Turning the Pages of Success

Turning the Pages of Success
An Interview with Tarman’s Books

by Andrea M. Ciccocioppo

It seems people are starting small businesses in great numbers these days and making it look so easy. But how many of those entities will still be in business in five years? Starting your own small business means a lot of hard work, but it can be very rewarding.

James and Mary Ellen Tarman are one example of business owners who have made it work. They own and operate Tarmans Books, a distinctive out-of-print bookshop and search service located in Hummelstown. The Tarmans, who have been in the book business for over eight years, opened their first store in 1994. Their new, larger store, which opened in 1996, includes 10 rooms of books and is still growing. In addition, they also have space at the Olde Factory co-op in Hummelstown and do business through a website on the Internet. Mary Ellen spoke to MODE recently about the challenges and triumphs of starting up a small business.

MODE: How did you get started in the out-of-print book business?

Tarman: I had been visiting used bookstores since the 1970s; it was a recreation and a hobby. I was a voracious reader. But sometimes, after I’d read a book once, I wouldn’t go back to it. I felt it was not appropriate to dispose of the book by destruction, yet I felt that I had to get rid of it, so we resold it. Tarmans Books started in 1989.

MODE: So back then, Tarmans Books was a business, but not yet a store?

Tarman: Yes. We had put ads in a magazine called Antique Week. They had a column where we were allowed to list 10 books a week. People would respond and we would mail the book to them and then we’d start the process over the next week with 10 more books. This went exceptionally well. I was selling eight and nine books each week out of the 10. I thought, well, obviously I’m buying the right things and I’m pricing them correctly because they are selling well.

MODE: But that was just the beginning?

Tarman: Exactly. I was selling off my own library essentially, so I started buying other books with the anticipation that they were not for me, that they would be for resale, but the limitation was that we were only allowed to sell 10 books a week in these advertisements. So we went into direct mail order sales. I wasn’t selling enough to get rid of the entire inventory, so we acquired space in a few area antique co-ops. At the point where we opened the shop, I was at four co-ops.

MODE: Did you start out your business with a business plan?

Tarman: No. I did it so gradually that everything added another block in the wall and I’m still learning. I’m sure there are ways that I could cut costs and maximize profits, but I’m as yet developing the finesse to do that.

MODE: Did you enlist the help of any small business organizations to get you started?

Tarman: No. I did belong to the American Booksellers Association and I read extensively on how other people started shops. But, to be honest with you, when I would read these it just reinforced my own opinion. I think observation is a lot—you look at other businesses, who’s successful and why, and I think it all comes down to being personable and giving good service. You have to be consistent.

MODE: Have you found it difficult to promote your business?

Tarman: Somebody said one time, "advertising doesn’t cost, it pays," I would definitely endorse that. I would advise people to get in the phone book with a good ad soon as possible. Don’t put a mediocre ad in the phone book, because it’s the first impression your customers have of your business.

I do a lot of advertising in the local shoppers, I do a lot of outside speaking—I’m always promoting. When you’re this intimately involved, your business will be judged by your image. You have to keep in mind that —you are the store and the store is you— you have to act appropriately in public. But, never underestimate an opportunity to make connections either to buy or to sell.

MODE: What kind of advertising has worked especially well for you?

Tarman: I put magnetic signs on the van, which turned out to be wonderful. I picked up some of my best customers by having the van parked in front of the post office and someone taking notice of the sign and saying, "Oh, I didn’t notice that there was a shop out there." That was a one-time expense that keeps going and going and going.

MODE: Did you make any mistakes in advertising?

Tarman: I didn’t put on my ads that I buy books, so nobody offered me books. Obviously, if I didn’t buy books, I couldn’t sell books. There are some things, as a businessperson, which you think are obvious, but the general public doesn’t. You have to make it easy for them to understand what your product is and what you offer. Once we started putting that in the ad, then people started coming out in droves.

MODE: What is the most important thing you learned that you strive to achieve in the daily operation of your business?

Tarman: You have to offer good service. I think you have to be a small business acting like a big business, professionally. But, keep a small business attitude towards your customers—that they matter to you, that they’re important, that they’re your friends, they’re part of the package. You want them to buy into you.

