People with money seem to be on a binge to prove their rank and
expose their wealth by staging large, catered parties. As a
matter of fact, in some circle of affluency, a party or social
get - cool isn ' t considered an occurrence of any significance unless
it ' s a catered affair.
With the same compassionate of reasoning, businesses of all sizes are
using catered lunches, cocktail parties and bee meetings to
build their images and increase company sales. It ' s a matter of
keeping up with the competition in promoting a company and / or
product.
On a smaller, but just as busy marketing scale, more and more
working mothers are paying to have catered birthday and
graduation parties, as well as marriage receptions handled by
caterers. The reasons are simple to follow - - if debutante ' s working
outside the home, today ' s lusty just doesn ' t have the time or
the energy to do all the alignment and staging of a memorable
party.
Besides those reasons for turning device over to a caterer,
working mothers fondle a wee bound about the time away from
their family they lose because of their jobs. In consequence, they ' re
ready and willing to make it all to them by paying for a plentiful
party the child will brood over for years to come.
Caterers handgrip goods from birthday parties for young, to
breakfast in bed and intimate candlelight dinners for two, to
company riot parties for 50 and marital receptions involving a
thousand or more guests. This affectionate of entreprenuerial business is
certainly growing and becoming more popular with people of all
income levels.
An acute caterer in a large metropolitan area can easily
gross $150, 000 per year, while a small part - time caterer in a
small property can count on at least $10, 000 to $15, 000 per year. One
small, but very onerous caterer is reported to have grossed
$250, 000 after only 2 - years in the business!
You don ' t need earmarked education or training to become a
successful caterer. You do need a affinity for people and a congenial
of intuition as to what people enjoy in different environmental
settings.
A quick survey of successful caterers across the nation shows
that began with zero capital by working out of their homes. The
basic starting up investment would come to be around $500, with
some big spenders capitalizing their idea with as much as $15, 000
in order to get off to a fast start.
This seems to be an prototype business for an heavy couple to
start and operate with very tiny capital investment required.
One person can spend his time engrossed up business while the
other would do the forming, structure and actual catering.
As with any business, your success will be directly related to
the soundness of structuring and the working of that plan.
Sense exactly what your client wants, and give him what he
wants in the way of service that reflects upon the client in a
for free procedure.
Fundamentally, you can start with an advertisement in your local
newspapers. This advertisement need not be much more than a
simple announcement: Creative Catering - Specializing in personal
service - We can hilt any party or special conjuncture from start to
finish - no idea to small or too large - Your pleasure is always
guaranteed! We can handle goods for you.. Call us, and let
us make your parties worth remembering...
Naturally, the first instrument you want from anyone calling to ask
about your services, is that anyone calling to ask about your
services, is that person ' s name, address and phone number. Then
you want to know what clement of party or deed they have in mind.
As soon as you have this information, relax a stubby bit and
inquire to find out about the person or the company - - the
people - - sponsoring the party and their chips down goals or reasons
for the party.
If it ' s to celebrate birthday, graduation, anniversary or a
matrimonial party - - finding out about the interests, background
and titanic of the guest of glory will be of monetary worth to you in
your arranging. Bewitching a few minutes to learn concern you can
about whoever the party is for, and the people giving the party,
will also make it much easire to close the sale than any sales
pitch or designated persuasive tactics.
People like to chatter about themselves, and they especially like to
tell everyone why they ' re honoring someone, even when they
pretend to keep it a secret who initiated the idea. So, it ' s
important that you be a good listener, that you have the ability
to get people to natter about themselves, and that you take notes
on the things they tell you.
This same principle applies to business people, regardless of
who ' s talking to you or the meaning of the catered affair. The
more polished and skilful you can become in getting your prospects
to talk about themselves, the more information relative to their
background you can derive, and the more you listen; the better
your parties will be, and the greater success you ' ll attain in
the catering business.
You take the information you glean from this first talk and
plan / codify the incident on paper. This means you ' re animation to have
to have contacts or at least working relationships with
innumerable service businesses.
If your client wants to stage a birthday party for a 12 - year
old - - - he or she greets the guests as they arrive, makes sure
everybody knows who he is - - - then what about party favors - - - a soft
drink and a conversation leader until all the guests arrive - - the
opening of presents - - icecream and cake - - and games to play, a
thank you gift for coming, and a reason to end the party at a
pre - determined time...
Do you greet the guests, does the mother or father, or the little
boy or girl? Where do you come up with the party favors at less
than regular retail prices? Where are you going to get the soft
drinks - your cost and the glasses or paper cups to serve them in?
What about ice? What kind of games to play? Who ' ll be the
conservation leader? Will there be a clown or someone special to
keep everything moving according to plan? Where do you get the
ice cream and cake? What games to play? How to get everyone
involved? And finally, a feasible and polite reason for ending
the party and sending everyone home...
