercial lease ends, I would advise getting a solicitor to read (and ammend, if required) the terms of the lease before signing. We pay a quarterly service charge with our rent but are also liable for a % of yearly maintenance and repair costs on top (some if which have ended up being more than a quarters rent!) Which is not a predictable amount or similar amount each time.

Yes yes yes! If you don’t need to follow the money then follow your heart.

@CormoranStrike

Yes yes yes! If you don’t need to follow the money then follow your heart.

Sorry, in answer to your question that should read No No No!

Not ridiculous and sounds a lot of fun.

Go for it, maybe have a second hand section too?

Check out Simply Books in Bramhall. They are cherished by their community.

Wonderful idea. As market research you could tour the best UK indy bookshops.

Goodness. Sure, this is a dream, but check out some high-profile small indie bookshops on social media. They work SO hard to get footfall (pre-Covid) and orders and to maintain their place in an increasingly crowded market.

So obviously, you’re going to have folk browse, photograph books, then tell you they’ll just buy it on Amazon. You need to think of more strategies to combat this besides ‘it’ll be a lovely little bookshop’. Some do author events, some do subscriptions, some do activism. Etc.

If you have a coffee area, people absolutely will use it as a meet-up place without buying any books, and they’ll stay for ages and if a group of yummy mummies decide it’s a good place then you’ll have buggy problems, they’ll bring their own food...ask any cafe owner about the mum and baby contingent, they don’t half rant on 😂

Also there’s the worry that you’ll get very, very bored. Shop work is tedious and can be cold in winter (lots of indie shops can’t afford to heat the premises). If you haven’t got the incentive of needing to make money then you might not feel the need to put the things in place that make owning a shop interesting (like events, exhibitions and collaborations). But you might! And that would be fun and bring more business in.

Don’t forget social media too. It’s so vital and I can tell you from experience it takes far, far longer in your day to beat the algorithms than you might suppose.

Anyway, good luck! I’d love to do it but indie bookshops are ten a penny where I am. I’d also love to start a press out of my imaginary bookshop and get some new authors out there...la la la dreaming!

A friend of mine has done this, set up about 8 years ago in a tourist area and is doing ok. She gets authors in for book readings and signings, ticketed event with wine and nibbles. Has a good range of unusual books as well as more main stream. The sort of thing you hadn’t heard of but make good gifts, etc.

Your next step is to make a business plan

List out your costs, annually for the next five hours. Factor in costs of some part time staff, all year or high season only.

Decide the cost of your time and how much time you would devote to this.

Then work out how the margin on the kind of books you would want to sell, then how many of those you would need to sell each year, in order to break even.

Then estimate the turnover you need during the high season months, to break even over the whole year, for the next five years.

What do you expect to happen to your costs and turnover, over the next five years ? Go up, or down ? Factor that into how much you need to turn over

There will be a lot of guesses here but it should give you a first cut sign of how feasible it is to cover your costs. If you need to sell one book a day, I'd say go for it. If you need to sell two hundred books a week, it might be a vanity project, you would be paying out money to 'play book shop'

What could you do to increase your turnover? Bookgroup's you already have. Is the space large enough to be attractive to poets or painters or writers who might like to use the space out of hours.

Next step would be to check your assumptions on what things will actually cost. What contingency you need in the budget? Would the person with the 'other' bookshop be interested in any kind of partnership to reduce your costs. Say sharing an accountant ? Would they be prepared to 'open the books' to you to validate your estimates of cost and turnover revenue. What other tips might they suggest. Could you try working there for a while to learn the ropes?

What other resources are there around you. Photographers prepared to let you use their pictures in your marketing I'm getting for a credit / display space. Students or even people at school who might want a job to keep the place open, do some marketing for you on social media.

What alternative uses might there be for the venue? Library, tourist info office, community centre. Covid might make more people want an alternative to WFH

There, some ideas to get you started. All the best.

Next five years I meant, obvs

We had a splendid children's book shop which moved to another town nearby when the lease was up, and became a general bookshop. It moved into the premises of a previous bookshop where the owners had retired - and took back the wonderful former staff who were oh so very nice and knowledgeable. I could go in and say 'Dad's birthday, he'll be 89 what do you suggest?' - and she'd say 'well we have this which is about xxx , that which is a lovely story of Y & z or Q which is similar but a bit of a literary mystery' - and all three would be spot on! Whatever you do only have staff that are interested in books please!

They also did regular book signings and talks by authors.

I do know that a lot of their children's book sales were in bulk and to local schools - they had some sort of a deal with various schools, not sure of the details but it did provide a fair bit of regular work as there was someone out delivering a lot. So perhaps investigate supplying schools too?

Very sadly the owners retired and it's not been replaced. RIP Chapter One.

I see someone has already name checked Daunts, which is an amazing shop in a charming building. Can I also recommend John Sandoe near Sloane Square, another great bookshop in a quirky building. And my absolute favourite which is the Literary Review bookshop near the British Museum which also has the most incredible cakes and salads in their little cafe.

Daunts and the Literary Review get bonus points for having customer toilets available, though to be fair I can't remember if John Sandoe has a toilet.

So, OP, another two considerations

Quirky building ( an ex sail loft sounds promising.)

Toilets.

And I hate to say it on mumsnet, but these are all very much adult centred bookshops. I love children's books, but I love grown up book shops even more.

Daunts are great. They do regular evening events (mainly interviews with authors and book readings with Q&As) for £5-10 with a glass of wine.

PS my dream shop is a cheese shop specialising in English cheeses. Preferably attached to a small independent cinema, with a bar .

But that's another thread!

@Egghead68

Daunts are great. They do regular evening events (mainly interviews with authors and book readings with Q&As) for £5-10 with a glass of wine.

Been to a couple! They are very popular, at least the ones I went to were.

I'm sure, you've got mail has been mentioned but when I see that gorgeous book shop I dream of having one too.

It could be a winner. To be honest I adore books. I'd love an independent that had book clubs.. With themes... I love the French authors but in rl only know two people that like them!!
I'd love a book shop that tried niche nights...

Cosy lighting.. Eclectic feel... Character, personality... Oh and for the dc, events but without feeling pressured to buy.. As pp said... If the shop is beautiful.. The attitude relaxed... People will be inspired to buy.

Also you could sell school trips too your book store and college trips for education on what to do with children... Child miners could come in....

That sounds really exciting and lovely. We have just visited a lovely independent bookshop in Penrith - Hedgehog books. Love it! Go there as part of our holiday to choose holiday reads and support the independent shop. Really cross about the PP where people were browsing then buying on Amazon. Bastards!

No advice to offer but my SM used to run a seconh hand bookshop and I would sometimes look after it for her at the weekend. I loved those days sitting at the desk with one of the shop books, a coffee from the machine she had going and the people popping in and out. I loved listening to her helping people choose books for others and I'd have adored to do that full time.

My dream is a 'Space' where people can read, craft etc. Long tables big enough for cutting fabric, machines to hire, a lego table for kids etc and a cafe in the corner.