Bookselling in India – Where to Start?
Submitted by Bruce K. Hollingdrake on Saturday, 3 January 20095 Comments
A Question from Rahul:
Hello,
I am from India and have planned to start a bookstore in my locality. But I am not aware of the working in the industry. Its more of a passion, I must say.
Can you guide me as to how does the process of Inventory Management works. Whom do you buy the books from – publishers, distributors and how do you approach them.
I know there are many ebook guides available over the internet. But most of them focus on U.S. market and I am sure it will not help me much. So if you can reply to my question, it would be really appreciated.
Rahul
Hi Sri,
Thanks for your valuable advice.
Actually i was looking at setting up a online store.
Can you tell me what goes into setting up one. I want to start
off small with a minimal yearly budget of 1 L.
Please advise.
Regards,
Vinod
Hi Vinod,
Looks like you will have a bit of homework to do. I’d suggest you run through some of the links to the right. Before you even start you might want to take a few days walking through the neighborhood you plan on setting up shop and talk to people to see if a book store would be viable.
Another thing you might want to do is to visit some book stores and talk to the owners. Explain your vision and let them bring you down to reality. You need a good business plan to start and without it your store would not prosper.
Travel a bit from your location to visit stores so you will not be setting up in their territory. They will be more likely to chat with a fellow book lover than a ‘business competitor’.
All of this is from someone that does not have a bricks and mortar store but simply sells online. You might want to consider used books through the internet.
K. Srinivasamurthy in the first comment gives some good hints/tips for inventory.
Hi,
I am looking at starting a bookshop in Mumbai. Can someone please guide me how to go about starting a book shop in Mumbai. Specifically
i would like to know where to get the books from, what are the margins, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Vinod
Hi Rahul,
It seems that book lovers know no boundaries where the borders of countries are concerned. Don’t be so sure that the U.S./Canadian books on the subject will be of no value to you. There will be some good things in some of them that will be of use although not all of the info will apply.
You can start for free on this website. To the right, near the bottom is a category list that includes posts on inventory management and marketing ideas.
Are you going to deal with strictly new books or are you going to deal in used books too? In the U.S. we have what are called ‘yard sales’ and ’swap meets’ where people bring items they no longer need or want to sell to the public. Books can sometimes be purchased for little and sold for a lot BUT! you have to use some discrepancy or you will end up with stock that nobody wants to buy.
We also have estate sales where the family of a deceased person sells items they do not want to keep. Often times an entire collection of books can be purchased at a low price.
Good luck in your endeavors. I’d say you are doing the right thing with asking questions before jumping into the business. To really be successful you will have to be a businessman first and a book lover second.
Also are you going to be using the Internet to sell books? You will have a worldwide audience if you do…
Paul
Hello Rahul,
Welcome to Indian Booktrade. I am delighted to learn that you are passionate about bookselling. I do need to know where you are located as that would determine the kind of bookshop you may want to start and the kind of inventory you should consider. It is good idea to start off buying from distributors. They would want some deposit before they will agree to supply. Once you establish your credibility, they will come forward to open credit account. Then publishers, big and small, will automatically start approaching you. Please feel free to contact me for more info.
All the best
Srinivasamurthy