Tea in the Library (29 page)

We were always happy to find a mention of the shop in the newspaper columns about what to do and where to go in the city
—
even if the “scent of unthumbed pages” was a bit of a head-scratcher in this piece
—
perhaps it differentiates from whatever scent there is in a second-hand bookshop. We were recommended as a “cosy date spot”:

Bookworms

With the scent of unthumbed pages, hushed library tones and comfy
lounges, a latte and a flip through the new releases section makes for a
relaxed dating experience. Behind the Queen Victoria Building on York
Street, Tea In The Library is a peaceful retreat from the crush of buses
on the streets above. Offering 19 “boutique varieties” of tea, Tea In The
Library is also Australia's first licensed bookshop, so you can enjoy a vino
alongside the gourmet menu …

Finally, there was the day that my own profession, the lawyers, decided to take a closer look. I was interviewed and photographed for an article in the “Law Society Journal”: 

Self-confessed avid reader Annette Freeman has fulfilled a dream many
book lovers quietly hold — that of opening her own bookshop. More
than that, she has fulfilled another popular fantasy — that of opening
a café — by adding the comforts of tea, coffee, food and wine alongside
the shelves. And, despite such distractions, she continues to run a busy
practice as a partner at … , a specialist patent and trade mark law firm
in Sydney. 
“I've always enjoyed browsing in bookshops wherever I have traveled”,
Freeman told LSJ. “I find them fascinating repositories, full of treasures 
– beautifully-produced books, long-lost titles I have been searching for
or exciting new releases. Many have unique, often quirky, atmospheres,
which reflect their owner's enthusiasms. 
“My house has always been full of books. I can never bring myself to
dispose of any. There is the usual tall pile on the bedside table, waiting
to be read. I always have a book underway — I don't have a TV. At
the moment I'm reading books about Antarctica— Nikki Gemmell's
Shiver and Tim Jarvis's The Unforgiving Minute — in preparation
for a trip there. 
“I also often read the authors who present at our bookshop so I read
a lot of Australian authors.” 
Freeman says she first thought of having a bookshop about five years
back, and a year ago she decided to have a go. She chose a basement
site on York Street, opposite the Queen Victoria Building in central
Sydney, as a position for her bookshop-cum-café, Tea In The Library. 
She describes its comfortably designed décor as a cross between English
country-house and US East Coast club library. 
Freeman says she loves popping in for a coffee, just to enjoy sitting in
the shop and among the books. But she leaves the day-to-day running
 
of matters to her two managers — one for the bookshop and one for
the café. 
“They're really two different businesses, and both are equally important. They have different dynamics – you can sell five times as many
books without needing any more staff, but all the book staff had to get
a responsible service of alcohol certificate. 
“One thing I have always aimed for is that it be 50/50 — not just a
bookshop with an add-on café, or a café with books,” she says. 
Does that mean she's doubled her chances of having a successful
business? 
“Either doubled them or halved them,” she laughs. 
Freeman is keen not to have what she describes as “her hobby” 
impinge on her career as a lawyer. 
“I usually try to touch base with my managers at a meeting once a
week, early in the morning. But I don't do any book buying. I don't even
know how to work the till,” she says. 
“It's been a very steep learning curve, which was part of the plan
really. I'm learning what it's like to run a small business at the nitty-gritty coalface, which is probably helpful for my work. Developing my
own brand has certainly given me a very interesting insight into the
issues that my clients face.” 
At her firm Freeman manages the trade mark portfolios of many
local companies and a number of multinationals. 
“The brands associated with Tea In The Library were protected early
on,” she says, suddenly all business, listing what she describes slightly
tongue-in-cheek as an “impressive portfolio.” 
“The shop name is trade marked, and the wine label we market.” She
points to a plethora of labels and names. “Also the new venture.” 
The “new venture” is a marketing link-up of the seven bookshops in
the area, which launched itself last month as the now name-and-logo
protected “Sydneybookquarter”. 
“That was my idea,” says Freeman. “I decided to turn a weakness into
 