All this takes planning, organization, and if you ' re going to
make a profit, a definite awareness of cost control. Get it all
down on paper as a proposal to the people who want to pay you to
carry it off. Figure out your costs, the time involved in putting
it all together, and then get back to your prospect.
Always leave room for changes in your proposal. In fact, expect
them - - invite input and suggestions from the client - - and always
have an alternate idea in your mind for each of those on your
written proposals. Discuss your proposal with the client just as
you would a script for a television show, make the suggested
changes and ask for a 50 - percent advance deposit. From there,
it ' s just a matter of following your plan.
Regardless of size or type of party - - whether your client is a
working mother or a giant corporation - - the format is always the
same: initial inquiry, interview, your proposal, 2nd interview
for any changes, agreement, deposit, staging the party itself,
and your final payment. As mentioned earlier, success in this
business comes from your planning - - having a lot of contacts - - and
working your plan.
An important word of caution: Try not to get " boxed in " to
setting or even revealing a tentative price until you ' ve had a
chance to listen to what the prospect wants, to study your own
capabilities, and to make a formal written proposal. If a
customer wants to know how much you charge - - and if you feel it
necessary in order to eventually close the sale - - you can tell him
50 to 100 dollars per hour, plus expenses, and of course,
depending on the type of event the customer wants.
As for how much the average party costs, again tell him that it
varies anywhere from 50 to 5, 000 dollars.
Always keep in mind that you are a professional, and that if the
ordinary person had your knowledge, contacts and ambition to do
it himself, he wouldn ' t be calling you on the phone. He needs
your help for any number of reasons. You specialize in this kind
of work or service just as a doctor specializes in medicine and a
lawyer in legal matters. Therefore, you should, and do expect to
be paid accordingly.
Something else - - this business thrives on word - of - mouth
advertising - - referrals - - and thus, is direct " freeway ' to the kind
of customers where money is of no concern. However, on order to
gain access to this market, your business emphasis has to be on
service.
This means the capability of handling everything for the
customer, from having the invitations printed and sent out to
cleaning up after the last guest has left. Businesses and people
in the upper income brackets, like to pick up the phone - - tell
someone they want a party on a certain date - - and then forget
about it, knowing everything will be taken care of without
further worry or time involvement from them. Once you ' ve
developed your expertise and clientele to this level, you ' ll have
a business in the $200, 000 to $250, 00 per year range.
Definitely arrange for a display ad in the yellow pages of your
telephone directory. You ' ll probably get 40 % of your inquires
from this source alone. Generally speaking, radio and / or
television advertising will be too expensive when compared with
the immediate results. However, it is recommended that you
consider these media prior to special holidays.
Working with restaurants, supper clubs, bridal shops and
entertainment business in general. can bring in hundreds of
referrals for you. Rubbing shoulders with, and circulating as a
part of your area ' s civic and service clubs, should also result
in more business for you.
Keep your eyes and ears on the alert. Where ever you go, and with
whomever you associate, always be ready to promote and sell your
services, if not on the spot, at least make a note to follow up
when conditions are more in your favor. Promoting and selling
your services will require at least half your time, and that ' s
why two people operating catering services are so successful from
the start.
The actual selling is quite simple so long as you emphasize the
service and time - saving aspects. The more time - consuming work you
can handle for the client, the easier it ' s going to be for you to
close the sale.
Handing out business cards is one of the least expensive ways to
advertise, promote and sell your services. One enterprising
caterer makes arrangements with the sponsors of all his parties,
to see that each of the guests gets one of his business cards.
Another gives each of his clients a stack of his business cards,
and tells them he ' ll pay them $25 for each prospect they refer to
him. He tells them to write their name on the backs of the cards,
and to hand them out to their friends. And then, whenever a
person tells him that John or Jane suggested he call, and he
presents the card with John or Jane ' s name on the back, this very
successful caterer sends John or Jane a $25 check.
Another very successful caterer pays commissions to a group of
housewives and college students who solicit - - via their home
phones - - interviews for him with brides - to - be. They get their
leads from announcements, and pictures of brides - to - be in the
local papers.
Many caterers pay sales people a commission for letting them know
when they hear about a party or special event being planned by
one of their business customers.
The possibilities go on and on, and are seemingly un limited.
Time is becoming more valuable to a lot more people every day,
which means there are more and more opportunities for great
wealth and personal independence as a professional caterer. In
reality the success for just about any person entering this
field, will be limited only by his or her own imagination and
energy.
There is definite opportunity for great wealth within the
catering field. Anyone with a sense of service to others can
succeed. Very little " readycash " is needed to begin. Therefore,
the only thing standing between you and the realization of your
dreams, is the action it takes on your part to get started...
