Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2010 Issue
Risk Management for Booksellers
Careful risk management forms the building blocks of a successful business.
It means shipping products that are carefully packaged to avoid damage, double-checking that the books are the right edition and quality the customer expects, and following up orders in a timely manner so they are not lost. As any sales professional knows, the cost of repeat sales is tiny compared to the cost of the first sale and so we try to reduce the risk that we will lose the customer by being sloppy.
Managing risk also means accepting a certain amount of risk as the cost of doing business and budgeting for it. I remember speaking to a gentleman who owned a medical tool manufacturing firm and who served as kind of a mentor when I had a different business. He explained to me that when somebody is hurt on the operating table everyone is sued, including the manufacturer that makes the tools. He didn't think it was right. He didn't think it was fair. But he budgeted about 10% of his gross to pay off litigants.
There is no business activity of which I am aware that does not carry risk right along with it. But with careful identification, analysis, and choosing to either avoid, mitigate, or accept risk, bookselling can not only be considerably less stressful, but more profitable and less subject to extreme conditions.
