In a society that is passionate about reading, bookstores are a must. Even in the case of Argentina, which has the city with the most bookstores per inhabitants of the world, Buenos Aires. Transmit your love of reading by opening a bookstore, find out how in this article.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Find the place
Step 1. Choose where you will be located
Start by making a letter or map of the areas, neighborhoods or cities where you would like to locate your bookstore. Money will limit the places where you can locate yourself, but don't let it be a first impediment to choosing the place, you never know if you will find a good offer in your desired place.
Help yourself with some financial strategy to locate the place in a place where you calculate that the economic return will be high
Step 2. Find out places to rent
Once you have established the area where you would like to locate yourself, look for places to rent. Check that it has the necessary pretensions for your business, be it a living room for those who want to do a quiet reading, space for many bookshelves, adequate daytime lighting, place for the checkout, and whatever seems right to you.
Before renting, make a mental or computer map of what the different things arranged in the bookstore will look like
Step 3. Study advantages and disadvantages of your decision
Make sure that the bookstore is located in an area where there are not too many bookstores and that the local people like to read. Although the latter is difficult to figure out, you can take a survey on the spot and get results based on that sample.
To take all the necessary precautions, ask for help from a graduate in economics or a sociologist whose specialization is in urban geography
Part 2 of 4: Financing the Entrepreneurship
Step 1. Count the estimated costs
Before looking for financing, you must calculate how much you expect to spend. It includes the books that you will have to buy, the rental of the premises, the decoration, the personnel to be hired, what it costs you to keep the premises clean, an all-risk insurance, and many other aspects. The more details you consider, the more you can get closer to the number that will end up being the final expense.
- When you have the estimated number of the venture, calculate what your expected profit will be. For it to be profitable for you, it will have to be positive, and thus you can combine your passion for the bookstore and obtain economic profit for opening it.
- But if the expected benefits give a low or negative number, it may not be convenient for you to open the business. Evaluate if you have done the correct calculations and if so, reconsider whether it is worth opening the business.
Step 2. Get the money
When you have calculated the costs to know how much funds you need, it only remains to get them. You can do it in several ways, you can partner with someone dividing the costs and profits in agreed percentages. It could be someone you know or someone from a mutual fund.
You can also request a credit. The financial entity that grants it to you will have its actuaries evaluate the risk of your venture and make the decision whether to grant the loan or not
Step 3. Invest in the bookstore
When you've gotten the initial capital to start the venture, invest it. In this way you will start to make a profit and enjoy the business.
Always keep control of your expenses written down. It is important that you know well how much you have spent and how much it has paid you so far. In addition, it will help you to contrast with what you have calculated and see if you were correct or not
Part 3 of 4: Take care of the legal aspects
Step 1. Choose the name for the library
You can make up a name or if you can't take a trademark. If you invent a name you should check the availability of that brand, and if it is free you should register it in the Public Registry of Commerce. If you take a trademark instead, you must ask the firm for permission to use it.
The latter will have an additional cost, and the risk that the company will not authorize you to use the brand, so it would be useful to have another plan in case it fails
Step 2. Register your business in AFIP
Through a short procedure you have to register with the Federal Administration of Public Revenue. The process takes about a month.
- Process the CUIT. Your business will be identified by the AFIP with that code.
- Register as a monotributista or as a registered manager. If your bookstore will be small, it will be convenient for you to register as a monotributista since the expenses are lower. While if the library will be large, your best option will be to register as a registered manager according to what is allowed by the AFIP.
- Request the tax book and wait for your registration to be accepted.
Step 3. Receive authorization from the municipality
A person in charge of the provincial tax body that regulates the area where you are will pass to enable your library when you have already been accepted in the AFIP. They will verify if your business meets the safety and health conditions, such as emergency exits, fire extinguishers, sprinklers, among others.
Once they enable your library, you can open the doors
Part 4 of 4: Promote and Advertise the Bookstore
Step 1. Design the brand of your bookstore
Once you have it, create brochures and images to spread on the streets and on the networks. It is important that you manage to create a good image of the bookstore, over time you will be able to reduce your advertising expenses since your business will be known.
If you have the rights to use a brand, you can save yourself part of this work because it is assumed that the brand already has its fame
Step 2. Offer discounts and promotions
Make known the offers you make by all the means that are within your reach, brochures, social networks, radio and television. Run weekly and monthly giveaways to attract readers. In addition, you can include days with discounts to increase demand and make the bookstore known.
- Social sweepstakes are very new ways to attract customers. You can raffle books based on recognized award-winning authors, new authors by way of dissemination or on topics related to the context of the moment.
- You can negotiate with a company that gives you their books, so you raffle them and both take advantage of the benefits of advertising. If, for example, the bookstore or the sponsoring company has a birthday, it is a good reason to raffle and advertise.
Step 3. Create agreements with banks
Banks have their own cards, and just like you, they look for customers. You can reach an agreement with them making customers have a discount in your bookstore with their card. This will help you because the bank will seek to display it and advertise for you.