Tampilkan postingan dengan label book store. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label book store. Tampilkan semua postingan
Kamis, 14 November 2013
Rabu, 06 November 2013
HOW TO MAKE IT BIG WITH A USED BOOK STORE
Operating a used book store is a lot like owning a recycling
center - not too glamourous until you take a look at the publician ' s
bank account.
This is an example " absentee - hotelier " type of business, or a small
investment type business for someone to start while gate down
a regular, full time job. The type of person " best - profitable " to
running a successful used book store, is a man or woman who loves
to read, has cool books over the years and enjoys
associating with people of consonant interests.
Start - up risks average high, with the average time expression needed
to become firmly established, about 3 years. After that " becoming
established " stage however, you should be able to enjoy clout
of a business without extreme market fluctuations, plus an income
close to $50, 000 per year or more.
Ideally, a used book store will need a market family of at
least 50, 000 persons to platform it. Try to locate your store in a
" high traffic " area, as near as possible to a college or
university campus. Something to bear in mind is the shopping
habits of the average used book buyer: First, he is a browser. He
notices your shop, drops in and begins looking around to see what
philanthropic of books you have available. If he spots something that
really interests him, he ' ll probably buy then and there. If not,
and provided you ' ve made him stroke in clover this first time in
your store, he ' ll be back - dropping in to browse whenever he ' s in
the area.
Shopping Malls are an select locations for book stores.
Locations near other, or " new " books stores are also very good -
if the buyer doesn ' t find what he wants in the " other " book
stores, he ' ll check your store. Grocery store shopping centers
are oftentimes fortuneless locations for book stores of any considerate.
It ' s important that there be a lot of casual strollers in your
setting area, and that you revivify these people to drop in,
and browse around.
If you want the entire front of your store to be a show
window... take pains to arrange your window display in an
unstopped fashion, pageant the kinds of books you
have... However, a window display is not really necessary... more
important is a window for the passers - by to see into your
store... At any degree, if you do go with a window display, keep it
low - never more than 36 inches high flying start a lot of room for the
people passing to see in youe store, and notice the people
browsing thru your books. We know of one successful operator who
had members of his family, connections and friends, purposely
" browsing " thru his store, just to project that affectionate of carved figure for
the store.
Once you have your store locality selected, stain the entire
interior in a rayless, broiling color, such as mahogany. Stick a
lighter shade of indoor / outdoor carpet throughout. The lighting
should be indirect, and reasonably subdued to give the store a warmish
perception.
Locate your checkout obverse counterpart to one of the side
walls... You don ' t want it blocking or guarding the easy entry or
exit from your store. You want your customers to endure opulent
just visiting your store. in other words, do gadget you can
to spur the browser, because it ' s proven time and time winnings
that the browsers are the book buyers. Allow the people to come
and do oftentimes as they please; to pick up swing thru the books
that interest them; to read them and " fall in enjoyment " with them.
These will be your real book buyers.
Your book shelves should run along each side wall, and across the
back of the store. Don ' t build them more than six feet high.
Factor these shelves into sections about four feet wide, and
at the top of each section, place a sign
indicating the general subject matter of the books to be start up
in that section.
Paper the walls of your store, from the top of your book shelves
to the ceiling with posters - - colorful and descriptive junket
posters, broadway show billboards, operate posters and full color
dust jackets from books that are perennially popular.
The next apparatus is to build or buy half shelves, tables and
revolving racks for other or more books. The half shelves - - about
4 feet wide by 4 feet high and akin to book cases in your
home - - should be located at right angles to your wall shelves, and
in the rear of your store. The tables should be about 3 feet wide
by 4 feet long, and about 30 inches high. These also should be
located at right angles to your wall shelves, but closer to the
front of your store. A revolving wire form, to clasp currently
popular or specially featured books, and located at the front of
your store, will be a momentous extra merchandising effort that ' ll
really pay off in sales of your books.
In locating your half shelves and tables down the middle of your
store, stagger them - - one 3 feet from the wall shelves, the next
one 6 feet out, then 4 feet and so on. This will allow people to
be " seen " in your store; cut down on the appearance of a formal
or military layout, and project a more casual tactility for
browsing and this is precisely what you want. This amicable of
arrangement will cost you some space, but it will be worth it
with another traffic.
Another merchandising idea that works very well is a couple of
revolving wire racks on wheels... These you push outside and
position near the entrance to your store. You can characteristic popular
paperbacks, and a few oversize hard cover books with golden,
flashy colors in these racks.
Your store hours should match those of your neigbors... In fact,
you cold " jump off to a quick start, " by opening a half hour
earlier than your neighbors. Use his opening half hour to take
care of paperwork, and get yourself organized for the day. When
the early shoppers see you ' re open early, they ' ll begin coming
into your store to " browse and snuff time " while they wait for the
other stores to open.
