SHOPping around

Thinking of a shopfront for my online bookstore, Ling's List. Really thinking hard about it. Not that I have the finances for it, but just somehow, having a shopfront for books is better for customers to browse the books.

Books are not like gadgets where you can just look at the specifications online, read some reviews and decide, "Hey, that's a really good book to read and purchase!" Personally, I do like to read the summary of the book itself, run through a few pages in the first chapter, compare prices with other books then decide whether to purchase it or not.

Does it matter what size the bookstore is? Maybe. Big bookstores give me this tingling excitement that seem to beckon me to spend more money. Smaller cornerstore type of bookstores have this personal feel to it, maybe because they're more neighbourhood situated and the owners know the patrons who enter their shops.

I'd like to be both, I guess, in a sense.

Saw a few shops around my area and came to really like, no, LOVE, one shop space that suits my ideal bookstore space. Rent isn't too high, and it's at a rather good location. Being in Australia, it's ok that the bus stop is not at the door step or that there're no train routes nearby. The most important factor is it's visibility and accessibility. This one has got both.

I can't help dreaming about it. I pray about it. It is really difficult to say, "Lord, please let this be your will and not my own fantasy."

I've been praying, "Lord, I have no money for the space. I don't want to take a loan from the bank. I don't want to mortgage my house. I know money doesn't fall from the sky, but I do need that amount to not be in more debt."

But why look at a shopfront in the first place? To be honest, I am working towards opening a shop. What kind of a shopfront, I do now know. But to even get there, I'll need some concrete figures to work with. Some facts and terms and conditions to understand. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a clue as to how much it'll cost, what kind of negotiations can be done, the type of space I'd want, the location and opening hours to consider.

So there. I'm still running my family day care and working towards a shopfront for Ling's List.