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Bookstore name

Motokid said:
The questions we keep asking is what would be our competitive advantage?

In your case, what would/could you do differently than the store you already work in? How would you be different? How would you compete?
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Our store will/would have only English language paperbacks, mostly fiction but also non-fiction and children's/YA books. Right now a lot of general Swedish bookstores have an English paperback section, but everyone has more or less the same books, and we feel there's an unmet demand for a specialized store with a great, wide selection of titles (at terrifically low prices and in a super location! :cool: :D )

Sitaram said:
By Jove! I have it!

The Bookstore Bordello
(read and breed)
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I think we have a winner! :D
 
There are cigar bars, juice bars, sports bars, gay bars, Irish bars; I have always wanted to see a Philosophy Bar

So, call your store "The Philosophy Bar"

and have a section with armchairs, and sofas, for conversation.

Too bad you can't get a liquor license, or at least serve wine.

Have regularly scheduled talks, with a discussion seminar afterwards.

Have membership with annual dues, which offers a discount on purchases.
 
Sitaram said:
There are cigar bars, juice bars, sports bars, gay bars, Irish bars; I have always wanted to see a Philosophy Bar

So, call your store "The Philosophy Bar"

and have a section with armchairs, and sofas, for conversation.

Too bad you can't get a liquor license, or at least serve wine.

Have regularly scheduled talks, with a discussion seminar afterwards.

Have membership with annual dues, which offers a discount on purchases.
Click to expand...


Sounds like a cross between a bookstore and a Victorian gentleman's club;) But it does sound nice. An area for book discussions would be great.
 
Not to be a dark cloud on the conversation, but is it possible the general Swedish book store has a small English section because the demand for English books is not that great?

I would think many of these places keep pretty good records about what sells and what doesn't. What they get requests for and what collects dust.

Not saying that a niche market does not exist, just asking questions.

I have no idea what the Swedish like/want. I'm rather intrigued by the idea that there would be such a demand for English books in a country where English is not the native language.

Maybe the store could be called:

"Brilliant Books"
"Extraordinarily English"
"The English Escape"
 
There are a few English-only bookstores in Sweden (Uppsala English Bookshop being the perhaps most well-known) but AFAIK none in the Gothenburg area. And there's definitely a market, Swedes read quite a lot in English - especially the younger crowd, and especially when it comes to genre fiction (sf, horror, fantasy etc) since those books are rarely translated into Swedish, and if they are, it's often very poorly done. The "benefits" of living in a small country with a very conservative publishing business. (The fact that translations often take 2-5 years to be published doesn't help either.)

Which isn't to say that I'm completely convinced there's a market big enough, but hey, mrkgnao is old enough to make her own mistakes... :p
 
mrkgnao, my only thoughts are to be careful of any advice, including mine, that you receive from an internet forum. Most people posting here have absolutely no idea of the local conditions where you live. Do your own study of what may work and what probably will not. If necessary hire someone local to help with the assessment.

Example, there are many hamburger joints in the U.S. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys, etc. Yet a new upstart named "Five Guys" has created a success with a new small chain. They had something that they believed in and made a success out of it.
 
muggle said:
mrkgnao, my only thoughts are to be careful of any advice, including mine, that you receive from an internet forum.
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Actually, we were doing market research long before anyone brought it up here :cool: There's not much statistics to get, but we'll try to spy on the competition. Basically, we're doing it by the book (The book is called (transl.) Starting and running a company)

And there is quite a lot of demand, which suffers under the lack of imagination of the import division of the largest Swedish supplier. We'll import directly, of course!


*mrkgnao*
 
muggle said:
mrkgnao, my only thoughts are to be careful of any advice, including mine, that you receive from an internet forum. Most people posting here have absolutely no idea of the local conditions where you live. Do your own study of what may work and what probably will not. If necessary hire someone local to help with the assessment
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That is good advice, and as mrkgnao wrote above, we're making a solid businessplan with all that involves and we intend to talk to start-your-own-business experts in Gothenburg after that. It may turn out that our idea is not working, and we might have to revise our plans or drop them all togehter, or we might come to the conclusion that it's to much work and decide not to do it. I think we are both quite cautious, and will think twice and then some before jumping into something as big as this. Either way, it would be nice to be able to say that we at least tried to pursue our dream. It's always better to regret the things you did than the things you didn't.

As far as the thoughts and ideas on this thread - we'll listen to everything you say - and then disregard it completely. :D

Motokid, we can tell you all our plans, but then we'll have to kill you ;):D
 
as mrkgnao wrote above, we're making a solid businessplan with all that involves and we intend to talk to start-your-own-business experts in Gothenburg after that.
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Just today, I had one new client who wants to start a small sandwich shop. He thought i was the devil incarnate, when I told him that a business plan would have to come first, and that i wouldn't just do it all for him, rather i would do it with him (um not do it with him - you know what i mean:p )

Another Client had started his business with half a business plan - every other section apart from the financial stuff was excellent. But because he wasn't confident with number work, he had miscalculated and left out so many important cost considerations. 6months later, nothing's making sense and his bookkeeping is a mess - lucky me gets to clean it up.

But Pink Shadow & Mrkgnao, you both seem very level headed and know what you're doing. The only thing i will say and you will no doubt know it already, and then i'll shut up i promise, is that double & triple check your projected figures, make sure you leave absolutely nothing out. Be clear of legal liability and tax implications (i think corporation tax in Sweden is one of the lowest in Europe isn't it?)

Best of luck. You'll do great.
 
Agatha's Attic

A Bookstore is Announced

Anglophiles Anonymous (Did somebody already suggest that one?)

The English Channel

(This is fun -- it's not our money!) :D
 
No, not yet. We're trying out different names on people we know to see what they think. Not all great names work on a Swedish market. Anything with "biblio" for example will just make people think of libraries, because the Swedish word for library is bibliotek. And some names may be too difficult for the average Swede to understand. So we're working on it, and we'll let you know when we settle on something!:)
 
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