If you cannot be there to " open the store, " then hire part time
help. The best arrangement is house wives or college students in
4 hour shifts at the minimum dinero.
First off, write out a list of duties you want each clerk to
perform while he ' s on shift. In addition to captivating care of sales
transactions, you might want him to do some stocking, dusting,
cleaning, sorting and prcing.. Regardless, you ' ll have fewer
problems and enjoy prominent profits if you formally write these
" shift duties " out, and post them as business requirements, and
tell them when you visit for hired help.
Look for, and try to hire only book lovers who are personable,
outgoing, and have some sort of business aptitude. You the train
these people in all phases of your operation, with the knowing in
mind that they will run the store in your absence, and eventually
be your store executive. the best way to find such people is by
talking with your customers, observing which might be willing to
work for you, and which of them might best fulfill your needs.
You ' ll need a outside sign for your store - preferably one that
hangs right angles to the flow of traffic in front of your store.
Many successful used book stores utilize hand - carved wooden
symbols, while others display painted symbols with calligraphic
lettering. By all means, spend the extra hundred dollars or so to
have spotlights installed on your store front, focusing on your
store symbols. Backlit resourceful symbols just don ' t create the
moneyed spitting image necessary for the success of a good used book
store
Newspaper and / or broadcast advertising will be much more
expensive than it ' s worth. Your best stake is to create a
well-off sensibility and open supplication for browsers, price your
stock fairly, scrape together on personal service, and let
word - of - ingress advertising and time do the rest.
Even so, you should run an ad in the unprincipled pages. feasibly and ad
in the college paper, and from time to time, personal sales ads in
your local shopping papers. Inexpensive flyers inviting people in
to exchange books, or to just browse, can be printed at your
local quick print shop and handed out or placed under the
windshields of cars in the larger shopping center parking lots.
Advertising, and special sales during holiday periods such as
Christmas, Gigantic ' s Day and Father ' s Day are much quite
effective in bringing new customers into your store.
Most used book store entrepreneurs use their own book collections
as start - up inventory base. In addition, talk to as many
neighbors, friends and relatives as possible for the donation of
books. Then start making the rounds of all the garage sales and
flea markets. You should have at least 10, 000 books in stock when
you open for business - and that ' s a lot of books. Search for
books to sell - those you can buy for 25 cents or less - - in all
thrift shops, Goodwill stores and Salvation Army outlets. Church
bazaars and estate sales also sometimes provide you with almost
" complete " libraries.
You might place a small ad in your newspaper announcing that
you ' re looking for good used books to buy. Generally, you
evaluate a book according to the price you think you can get it
for in your store. Then you subtract two thirds of that total,
and offer that as your " buying " price. Always separate the books
you feel certain you can sell from those you aren ' t sure about.
It ' s going to take awhile for you to become proficient as a book
buyer, but with practice and some experience, you ' ll quickly
develop the " intuition " you need to realize a profit on every
book you buy. Always flip thru the pages of each individual book,
and be sure of its condition before you quote a price. In many
instances you ' ll also find that out of a box of 25 books, you ' re
only interested in buying 10... The seller will generally be
wanting to get rid of his books, now... And for a couple of
dollars more than your " bid price " on the 10 books you want,
he ' ll let you have all 25 of them.. This is like a windfall to you
because you can always use the " unwanted " books as leader items
or extras to generate traffic during two - for - one sales; all books
on a certain table for just a nickel each; or your choice of free
books for everyone coming in to browse on certain days..
You should carry hardcover as well as paperback books. Pay no
more than 25 % of new price for a mint condition hardcover book,
and buy only those you are certain can be sold in your store. pay
no more than 10 % of the new price for a mint condition used
paperback, and steer clear of the hard - core sexually oriented
books.
Visit the libraries and book stores in your area. Observe what
people are interested in reading and what they ' re checking out or
buying. Stock your store with these kinds of books.
below is a listing of the kinds or types of books you should
consider stocking in your used books store:
BUSINESS BOOKS: These should include books on leadership, career
advancement, time management and people management.
HOW - TO BOOKS: These should include all the self - help and
self - improvement manuals you can find - - mail order, auto repair,
carpentry, metalwork, home building, gardening, and business
start - up.
COOK BOOKS: You ' ll probably be surprised at how many people buy
books relating to the culinary arts. A well stocked cookbook
section will mean definite profits for you. Forget about books on
dieting, home economics, and etiquette - - these just don ' t do well
in used book stores.
SPECIAL INTEREST BOOKS: Watch and listen to the people of your
area... Be on the lookout for people into World War, history,
aviation, sports perfection, movies and just plain old book
collectors...