MODE: What are your thoughts on competition in the retail industry?

Tarman: People say to me, "You have no competition." I disagree. If you have $10 in your wallet and you think, "Am I going to spend it with Tarmans or am I going to buy ice cream or rent a videotape? What’s going to give me the most satisfaction?" Hopefully you’ll say, "I’ll go to Tarmans because I’ll be treated well, I’ll get something that’s meaningful and I’ll feel good about it." That’s their choice. My competition is anything that could take your spare money, and I think business owners have to remember that. You can’t open a widget business and say, "I’m gonna be the only widget seller, so I’m gonna be successful." You say, "My widgets are going to compete with your soft pretzels," and so you have to make your product distinctive.

MODE: Based on your knowledge and experience, what are some easy mistakes to make when starting your own business?

Tarman: I think one mistake you can make is being undercapitalized if you have a business that requires inventory. If you must borrow to do this, borrow so that you have enough to take you through that first year. If you don’t have a product, people won’t come back—it becomes a downward spiral and you’re going to be lost.

Also, accounting is really important. I can’t overestimate the importance for a small businessperson to keep good accounting records. Find an accountant to work with that you’re comfortable with, but make it easy for that person by keeping good clean records. You have to know what your state sales tax requirements are. There are so many things you have to be aware of.

MODE: What do you most enjoy about your business?

Tarman: The people. The opportunity to handle wonderful, wonderful books and to know in my mind exactly the type of person who should have them. I know my customer base so well that I can pick up a book and know exactly who will appreciate it as much as I do. There’s a lot of satisfaction in matching the right person with the right book.

MODE: So you have a lot of repeat business?

Tarman: Bless them, one and all, yes. I think any shop owner will tell you, it’s so much easier to hold one customer than to gain 10. The customer who is happy comes back, and happy customers will talk to their friends.

MODE: Can you think of any downsides to your business?

Tarman: I’ve been so happy with this business, that it would be hard for me to identify what the downside would be, except for the number of hours. Any business owner will tell you they work at least a half day—which is 12 hours.

MODE: How does owning your own business affect your personal life?

Tarman: My personal life becomes the shop. Someone said to me, cuttingly, one day, "You don’t have much of a life." Well, until you can make something guaranteed and successful, you can’t relax. But, if you like what you’re doing, you don’t resent the time.

MODE: But that must take an incredible amount of discipline.

Tarman: Totally. You always have to remember to, what I call, "do the numbers." You want to sell a certain amount of units for income. On a very practical economic basis, you say, "my numbers have to be this for a certain day." Financially, you want to have that much coming in. You can’t say, "okay, I did so well yesterday, I’m going to let today slide." Then, if you divide Monday’s total by three days, you’re down on your dollars.

MODE: What are your goals for the bookstore?

Tarman: My goals for the future would be to continue to offer the best possible reading at the most affordable price in the Harrisburg area. I would like for people to consider us first when they have good collections to sell. The endurability of our shop can only be as good as the product we offer, and so my goal is to be able to buy more and better collections. We’re not ruling out the $5 and $10 sales, but we are really looking for the bigger and well-collected libraries.

MODE: If you could rewind time and start the business over again, what would you do differently?

Tarman: I have thought about this and I wish I had done it sooner. The downside to that would be that I don’t think I would’ve had the sophistication to do it sooner because of the demands of knowing about taxes and accounting and advertising. If I had been about 10 years younger for my energy level, it would have been better. But, I may not have been as sophisticated and as filled with courage as I am now and maybe it would’ve failed. I tend to think that things came together at all the right points, and so I guess I’m satisfied with the time frame.

MODE: What is the most critical piece of advice you could give to someone who is interested in starting his or her own business?

Tarman: Pick something you like and something you’re energetic about. If you’re an artist and you’re going to do something totally unrelated to art, like becoming an accountant, I would say, "make the match that is the most satisfactory with you because you’ll be spending a lot of hours in this job and you have to like the product and you have to like how your product matches the public." If you’re an introvert but you love books, maybe you could go out and buy books and sell them mail order; you don’t have to be in a shop environment. You have to know yourself and then you have to say, " what is the market need for this?" Be energetic and enthusiastic. Don’t feel unduly challenged. Let it evolve.