an asset. There are seven bookshops in this block, all independent, Abbeys
being the flagship. Independent bookshops never have much money for
promotion, so we're splitting the marketing costs and promoting the
area. So far it seems to be working very well.” 
Freeman is making the most of the crossovers with her work. She
travels to the USA to visit clients and presents them with signed copies
of Australian authors' books, courtesy of Tea In The Library. “It makes
a change from koalas and macadamia nuts,” she says. 
She thinks many lawyers are book lovers, and, though time-stretched,
they like to check out a good book on topical issues to explore these in
depth, and read a range of opinions, rather than rely on brief news
reports. 
“I find that those who discover the shop also appreciate the ‘club
lounge' ambience and the chance to relax among the books,” she says. 
Such a little treasure in the world of the mega-bookstore, the project
seem rather courageous. 
“It's also very indulgent,” says Freeman, looking very comfortable
indeed.

So how were we doing as a business? Answer: not very well. Every day the sales in books and café were recorded. Every week they were entered into a running record in an Excel spreadsheet; and every week Sandy, Emma, Kate and I would pore over these numbers, willing them to improve. Sometimes Sandy would convert the figures to graphs. How we wanted those graph lines to rise
—
even a little bit! All our efforts every day were geared to making those numbers look better.

As well as tracking the dollars, we also tracked numbers of actual sales. It was ineffably depressing to look back over the week and see that
—
on Monday, say
—
we had sold only five books. Some Saturdays we sold none. The book sales, with the low margin, never looked like coming close to covering costs, much less making a profit.

As to the café, the original idea had been that a thriving café would help to support the books business until it could become established and grow. With potential margins of up to 90% plus on a cup of coffee, this looked do-able. Reality was different. The café was consistently full at lunchtimes, but the number of seats (or “covers”) was limited, even if we managed more than one sitting per table. Also, the busier the café became, the more wait staff were needed, and the longer the chef's hours (and therefore the higher the costs).

So we pondered not only raw sales data, but also margins and expenses.

Our biggest expenses were cost of goods (especially in books), rent, and staff. A big cost was also the fees I paid to various consultants, including Sandy, Carly and the bookkeepers. By this time, since we had been open for more than a year, Dale the business advisor was no longer employed. One day he pointed out to me that I couldn't afford him, so we parted ways. I had leant heavily on Dale, but now I had Sandy for that. Many a person has shaken their head at my decision to rely so heavily on
—
and invest so much in
—
these consultants. There were several reasons:

First, I was well aware that I didn't know what I was doing. I had no confidence in my ability to set up and run a successful small business, and I hoped that the “experts” would be able to teach me. It is true that they taught me a great deal. It was from Dale, for example, that I learnt to focus on the figures; and I also had the advantage of his wide network of contacts; as well as his patient hand-holding through many decisions. I would have done better to listen to his sage advice more often, especially when it came to staff costs and organizational set-up.

Secondly, I was of course not able to give much hands-on time to the business, since I didn't give up my “day job”. This was one of the biggest hurdles in the project I had set myself, and I had hoped, naively, that I would be able to find a manager who would run the business I had envisaged. Despite finding staff of varying competency and many endearing qualities, I never found such an ideal manager. Thus it was that I came to rely on my consultants as pseudo-managers, or “replacements” for me. This was especially so with Sandy, who would step into my shoes when I traveled away from Sydney, for example.

And thirdly
—
last but by no means least
—
these guys provided me with so much moral support. Each of them embraced The Vision and worked hard at my dream. Cynics might point out that they were paid to do that; but nevertheless they did provide me with plenty of support, which I did not have from any other source.

Having said that, I take full responsibility for deciding to press on with the shop in the face of much good advice to the contrary. Following the retail consultant Keith looking over the business, and concluding positively that it should be closed forthwith, I was also called to a rare (indeed unique) joint meeting with my accountant and financial planner, who were seriously concerned that I had taken myself financially to the edge. I was given the right advice
—
financially-speaking at any rate
—
and I thought carefully about it, and chose to push on.

I told the staff, who could tell that things weren't booming (after all, if you go all day and sell only two books, you must start worrying about your job!) that I planned to keep the shop open for as long as there was enough money to keep going. In the event, this is what I did, pulling back from the brink of financial disaster in the nick of time.

But meanwhile, The Team continued to work hard, and to come up with ideas to try to get those sales figures on the rise. But in addition to our own inadequacies, nefarious forces were also threatening from another direction…