PAPERBACKS: Women ' s romance, science fiction, mysteries, and
historical novels are all good movers - - currently enjoying an
upsurge in popularity and sales. These will be the " best movers "
in your inventory, so develop good sources of supply, and price
them for fast sales.
Building and maintaining your inventory, while continuing to
rapidly turn that inventory over, can be handled in a number of
different ways. It ' s not a good idea for you to exchange two or
three of your customer ' s books for one of yours. There ' s always a
variance in price, plus you may not want the type of books your
customer is offering to trade.
The most feasible plan seems to be to give the customer a " credit
chit " for each book you buy from him. Simply
have a supply of business cards promoting your store, printed at
your local quick print shop. On the back of the card, have them
print something along these lines:
" The bearer of this card is entitled to _______________ cents
credit on 50 % of the listed price of any book at Ye Olden Book
Store / s / Your Signature. "
Then when someone brings in a couple of books to sell, you pay
him in credit chits, marking in the amount and signing your name
on the card. An easier way might be to have your signature
printed on the cards when you order them - - you or your clerk would
simply fill in the credit amount, and emboss the card with a
notary - type embosser.
Usually, you allow 20 to 25 cents for mint condition paperbacks,
and about one quarter of your selling price for hardbacks. Always
make sure the customer understands that regardless of how many
' credit chits " he has, the credit chits can only pay for half the
purchase price. This of course, is to protect your cash - flow
problems, and your income of " hard money. "
Many used book stores add to their income potential by adding
tape cassette lending libraries. These are a real money makers
with a kind of service tat lends out " books on tape " and special
learning programs where portions of the rental fee applies to the
purchase of the original tape cassette.
A great many used book stores add to their income by running mail
order book selling operations in addition to the retail business.
This is a natural, either for a retail operator wanting to expand
his market or a mail order operator wanting to increase his
income.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE START - UP COSTS....
1, 000 TO 1, 500 SQUARE FOOT STORE
RENT ( 1st and Last month ' s ).......... $1, 000 to $2, 000
UTILITY & PHONE DEPOSITS............. $50 TO 300
INSURANCE ( 1st Quarter Payment )....... $100 TO 200
LICENSES & PERMITS................... $50 to 250
INVENTORY............................ $2, 500 to 5, 000
SHELVING & REMODELING................ $2, 000 TO 5, 000
MISC ( Decorating, checkout counter
cash register, supplies........ $1, 000 to 1, 500
LEGAL & ACCOUNTING................... $600 TO 1, 200
ADVERTISING & SIGNS................... $1, 000 TO 3, 500
__________________
TOTAL................................ $8, 250 TO 18, 950
OPERATING CAPITAL.................... $5, OOO TO 12, 000
Entrepreneur should have enough operating capital in reserve to
not only keep the store operating for the first year, without
counting on anticipated profit, but also enough for unseen
emergencies without having to count upon income from the store to
see him through.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE MONTHLY OPERATING COSTS...
PAYROLL............................. $1, 500 to $2, 500
OWNER / OPERATOR SALARY............... $1, 000 to $2, 000
RENT / LEASE.......................... $ 600 to $1, 000
ADVERTISING........................ $ 500 to $ 1, 000
DEPRECIATION........................ $ 100 to 150
UTILITIES & PHONE................... $ 150 to 300
PRINTING & STATIONERY................ $ 100 to 200
SHIPPING COSTS...................... $ 100 to 150
INSURANCE........................... $ 50 to 100
MAINTENANCE......................... $ 50 to 100
MISCELLANEOUS....................... & 100 to 150
____________________
TOTAL............................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
OPERATING COSTS..................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
ANTICIPATED SALES................... $5, 000 TO 8, 500
NET PROFIT BEFORE TAXES............. $ 800 TO 850
PRO FORMA ANNUAL INCOME ( B / T )....... $9, 600 to 3, 000
A word of caution: Though you must project an open, COMFORTABLE
invitation to browsers and would - be book buyers, you MUST also
inconspicuously guard against shoplifters and outright thieves.
The best is to place mirrors strategically throughout the store
so you can see your customers from the checkout desk at all
times. Your smaller and more expensive books should be kept up
front SO that you can see them and what your customers are doing
with them, without seeming to be guarding them. There are a
number of theft prevention gadgets and devices available, but
even more important is alert hired help that can keep an eye on
the customers without making them feel they ' re being watched.
The risks of starting a used book store are high for the dreamer
unaware that it ' s just another retail business and should be
handled as such. Well organized and intelligently - operated used
book stores are very stable, and they provide a very comfortable
income for the owner - operator willing to persist thru the
start - up period.
