Practicalities
As in any other business, you will need some basics to get your operation up and running. The key elements needed to become a Book People distributor are assistance, transport and storage.
Assistance:
Help with running your business is essential, and a great way of turning your operation into a real family concern: some of our most successful distributors are husband-and-wife teams, while other distributors recruit their sons and daughters or best friends to help out.
From day one, the minimum you will need is someone with you in your vehicle to help sort out the books and prepare customer orders. As your business grows, a second or even a third van will help you deliver to more customers – boosting your turnover and your income.
A key growth area for our business is preschools, so a preschool assistant can help you enormously – the role is an ideal part-time job for a parent with young children.
Transport:
You will need a suitable van to transport your books. Your van doesn’t have to be brand new, as long as it is smart enough to be sign-written and, most importantly, reliable. Many of our distributors lease new vehicles, while others have invested around £3,000-£5,000 in a used van in good condition.
Storage:
You will need an accessible, dry and very secure storage area with unobstructed access for large trucks to deliver your supplies of books. Many distributors opt for secure storage space in large subdivided warehouses such as Shurgard or The Big Yellow. These are ideal and can often provide exactly the amount of space needed at a competitive price, plus they also have pallet trolleys and other useful equipment to hand. Other alternatives include local council business units.