Assisted by ASBTDC at Arkansas Tech University
Consultant Ronda Hawkins
Former Teachers Hit the Books
Book lovers Jennifer Battles and Sara Putman are now book sellers. They celebrated the launch of Bookish: An Indie Shop for Folks Who Read with a grand opening Aug. 11.
Located in downtown Fort Smith, Bookish is the type of place you can go to hang out. Besides the array of books for sale, the shop offers story time for children, book clubs, author lectures, workshops, birthday parties, audiobook memberships, and more.
When considering the idea of opening a book store, the pair knew what they didn’t know. A school teacher at the time, Battles held reading and books close to her heart. However, knew she needed to learn more about running a business.
Jennifer contacted the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center at Arkansas Tech University to explore starting a business.
Business Consultant Ronda Hawkins guided Battles through understanding startup steps, operational issues, and what makes a business succeed. Hawkins also assisted with business permit guidance, sales tax compliance, fine-tuning the business model, identifying and attracting customer segments, financial analysis, and other key business issues.
When asked about what she felt was the most useful service the center provided, Jennifer answered, “Market research! Believe what the research shows you about target customers. We are definitely seeing that customer frequently in our store.”
Because both Jennifer and Sara taught high school English, they are a wealth of knowledge about authors and literature. Stop in and see them at 115 N. 10th St. in Fort Smith or online at bookishfs.com.