This can be the kind of business you ' ve always dreamed of owning,
but you ' ll have to have the patience to let it grow and the
perseverance to see it thru to its ultimate success. With these
thoughts in mind, I say reach for the sky and may the angels of
paradise always be smiling upon you with endless good fortune!
center - not too glamourous until you take a look at the publician ' s
bank account.
This is an example " absentee - hotelier " type of business, or a small
investment type business for someone to start while gate down
a regular, full time job. The type of person " best - profitable " to
running a successful used book store, is a man or woman who loves
to read, has cool books over the years and enjoys
associating with people of consonant interests.
Start - up risks average high, with the average time expression needed
to become firmly established, about 3 years. After that " becoming
established " stage however, you should be able to enjoy clout
of a business without extreme market fluctuations, plus an income
close to $50, 000 per year or more.
Ideally, a used book store will need a market family of at
least 50, 000 persons to platform it. Try to locate your store in a
" high traffic " area, as near as possible to a college or
university campus. Something to bear in mind is the shopping
habits of the average used book buyer: First, he is a browser. He
notices your shop, drops in and begins looking around to see what
philanthropic of books you have available. If he spots something that
really interests him, he ' ll probably buy then and there. If not,
and provided you ' ve made him stroke in clover this first time in
your store, he ' ll be back - dropping in to browse whenever he ' s in
the area.
Shopping Malls are an select locations for book stores.
Locations near other, or " new " books stores are also very good -
if the buyer doesn ' t find what he wants in the " other " book
stores, he ' ll check your store. Grocery store shopping centers
are oftentimes fortuneless locations for book stores of any considerate.
It ' s important that there be a lot of casual strollers in your
setting area, and that you revivify these people to drop in,
and browse around.
If you want the entire front of your store to be a show
window... take pains to arrange your window display in an
unstopped fashion, pageant the kinds of books you
have... However, a window display is not really necessary... more
important is a window for the passers - by to see into your
store... At any degree, if you do go with a window display, keep it
low - never more than 36 inches high flying start a lot of room for the
people passing to see in youe store, and notice the people
browsing thru your books. We know of one successful operator who
had members of his family, connections and friends, purposely
" browsing " thru his store, just to project that affectionate of carved figure for
the store.
Once you have your store locality selected, stain the entire
interior in a rayless, broiling color, such as mahogany. Stick a
lighter shade of indoor / outdoor carpet throughout. The lighting
should be indirect, and reasonably subdued to give the store a warmish
perception.
Locate your checkout obverse counterpart to one of the side
walls... You don ' t want it blocking or guarding the easy entry or
exit from your store. You want your customers to endure opulent
just visiting your store. in other words, do gadget you can
to spur the browser, because it ' s proven time and time winnings
that the browsers are the book buyers. Allow the people to come
and do oftentimes as they please; to pick up swing thru the books
that interest them; to read them and " fall in enjoyment " with them.
These will be your real book buyers.
Your book shelves should run along each side wall, and across the
back of the store. Don ' t build them more than six feet high.
Factor these shelves into sections about four feet wide, and
at the top of each section, place a sign
indicating the general subject matter of the books to be start up
in that section.
Paper the walls of your store, from the top of your book shelves
to the ceiling with posters - - colorful and descriptive junket
posters, broadway show billboards, operate posters and full color
dust jackets from books that are perennially popular.
The next apparatus is to build or buy half shelves, tables and
revolving racks for other or more books. The half shelves - - about
4 feet wide by 4 feet high and akin to book cases in your
home - - should be located at right angles to your wall shelves, and
in the rear of your store. The tables should be about 3 feet wide
by 4 feet long, and about 30 inches high. These also should be
located at right angles to your wall shelves, but closer to the
front of your store. A revolving wire form, to clasp currently
popular or specially featured books, and located at the front of
your store, will be a momentous extra merchandising effort that ' ll
really pay off in sales of your books.
In locating your half shelves and tables down the middle of your
store, stagger them - - one 3 feet from the wall shelves, the next
one 6 feet out, then 4 feet and so on. This will allow people to
be " seen " in your store; cut down on the appearance of a formal
or military layout, and project a more casual tactility for
browsing and this is precisely what you want. This amicable of
arrangement will cost you some space, but it will be worth it
with another traffic.
Another merchandising idea that works very well is a couple of
revolving wire racks on wheels... These you push outside and
position near the entrance to your store. You can characteristic popular
paperbacks, and a few oversize hard cover books with golden,
flashy colors in these racks.
Your store hours should match those of your neigbors... In fact,
you cold " jump off to a quick start, " by opening a half hour
earlier than your neighbors. Use his opening half hour to take
care of paperwork, and get yourself organized for the day. When
the early shoppers see you ' re open early, they ' ll begin coming
into your store to " browse and snuff time " while they wait for the
other stores to open.
