The Birth of a Bookstore!

Well, for those of you who have been keeping up on our FB Fanpage, you know the latest news already... we are starting our storefront!  The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of multiple things falling into place for us.  I have been calling it a "God-thing" because all hope was lost of starting this year when we found out about our retaining wall.  But I think God used that event for the good.  It forced me to think outside of the box on how we could get our storefront.  I will just give you the overview here, so you can still get other things done today! Ha! 

It basically began by me going to visit a shop in town to see if I could rent some rooms for selling books.  I met a super nice lady & she gave me an offer & price to do it.  But I just didn't feel that was the right thing to do. So the next day Mike & I drove around Zimmerman & copied down all the phone numbers for the vacant spaces that we wouldn't mind having.  Keep in mind that our first choice has always been next to Dunn Bros, but we just couldn't afford it.  And we couldn't afford the start-up cost.  It is very expensive for a bookstore - all the inventory, shelving, etc.

The day before I went to the shop in town, I got an email from a friend of mine, Juliana.  She found an online auction that was liquidating bookstore fixtures.  She thought we might be interested.  We checked it out & the stuff was super inexpensive! We could go & actually see them on Sunday & then the auction closed the following Thursday night.

On Saturday, we made a call to see a place right on Hwy 169.  It was very nice & the owner was willing to work with us to get the price affordable.   I loved it & we could make it work.  Well, Mike said that we needed to talk to the owner of Dunn Bros (who also owns the whole building) & see if he could come down in price at all.  That was our first choice & an awesome location - the best in town!  All of a sudden our dream was coming true!  Me, the cautious one, was well, cautious!  I was driving Mike crazy! : )

So on Monday night, Mike met with Matt, the owner.  That night Matt came down in price enough so we could afford it!  Mike had his little spread sheet & popped in all the numbers & it was working!!! Could this really be happening???  We really could do this!  So all of a sudden, I started to think outside of the box again (look out when that happens). 

How could we make the startup cost work???  Used bookstore fixtures that were really nice, start our inventory with half gently-used books & half new books & product, & perhaps do without an inventory system right away. Could this be falling into place?  This was starting to work.  In the mean time, Mike was busy bidding on bookcases & stuff in the auction.  We had to figure out how high we would go, cuz there was some joker (I mean "person") bidding too & the price was going up.  Again, Miss Cautious, was well, cautious!  Could it be?  In the meantime, Mike got a line of credit from our bank.  Amazing!!!!!!! Now you can imagine why were weren't sleeping at night!  This WAS falling into place. 

Thursday night came & Mike was home to do the bidding at the close of the auction.  We were able to get everything we needed & also some other display fixtures & stuff too!  YEA!!!  I had told Mike that I wanted to see the space one more time before I said yes.  So we arranged it with Matt. There were no negatives, but I just needed to be sure...one more time.  I would make the the decision Friday - one way or the other.

Friday morning I woke up.  God & I had a little conversation.  This was the time.  All the obstacles were taken out of place.  All my questions were answered.  We could afford to do this. Now was the time.  God was bringing all the pieces together.  I got out of bed & went downstairs & told Mike - YES!!!!!!  I felt like crying & throwing up all at the same time.  How exciting was this!!! My dream was unfolding before my eyes. 

It was the birth of a bookstore!

"Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done" - Amelia Earhart 

Waiting

Waiting is the hard part. Not only for me, but for anyone. When you have a dream or a goal it usually doesn't happen overnight or without a lot of work.  So it takes time.  I hate that part!  I would prefer things to happen overnight.  I would like to wake up in the morning & have everything lined up neatly to start my new project.  In our case with the bookstore, this dream has taken a while to emerge. 

I've always wanted to have a bookstore.  The look has changed over the years.  When I was a pastor, I wanted a bookstore in the churches I served.  After I left that career, my mind started to imagine & wonder.  What should I do now with my life now?  I still have half of it left! (My grandma is 95 yrs old.)  So ideas started to pop in my head.  I started to write them down.  More ideas came.  I looked to see what information & resources were out there for owning a bookstore.  I love learning (that is why I love non-fiction books - so many topics, so little time!).  I stumbled across a couple of books & also a bookstore consulting group called Paz & Associates, ran by Donna & Mark Kaufman. They are sweet & extremely knowledgeable people from Amelia Island, Florida. 

As Mike & I started to piece together this new dream & what this new adventure would look like, we met a lot of great people.  I am SO blessed & honored to know so many wise people.  You people know who you are!  Many people have helped give ideas for the store & what we are doing.  That has been very helpful, but the people who have helped the most are those who haven't stomped on our dream.  Again, dreams & goals take time to formulate & come to pass.  There is waiting involved.  I have told people several times... we keep putting one foot forward & doing the next step.  Working the plan.  Figuring out how to raise our finances, how to get our name out there, what we need to learn to be successful in this business.  Amid tons of what some would call setbacks, we keep moving forward. What do I do today to progress towards the dream of owning a community bookstore?

We've had a lot of obstacles in the roadway.  Our most recent being an estimate for over $20,000 to repair a retaining wall in our backyard.  Oddly, that is the same amount for a down-payment on a loan for a bookstore!  Yikes!  Again, God has amazingly sent wisdom-filled people into our lives to help us navigate this hurdle.  Will these obstacles ever be done?  I don't think so.  Life is full of obstacles.  You have to get through these things in order to fulfill your dream & goals or you'll be stuck where you are forever. Was I bummed out after that great piece of news?  Oh yea, but I'm finding that I am bouncing back quicker now.  Could it be all those difficult days as a pastor are helping me get through problems as an entrepreneur?  Oh yea.  I know so.  Mike & I found a plaque at the Mall of America a few months ago that we bought.  It says: "The only thing more overrated than natural childbirth, is the joy of owning your own business."  Ha!  How true is that!

So as we wait for the actual picture of our dream to happen (storefront), we move forward. We don't wait for our dream to die or shrivel up.  We don't let the dust settle.  We do the next step. We work the plan to make this happen.  And along the journey, we are so privileged to meet so many awesome & wise people.  Thank you to those (and you know who you are) who have supported us & encouraged us each step.  We are proud to know you & honored that you are in this adventure with us. We're going to have a storefront someday!