Everywhere indie booksellers turn, the stakes are higher. Those who have weathered the entry of chains and the onslaught of superstores have been rewarded with the imperative of responding to the brave new e-world of Amazon.com and other Internet retailers. Given these increased external pressures, which are making life harder for all entrepreneurs, booksellers need to respond by addressing those internal measures that develop one's ability to grow and adapt.
As the bookselling market becomes more competitive, leaders in the field say the most effective way to compete is not simply to change strategies or add new tools like a new accounting program or inventory system. Rather, the most effective way to grow your company is to address the core issue of how to make your personal skills, competencies and knowledge bloom.
My new book, The Startup Garden: How Growing a Business Grows You (McGraw-Hill), talks about the skills that growing a business requires. Launching and growing a successful company requires more than simple self-awareness. You must develop a healthy business vehicle based on your own strengths and skills. Then you must add skills such as financial literacy, managerial prowess and a capacity for personal and organizational learning. Such a perspective isn't limited to startups.
Five Habits of Successful Bookselling
I'd like to focus on what I believe are the five habits of successful booksellers:
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Develop and articulate your goals and values.
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Understand how this identity benefits customers.
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Commitment to lifelong learning.
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Manage effectively by setting boundaries and demanding accountability.
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Implement managerial systems so your store can thrive without your presence.
Set Goals and Values
There are numerous examples of smart booksellers who have taken these steps. Let's look at the most important first step, which is the anchor for bookstore owners to develop a successful venture. That would be the articulation of who you are, what you offer and what your venture believes in. Just as all startups must determine how their product distinguishes itself in the marketplace, so, too, must bookstore owners develop a clear sense of identity and mission. By defining your company's identity and mission, you will naturally differentiate yourself from competitors.
Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia Books in Madison, Conn., developed a store identity and mission in two phases. When she first prepared plans for her store more than 10 years ago, Coady produced a thick document of the business she wanted to open: a community bookstore that combined a cozy setting with an active schedule of readings, signings, and other events to build community and support books. These plans certainly helped Coady realize her vision: R.J. Julia was named PW Bookstore of the Year in 1995.
Yet Coady found that knowing what type of store she wanted wasn't enough. For her business to grow and thrive, for her employees to enjoy autonomy and meaningful participation, she needed to take this process one critical step forward. In 1998, Coady and her staff developed a mission statement for the store. This grueling process led to a simple elaboration of the store's purpose ("A place for our customers, our staff, and our community to share their enthusiasm and excitement for books in a way that enhances the experience for us all.") and its values (customer service, integrity, respect, style and responsibility).
Coady said the process of developing the statement generated a tremendously useful conversation among store employees. More important, she said, "We are now attempting to integrate the mission statement into all of our policies and procedures and environment."
Value Delivered to Customers
The best booksellers cultivate and nurture a meaningful community of customers. At Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, Mass., owner Kate Mattes does more than offer both new and used titles, produce a regular newsletter and hold frequent book signings and author events. She also highlights her ties to local authors and draws from the enthusiasm of her loyal customers.
Outside the Victorian home that houses her store, Mattes has planted flowers and plants that were gifts from local authors Jane Langton, Katherine Hall Page and Susan Conant. When Jeremiah Healy or Bill Tapply stop by, she enlists them to move boxes for her. Robert B. Parker built some of the wooden bookshelves in the store. Having such strong ties with authors enables Mattes to provide her customers with a greater sense of participation to the world of mystery books. "I think that my customers enjoy coming here and talking with other people. They feel a sense of belonging," she told PW. "Many of my regulars will give advice to other customers and give them a tour of the store."
The Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles has taken the participation of its community of customers one step further. Last spring, when longtime owner Otto Penzler (based in New York) decided to close down the West Coast store, general manager Sheldon McArthur found a way to keep the store alive.
With the help of an attorney (and customer), McArthur sent 500 customers an e-mail seeking help. Within two weeks more than 60 potential investors had stepped up. McArthur eventually tapped more than a dozen for his subsequent purchase of the store. He has also enlisted this group for help ranging from legal and accounting services, Web site design and support, and general sweat equity.
Ongoing Education
The third key skill for bookstore owners concerns ongoing education—not simply in the nuts and bolts of the newest inventory system, but a commitment to lifelong learning. The best booksellers do so by building a network of supporters and advisers both within and outside of their company.
"Networking is invaluable," said owner Frank Kramer of the Harvard Book Stores in Cambridge, Mass. "Anyone who is arrogant enough to think they know all the answers is destined for failure." Kramer, who inherited the business from his father as a 20-year-old in 1962, has spent his career trying to build on his managerial chops. Over the years, as his business grew, Kramer increased his knowledge through participating in the ABA, taking courses and picking up tips from fellow business owners.
And Kramer has also tried to become a better bookseller by focusing on his business skills. Twenty years ago, he took the Harvard Business School owner/manager program. And for the past 14 years, Kramer has continued to expand his ability to lead the company through involvement in The Executive Committee (TEC,) a network of people who run small businesses and who meet regularly to help each other with business issues. The value of such a group rests in its ability to identify key business issues that transcend one's personal business. "Through TEC, I've learned the importance of matters like having a profit and loss statement on the 14th of every month," Kramer told PW. "Or that as the head of the company, you can't expect other people to make the tough decisions. Those are yours to make."
Setting Boundaries
One of the most challenging of all skills is learning to set boundaries when managing employees. For many booksellers, this can be a painful process. In her early days, Roxanne Coady would often overlook employees' poor behavior. "I just wanted them as my friends," she said. Yet such an approach "basically reinvented a dysfunctional family." Eventually, Coady implemented a more formal system in which individual employees set clear goals, and then review these goals with a manager on a regular basis. This enables people to discuss their desired and actual behavior, and helps both worker and boss to explore how to create the right conditions for employees to do their best.
Systems That Work Without You
This leads to the final skill, when you reach the point when you can realize the distinctive promise of your business without your constant presence. This issue goes beyond learning not to micromanage (itself a big deal). The question comes down to this: Does your store have sufficient policies and procedures, coupled with an explicit employee awareness of your mission, for the business to continue doing what it should without you?
In some ways, bookstore owners can accomplish this process only if they have gone through the first step—articulating of mission and values. Without such a compass, no degree of delegation or trust in employees will enable them to make decisions that align with the overall company goals. Michael Powell didn't cross this crucial threshold until his Powell's City of Books in Portland had roughly 75 employees. "As we grew from a single store to a more complex organization, we had to confront the issue of what systems and strategies we had in place to accommodate the growth and the potential for future growth," he told PW.
Yet such a transition awaits bookstores of any size that have a commitment to growth and excellence. Regardless of your company size, you must begin to implement systems that enable the business to continue on its own. "The articulation of values and strategy doesn't have to be a formal process, but you have to do it," said Powell. "Ask yourself: Could you walk away from the store and have it be okay?"
Formulating a strategy and then creating a team or manager to help implement the plan changes life in two key ways, said Powell. First, the owner assumes a new role that may still be rooted in daily operations, but takes a broader view of the business. Secondly, it empowers employees to make decisions. "Through all of this, you have to be willing to delegate and trust," said Powell, whose company now has seven stores, a booming online presence and more than 500 employees. "The goal is to empower people to be part of the decision-making process, to offer their ideas and feel a sense of ownership about the company."