If you cannot be there to " open the store, " then hire part time
help. The best arrangement is house wives or college students in
4 hour shifts at the minimum dinero.
First off, write out a list of duties you want each clerk to
perform while he ' s on shift. In addition to captivating care of sales
transactions, you might want him to do some stocking, dusting,
cleaning, sorting and prcing.. Regardless, you ' ll have fewer
problems and enjoy prominent profits if you formally write these
" shift duties " out, and post them as business requirements, and
tell them when you visit for hired help.
Look for, and try to hire only book lovers who are personable,
outgoing, and have some sort of business aptitude. You the train
these people in all phases of your operation, with the knowing in
mind that they will run the store in your absence, and eventually
be your store executive. the best way to find such people is by
talking with your customers, observing which might be willing to
work for you, and which of them might best fulfill your needs.
You ' ll need a outside sign for your store - preferably one that
hangs right angles to the flow of traffic in front of your store.
Many successful used book stores utilize hand - carved wooden
symbols, while others display painted symbols with calligraphic
lettering. By all means, spend the extra hundred dollars or so to
have spotlights installed on your store front, focusing on your
store symbols. Backlit resourceful symbols just don ' t create the
moneyed spitting image necessary for the success of a good used book
store
Newspaper and / or broadcast advertising will be much more
expensive than it ' s worth. Your best stake is to create a
well-off sensibility and open supplication for browsers, price your
stock fairly, scrape together on personal service, and let
word - of - ingress advertising and time do the rest.
Even so, you should run an ad in the unprincipled pages. feasibly and ad
in the college paper, and from time to time, personal sales ads in
your local shopping papers. Inexpensive flyers inviting people in
to exchange books, or to just browse, can be printed at your
local quick print shop and handed out or placed under the
windshields of cars in the larger shopping center parking lots.
Advertising, and special sales during holiday periods such as
Christmas, Gigantic ' s Day and Father ' s Day are much quite
effective in bringing new customers into your store.
Most used book store entrepreneurs use their own book collections
as start - up inventory base. In addition, talk to as many
neighbors, friends and relatives as possible for the donation of
books. Then start making the rounds of all the garage sales and
flea markets. You should have at least 10, 000 books in stock when
you open for business - and that ' s a lot of books. Search for
books to sell - those you can buy for 25 cents or less - - in all
thrift shops, Goodwill stores and Salvation Army outlets. Church
bazaars and estate sales also sometimes provide you with almost
" complete " libraries.
You might place a small ad in your newspaper announcing that
you ' re looking for good used books to buy. Generally, you
evaluate a book according to the price you think you can get it
for in your store. Then you subtract two thirds of that total,
and offer that as your " buying " price. Always separate the books
you feel certain you can sell from those you aren ' t sure about.
It ' s going to take awhile for you to become proficient as a book
buyer, but with practice and some experience, you ' ll quickly
develop the " intuition " you need to realize a profit on every
book you buy. Always flip thru the pages of each individual book,
and be sure of its condition before you quote a price. In many
instances you ' ll also find that out of a box of 25 books, you ' re
only interested in buying 10... The seller will generally be
wanting to get rid of his books, now... And for a couple of
dollars more than your " bid price " on the 10 books you want,
he ' ll let you have all 25 of them.. This is like a windfall to you
because you can always use the " unwanted " books as leader items
or extras to generate traffic during two - for - one sales; all books
on a certain table for just a nickel each; or your choice of free
books for everyone coming in to browse on certain days..
You should carry hardcover as well as paperback books. Pay no
more than 25 % of new price for a mint condition hardcover book,
and buy only those you are certain can be sold in your store. pay
no more than 10 % of the new price for a mint condition used
paperback, and steer clear of the hard - core sexually oriented
books.
Visit the libraries and book stores in your area. Observe what
people are interested in reading and what they ' re checking out or
buying. Stock your store with these kinds of books.
below is a listing of the kinds or types of books you should
consider stocking in your used books store:
BUSINESS BOOKS: These should include books on leadership, career
advancement, time management and people management.
HOW - TO BOOKS: These should include all the self - help and
self - improvement manuals you can find - - mail order, auto repair,
carpentry, metalwork, home building, gardening, and business
start - up.
COOK BOOKS: You ' ll probably be surprised at how many people buy
books relating to the culinary arts. A well stocked cookbook
section will mean definite profits for you. Forget about books on
dieting, home economics, and etiquette - - these just don ' t do well
in used book stores.
SPECIAL INTEREST BOOKS: Watch and listen to the people of your
area... Be on the lookout for people into World War, history,
aviation, sports perfection, movies and just plain old book
collectors...
PAPERBACKS: Women ' s romance, science fiction, mysteries, and
historical novels are all good movers - - currently enjoying an
upsurge in popularity and sales. These will be the " best movers "
in your inventory, so develop good sources of supply, and price
them for fast sales.
