I've been getting quite anxious over what to do with Mr. Books now for quite some time. Since moving from around the corner 16 months ago the shop has become a lot busier and, whilst not what I'd call thriving, the move has more than paid for itself. So why be anxious then? Well, you only have to pick up a newspaper or, as is increasing more likely, an i-pad, to see that bookshops have been closing at a rate of aprox. two per week across the country. So you might appreciate that it's not just my dilemma. The thought of struggling by for very little profit for another ten years or so is a little heart breaking. I love what I do but, as I always joke, this is the hardest I've ever worked, for the longest hours and for the least money! That's fine so long as your labour of love is occasionally rewarded. Those rewards are becoming less and less frequent as more and more people buy online, or cheap from supermarkets or, worst of all, down load e-books. Then there's the dreaded charity shops whose proliferation has choked the market still further. The rise of Oxfam Books, a dedicated charity bookshop with over 130 shops and a huge book barn in Huddersfield, might be the final nail in the coffin. There's little point in barking on, as many book dealers do, about how Oxfam pay little or no business rates, (Mr. Books pays around £3,000 a year btw) get all their stock free and have an army of volunteers. Little point really at all as it's all been said lots of times before. In short with all these combined forces it's becoming more and more difficult for it to make any kind of business sense having a bricks and mortar shop. You can only hold back the sea for so long. Eventually, inevitably it will break the defences and come crashing over you. Whilst new book sales have picked up a lot since moving onto the High Street one is still left with the feeling that you are being thrown the scraps from afew groups such as the lovely community minded folk, the older people who aren't computer savvy and those people who still like good old fashioned service. The problem is, and to a large extent I don't blame them, people will generally vote with their pockets and they have more and more opportunities to do so. Consequently the physical High Street bookshop is being hit from all angles and not really being helped very much by anyone. So what would I do instead? Well the obvious choice would be to do what 95% of book dealers do which is to trade online, by catalogue and at book fairs. The London Book Fair I often attend usually earns me more in a day than the shop does in a good week. That with no overheads, no lease agreement, no long term risk. Most book web sites charge around £30 per month and once again, there's no long term commitment. To be honest the only advantage of having a shop, apart from the sheer love of it, is the amount of books which get offered to you means you have constant supply. That said at present my storage is bursting at the seams. The books come in a lot faster than they go out!
The other possibility, and definitely my preferred solution, is to genuinely turn Mr. Books into a community shop with the community having a part share in the business. I haven't thought this through in any great depth yet or, for that matter, costed it out, but it might work something like this: several individuals, societies and interested bodies get together with myself and decide the value of the business, I keep half the business and they the other half between them. It could possibly be turned into a registered charity which becomes non profit making and gets all the benefits enjoyed by these organisations such as huge business rate relief. I myself would provide expertise and still help to run the shop along with volunteers and young work experience people helping out. If anyone is interested in this idea then please do get in touch. I hope it wouldn't be too big an exaggeration if I said that it could help save part of the heart and soul of our little town....
4 comments:
It can be incredibly lonely at times, running your own business, and when that business is a “bricks and mortar” shop it can be a real tie as well. I speak from personal experience, of course, and an off-licence, with the necessity to open evenings and weekends, can be more of a tie than most!
I can therefore appreciate where you are coming from TB, and fully sympathise with your dilemma. I don’t really know your circumstances, or trading position, but I would imagine that as you have only recently moved into your new shop, you still have a lengthy lease outstanding on the premises. You are almost certainly aware that leases aren’t that easy to get out of as, even if you were to shut up shop tomorrow, you will still be liable for paying rent on the lease until the end of its term. Unless, that is, you can assign it to someone else. This is probably not the easiest thing to do at present, given the depressed state of the high street at the moment.
I am not trying to depress you, just make you look at what your options are. You mentioned on-line trading; could you not go down that route but still keep the shop on, but limit the opening times to say Saturday, plus one or two days during the week? That would give you time to develop the on-line business, but still leave you with a “bricks and mortar” base.
It would also give you a bit more free time, and that is something which is really important. Again I speak from personal experience, where running an off-licence seven days a week, gave me little, if any real quality time to myself. Even when the shop wasn’t open, there were things like runs to the Cash & Carry, banking etc, oh and being there at the shop to take deliveries, as suppliers don’t very often fit in with your opening hours, particularly when you’re a small trader.
We may not always have seen eye to eye on some of your Blog issues, but I wish you the very best of luck in whatever course you decide, because running a small business these days, with all the added bureaucracy that goes with it, really has to be a labour of love.
Paul Bailey – Beer Blogger, writer and ex-proprietor of the Cask & Glass, Tonbridge.
Thanks for your sentiments PB. Come in to shop sometime for a chat. Can't offer any beer (yet) but the espresso machine's always switched on....
Great blog, I can only imagin a pretty bleak outlook. Oxfam Books should never have been allowed. A true charity shop is there to make money for its cause, while it's reduced Council Tax should be seen as acknowledgement that it's sales of good secondhand clothing is a social benefit to the local community. Oxfam Books fails miserably on this second count. Oxfam Books is a national Parasite. It should not qualify for reduced rates or Council Tax because it's operations offer scant social benefit to the local community. Indeed every charity shop paying reduced taxes places an extra burden on the legitimate business community. Oxfam in particular has such vast operations with a huge salaried staff. It should not be considered a charity at all. Coupled with various media reports over the years of their somewhat debatable overseas meddling along with being a culprit for forcing closure of legitimate rateable shops, I would be glad to see Oxfam treated for all tax purposes as a business, that means paying full council tax.
I will take up your kind offer of a coffee, next time I'm passing, TB. Btw, have you thought about selling cups of coffee at MR Books? I say that, because today whilst driving through Sevenoaks, I noticed a sign outside the Sevenoaks Bookshop, advertising they are selling coffee and cakes in the shop.
Outraged, I agree broadly with your sentiments about Oxfam and othercharity shops. Charities are big business these days, light years removed from their original purpose of helping the poor and needy. I have heard stories of incredible waste within these organisations, with top executives paid huge salaries along with all sorts of other benefits. Criticise them though and you're regarded as some sort of a pariah. Make their shops pay full business rates like all other businesses have to.
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