Consulting

There's nothing I enjoy more that talking with booksellers in a substantive way about their business. (I know, I'm a strange guy.) Turns out, after thousands of these conversations, I've accumulated a bit of knowledge, and I'm happy to find ways to apply that knowledge to your operation.

Past and current clients include:

Business Planning

Prior to working in the book industry I was the senior editor at one of the nation's top business plan firms, where I crafted business plans for hundreds of small businesses seeking funding across numerous industries. Combining this background with my knowledge of the book industry, I'll work with aspiring booksellers to develop a custom business plan to guide your startup process and the first three years of operation. This document is a map for your operations and can be used to help secure bank or SBA-backed loans, as well as attract private investment. 

Program Coordination

As you can tell from my work maintaining this website and running the IBC, I'm particularly invested in helping booksellers work together. Collaborating with your peers can have exponential benefits for each store, but coordinating those efforts can require significant time and energy, both of which are already in high demand from running your own bookstore. I can help lighten the load by taking the logistical tasks off the plate of participating bookstores and herding all the cats, as it were, guiding your project or group toward its benchmarks. Some examples include the "Shop Local, Shop Early" campaign for Twin Cities Independent Bookstores in 2020, Independent Bookstore Day Passport programs, local bookstore alliances, multi-store author events, book festivals, or reading groups. 

Overall Store Operations Assessment

If this sounds like a catch-all category, that's because it is. Are there specific areas of your operation where you know you need help? Do you know you need help but you're not sure where? ​I've accumulated quite a bit of knowledge about this industry from thousands of conversations with booksellers, sales reps, distributors, freelance marketing professionals, authors... All corners of the industry. I'm adept at assessing a budget, have a keen eye for layout, and love digging into a bookstore's backend to identify strengths and weaknesses.

​My consulting philosophy is that you know your business better than any outside expert possibly could. New ideas never hurt, but really what most business owners are looking for is a way to identify their own best ideas. I approach each project with this in mind, asking productive questions to help troubleshoot issues and guide you toward a solution.

Website Assessment

I'll comb through your website for outdated or unclear information and make recommendations to improve the user experience. If you're looking for specific solutions (events ticketing, online sales, etc) I'm well versed in many of the providers and can walk you through the selling points and drawbacks of each.

For information-sharing websites (no e-commerce or inventory tracking), I'm also happy to design, build, and maintain your website. See this website and www.Lit-Lovers.com for examples of my current work.

---

Experience and Pricing

My consulting rate is $50/hour, but I'm always happy to work with your budget to develop a flat fee scenario. Feel free to reach out and we can make it work. If you'd like to learn more about my qualifications and areas of expertise, let me know and I'll happily send you my CV. In the meantime, check out some recent press for programs I've worked on.