Building and maintaining your inventory, while continuing to
rapidly turn that inventory over, can be handled in a number of
different ways. It ' s not a good idea for you to exchange two or
three of your customer ' s books for one of yours. There ' s always a
variance in price, plus you may not want the type of books your
customer is offering to trade.
The most feasible plan seems to be to give the customer a " credit
chit " for each book you buy from him. Simply
have a supply of business cards promoting your store, printed at
your local quick print shop. On the back of the card, have them
print something along these lines:
" The bearer of this card is entitled to _______________ cents
credit on 50 % of the listed price of any book at Ye Olden Book
Store / s / Your Signature. "
Then when someone brings in a couple of books to sell, you pay
him in credit chits, marking in the amount and signing your name
on the card. An easier way might be to have your signature
printed on the cards when you order them - - you or your clerk would
simply fill in the credit amount, and emboss the card with a
notary - type embosser.
Usually, you allow 20 to 25 cents for mint condition paperbacks,
and about one quarter of your selling price for hardbacks. Always
make sure the customer understands that regardless of how many
' credit chits " he has, the credit chits can only pay for half the
purchase price. This of course, is to protect your cash - flow
problems, and your income of " hard money. "
Many used book stores add to their income potential by adding
tape cassette lending libraries. These are a real money makers
with a kind of service tat lends out " books on tape " and special
learning programs where portions of the rental fee applies to the
purchase of the original tape cassette.
A great many used book stores add to their income by running mail
order book selling operations in addition to the retail business.
This is a natural, either for a retail operator wanting to expand
his market or a mail order operator wanting to increase his
income.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE START - UP COSTS....
1, 000 TO 1, 500 SQUARE FOOT STORE
RENT ( 1st and Last month ' s ).......... $1, 000 to $2, 000
UTILITY & PHONE DEPOSITS............. $50 TO 300
INSURANCE ( 1st Quarter Payment )....... $100 TO 200
LICENSES & PERMITS................... $50 to 250
INVENTORY............................ $2, 500 to 5, 000
SHELVING & REMODELING................ $2, 000 TO 5, 000
MISC ( Decorating, checkout counter
cash register, supplies........ $1, 000 to 1, 500
LEGAL & ACCOUNTING................... $600 TO 1, 200
ADVERTISING & SIGNS................... $1, 000 TO 3, 500
__________________
TOTAL................................ $8, 250 TO 18, 950
OPERATING CAPITAL.................... $5, OOO TO 12, 000
Entrepreneur should have enough operating capital in reserve to
not only keep the store operating for the first year, without
counting on anticipated profit, but also enough for unseen
emergencies without having to count upon income from the store to
see him through.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE MONTHLY OPERATING COSTS...
PAYROLL............................. $1, 500 to $2, 500
OWNER / OPERATOR SALARY............... $1, 000 to $2, 000
RENT / LEASE.......................... $ 600 to $1, 000
ADVERTISING........................ $ 500 to $ 1, 000
DEPRECIATION........................ $ 100 to 150
UTILITIES & PHONE................... $ 150 to 300
PRINTING & STATIONERY................ $ 100 to 200
SHIPPING COSTS...................... $ 100 to 150
INSURANCE........................... $ 50 to 100
MAINTENANCE......................... $ 50 to 100
MISCELLANEOUS....................... & 100 to 150
____________________
TOTAL............................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
OPERATING COSTS..................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
ANTICIPATED SALES................... $5, 000 TO 8, 500
NET PROFIT BEFORE TAXES............. $ 800 TO 850
PRO FORMA ANNUAL INCOME ( B / T )....... $9, 600 to 3, 000
A word of caution: Though you must project an open, COMFORTABLE
invitation to browsers and would - be book buyers, you MUST also
inconspicuously guard against shoplifters and outright thieves.
The best is to place mirrors strategically throughout the store
so you can see your customers from the checkout desk at all
times. Your smaller and more expensive books should be kept up
front SO that you can see them and what your customers are doing
with them, without seeming to be guarding them. There are a
number of theft prevention gadgets and devices available, but
even more important is alert hired help that can keep an eye on
the customers without making them feel they ' re being watched.
The risks of starting a used book store are high for the dreamer
unaware that it ' s just another retail business and should be
handled as such. Well organized and intelligently - operated used
book stores are very stable, and they provide a very comfortable
income for the owner - operator willing to persist thru the
start - up period.
This can be the kind of business you ' ve always dreamed of owning,
but you ' ll have to have the patience to let it grow and the
perseverance to see it thru to its ultimate success. With these
thoughts in mind, I say reach for the sky and may the angels of
paradise always be smiling upon you with endless good fortune!
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