New Booksellers Shed Light on "Opening" Experience

November 22, 2005

Former librarians Kimberly Diehm and Jennifer Graves are preparing to open The NeverEnding Story Children's Bookshoppe in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February 2006. Here, they share their experiences in gathering information to help them make the decision to become booksellers, about writing a business plan, and in finding financing.

By Kimberly Diehm and Jennifer Graves

In December 2004, we were children's librarians with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District who became obsessed with the dream of one day owning our own children's bookstore. Once we realized we both had this same dream, we weren't too sure how to proceed. But after basking in the excitement of the thought of being entrepreneurs for a few days, we decided to search on the Internet for information about how to operate a bookstore. The search provided us with two very important links -- Paz & Associates and the American Booksellers Association -- both of which were exceptional in the information they provided for new booksellers.

We decided to sign up for the Paz & Associates' new booksellers class, which was being sponsored by ABA at BookExpo America in six months' time. While we waited for that, we took a weekend trip to Los Angeles with a listing in hand of all of the area's children's bookstores. We wanted to get an idea of what these stores looked like, their programming, their books and sidelines, and how they were designed. When we returned to Vegas, we searched our library for books about how to write business plans. These helped somewhat, but we felt we needed more help. That's when we found our local Small Business Administration (SBA) and all that they had to offer.

The SBA directed us to SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, that offered a 'how to start your own business' class, as well as free business counseling sessions. They provided us with plenty of information on what to do and what not to do when starting a new business. We set up weekly meetings with SCORE counselors and were encouraged by their enthusiasm for our plan. We purchased a "business-plan writing" software program from them, which helped us focus on writing the plan one step at a time -- much easier than any of the books we had read.

Somehow, six months flew by, and we had started our business plan, knew what sideline products we wanted, and had a plan for programs and events. We knew that when we went to BookExpo in New York City that we'd come from the new booksellers class either not wanting to proceed, or with a renewed determination to make it happen. Luckily, the latter happened, and when we got back to Las Vegas, we made a point to complete the business plan as soon as possible, and to begin looking for a location.

During the writing of the plan, we continued to meet with a SCORE counselor. He mentored us and guided us through the process. Once we were finished, we were finally ready to take the plan to a bank from the SBA listing. The first bank delivered a devastating blow when it denied the loan, but we just took it to the next bank on the list.

This brings us to the present where, amazingly, everything has happened at once: the second bank approved our loan, we found an awesome location and signed lease documents, and we put in our two weeks' notice with the library district. We know we still have much planning to do before we open (hopefully in February), but we feel we'll be well prepared given the steps we took to get here.

Watch for more coverage of new booksellers' experiences in upcoming editions of BTW.

Topics: News - Bookselling, New Booksellers, People,