supersimbo.com

Thats 6 words i love to hear!

In fact, i use Amazon quite often & i know this statement to be true for pretty much everything, certainly for books & music. I will find what i want, quicker, easier and often less expensive via Amazon!

There will always be all kinds of debate about whether price is what drives customers to Amazon, or whether it is the ease of purchasing – 3 clicks is about as much as it takes – but i wonder how often the debate is about supporting your local bookshop. I often buy books in Waterstone’s so i’m not just referring to Christian Bookshops…..

But then i need to stop and ask myself, “who really cares if there is a bookshop in our town?”

In Christian circles, many will speak of the Bookshop as a ministry, but are they? I can instantly think of a LOT of customers who regularly visit the Ballymena shop, and they would really miss the ‘ministry’ aspect of the shop that many of you don’t see.

The last time i blogged about this stuff, someone said in the comments that customers want something else, they want us to go the extra mile, (i’m paraphrasing)  but what does that even mean?

Often, the customer doesn’t know what they want, but ‘cheaper than everyone else’ will make their mind up for them.

That is the harsh reality of where we are in retail – not just bookselling, and not just Christian Bookselling – iv been doing this for long enough to at least know that much!

With Wikipedia allowing you to handpick the contents that you want in any book about anything (see the video) – what is the future going to be like? The present is hard enough for many!

As i have said many times, we are about 10 years behind everyone else here in Northern Ireland so we have some catching up to do in the doom & gloom stakes. Christian Bookshops in Northern Ireland are still busy places, still supported by many Churches and may not be in steep decline just yet.

But, as i hear ‘you can get it on amazon’ more and more & even as i sometimes say those words myself i have to wonder if your town will have a ‘Christian’ Bookshop in 5-10 years and whether the ‘Christian’ people of your town will even notice its absence?

The very light dust of snow that was on the ground this morning didn’t ruin my day, as it seemed to be doing for many across the water, if you believe the news reports of course! A few inches of snow & Britain grinds to a halt, news reporters in hats & scarfs, standing in fields talking about school closures blah blah blah

The bozo’s who left a “suspect package” near the tracks at Botanic Station in Belfast this morning? They messed up my plans for the day, idiots indeed!

“Leading Christian book and Bible charity IBS-STL UK today announced that it has appointed Baker Tilly Corporate Finance LLP to pursue the sale of its operations.

The move has come after a succession of financial problems, in particular the failed implementation of a new SAP computer system in October 2008, the effects of which were exacerbated by the economic downturn. These have caused significant cash flow pressures, excess stock, and supply chain and service difficulties in its distribution and retail units. They have culminated in the decision to exit the business.

IBS-STL UK convened an emergency task force led by Global President of Biblica and former CEO of STL, Keith Danby, which has been in constant dialogue with its suppliers and bankers. It had also engaged restructuring and business process consultants in an attempt to resolve the systems and financial challenges.

Danby said: “Given the severe financial and operational strains we have experienced, the Board of Trustees and management team believe a sale or exit from all or parts of certain operations is a prudent and necessary step. Whilst a difficult decision, we are focused on finding a solution to continue the important work of IBS-STL UK, to secure the jobs of the 490 people employed in our ministry, and to fulfill our financial obligations to our suppliers and creditors. We are working diligently and praying vigilantly for a successful outcome.”

The corporate finance division of Baker Tilly is actively marketing the operations of the charity to a number of interested parties and is hopeful it will complete negotiations for the sales or potential closures within the next few weeks. IBS-STL UK was founded in 1962 and has grown to become a major UK charity.

IBS-STL UK has three trading divisions; Authentic Media, a book and music publisher; STL Distribution, a distributor of Christian resources and Wesley Owen Books and Music, a retailer with 40 shops in the UK. IBS-STL UK is part of Biblica, a global Bible translation, publishing, distribution and outreach ministry serving more than 100 countries with books, Bibles and other Christian resources. Biblica said the planned sale of the UK operations will not impact its other global operations and donor funds supporting Biblica’s worldwide outreach ministries will not be affected.

Michael Fitch, Chairman of the IBS-STL UK Board of Trustees, concluded: “We continue to believe strongly in the power of God’s Word and Christian resources to change peoples’ lives. We are praying that we can pass the torch on to other likeminded organisations so that our UK staff, suppliers and ministry partners can carry our work forward.”

“Just because someone offers you a lift, doesn’t mean you have to take it.” says Seth Godin. He goes on; “In a joint venture or possible business arrangement, it’s reassuring when the other person offers to drive. “Leave it to me,” they might say, or, “I’m socializing this through the organization… be patient, I’ve done this before and we need to do it this way.”

I don’t drive, don’t have a drivers license but this post is not about that! Ever had the above happen though? It doesn’t have to be in business, could be Church? Family situations? Sometimes this is good, as the person really does know what they are doing but sometimes they just like to drive even though they suck at it!

“But, just as you should never get in a car with a drunk driver, understand that the minute you let the other person drive, you’ve bought into their process. Spending three months or three years following someone off a cliff is nuts.” Godin says.

I have never been good in these kinds of situations. Maybe my judgement has sucked a few times but it seems in my head like more than a few. However, i set a standard for myself, i believe, earlier this year when i got out of a ‘car’ that i believed was going of a cliff. I had to or i would have lost my mind!

Seth says; “I’d rather disappoint you today and refuse your offer of a lift than end up with both of us having wasted hours and hours of time somewhere further down the road. No, you can’t pitch this to your husband, that’s my job. No, I won’t stand by and watch you mangle this before the board. No, we’re not going to interact with customers your way merely because it’s the only way you know. Thanks, but I’ll drive this time.”

Seth Godin’s blog

Its been a very long time since i intentionally promoted my employers on my blog. I began working for Fm Bookshops in 2005 as the manager in our Ballymena branch, then moved sideways to take charge of the online shop. With that has came some responsibilities in design, p.r. and marketing which hopefully will continue to develop alongside all the other changes within the business.

We are an organisation in change with some things happening quicker than others but all in all it is a very exciting time for us. There are so may uncertainties within ‘Christian retailing’ right now so we do not take for granted how blessed we have been. A new premises in Portadown, a major facelift in our ballymena shop, a new accounts system and the online shop are just a few of the things we have been working through.

One of the most exciting things to arise over the last year has been the planning & discussions about ‘music’ and where the market was headed on cd sales. We take very seriously the fact that we are one of the UK’s largest Christian Booksellers and what that means across our 20 UK shops. At the beginning of Sept09 we changed all our music prices with the determination that we could begin to lead the way on music prices within Christian retailing. We know our customers love music, the sales have always reflected that but we LOVE music also, so we wanted to show that in the best way possible! Example; the new LEELAND album, Love is on the move is £7.93 in our shops, thats the best price you will find anywhere in the UK!

We admit that we have not gotten everything perfect so far but that is a difficulty with trying to maintain a large operation while making major changes at the same time. We really do appreciate our customers, they are what keeps us alive but we also appreciate the opportunity to sell & distribute ‘Christian product’ and especially Bibles. This is why we exist. This is why we are changing shape, trying to improve how we operate, so that we can continue to provide the Bibles, Books & music to you.