Anita dreamt up and worked on a large number of business ideas in the last 10 years of her life. She really wanted to own a business (besides her own law firm). When Anita quit her law firm job in 2006, she wasn’t sure what to do, but this idea came to her. A new Starbucks had opened on a heavily trafficed, main street in our town. Next door were two empty spaces that another business could rent. We loved bookstores and decided that a bookstore would be great there: there was no competition near by, the community was invested in education, and the Starbucks provided coffee so we didn’t have to.
Anita designed her bookstore based on what she would want. She knew she had to differentiate from the big chains and also could not stock as deeply as the larger stores. She settled on a teaching aspect to the bookstore with highly targeted and well selected books that teach people things.
We went so far as buying the domain for the web site and calling the management company regarding the rental price per foot. Anita also bought several books and a documentary DVD about owning an independent bookstore. We imagined both working there and having a back room where our kids could comfortably stay for long periods. We sketched the layout of the bookstore and brainstormed genres and special programs.
Ultimately, the space was way too expensive for the business. I recall that the calculation said the bookstore would have to do $1.2 million per year in revenue to break even. That, coupled with no seed money and two kids in preschool ultimately doomed the project.
Here are Anita’s notes regarding the project.
Learn.
We make smart people smarter. We are a bookstore that specializes in how-to books, classes, and an extensive children’s book and activity section because young minds are the key to the future.
If you want to look at books, go to Borders. If you want to learn something, come to us.
Mission statement: Teach families that learning is fun.
Positioning: Describe what you do? We teach.
Tag line: How the smart get smarter.
Our employees are called “knowledge sellers.”
Have a way for people to bring their children along with them – kids’ area?
Target market:
1. People who are smart.
2. People who are curious.
3. People who want to get smarter.
4. People who love to learn.
5. People who want their children to attend an Ivy League college.Topics to handle:
Title – logo
Problem
Solution
Business model
Underlying magic
Marketing and sales
Competition
Management team
Financial projections and key metrics
Current status, accomplishments to date, timeline and use of funds
