Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

P.S. 
Dear Awe, please understand that I am not in any way trying to defeat or discourage you, or make you doubt yourself.  I honestly do not know much (as you can tell) about the inner workings of the Indonesian culture and government (I guess I could have Googled it before I started foaming at the mouth, huh? ).

I tend to play devil`s advocate more than I probably should, just because I am intimately acquainted with the pain of failure in all its forms.  I have actually failed a lot more than I have succeeded, so take me with a grain of salt! 

My most sincere motivation is to spare you expense, hurt and frustration.  My truest hope is that you succeed, and wildly!!

P.P.S.

The little demographics project I mentioned earlier doesn`t have to cost a thing--you can find out virtually anything you want to know over the `net.  If you need any help or pointers with this, I will be happy to do whatever I can (I just love research--you never know what you`ll find out in the process...!).


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"Ask not, know not." --Me

Y`know, another thing occurs to me, having just spoken with the local librarian about a book needing binding repair. What`s your thinking on loss prevention? Suppose someone rents a book or a number of them, and doesn`t return them at the specified time? That, or what if the books are damaged by the person who rented them?

dear singstothewind (a friend of danceswithwolves? haha, just kidding, no offense..right? )
i understand your concern and i appreciate it very much.
thank you for taking time and effort to show that you care.
anyway, i`m not here to justify my opinion, but to find clarity for this plan.
i`m looking for diverse opinion to help me make decision better.

yes, library in indonesia were public assets and free to use, for the price of the card, but no, most of us don`t go to the library.
fyi, there are very few public libraries to serve 15 million citizens of indonesia`s capital city of Jakarta, and in indonesia, very few people go to the library.
limited and outdated selection, inconvenient way of reading, hard to reach spot and traffic jam almost everywhere and anytime, poor reading room, and poor promotional effort.
simply, libraries here are not reader`s friendly.
most of us didn`t even know where they are!.

if we can provide books, large collection of books old and new, and we can deliver it to your place, with a convenient 1 month of book return, and with a minimal subscription price ... well, i don`t know, if they`ll subscribe or not.
perhaps.

how to deal we book tears and wears?
we`ll set up packages, such as basic-intermediate-advanced package, with different amount of subscription price. this subscription money will be a safeguard for these books, i.e if they`re damaged or lost, the replacement price will be deducted automatically from their subscription.
this would be the model:

• subscription type: BASIC
• subscription fee:  30.000
• terms and condition: 2 books at a time;
                                  2 weeks rent time;
                                  1.000 late fee/day;
                                  can only borrow books with green tags.

we`ll tag (red, green, blue) these books and classify them by price, rarity and time of release.
i still cannot describe any details, still working on it.

have suggestions?

PS: how movie rentals did that without worrying about lost, cracks and scratches? what are their safeguards?

To my limited experience, signing up to rent videos or disk movies required also listing a credit card number. In the event of a damaged or not-returned item, the credit card was charged for the replacement fee.

In our library, if they know a book was in good condition when it went out, but it comes back stained, ripped, or otherwise seriously damaged, they charge a fine and put it on the library card as a fee. If the fee isn`t paid, the card is suspended.

Suppose you have 100 books, and to replace any of them (on an average basis) would be $20, assuming a used market where you`d buy the replacement. Then make an assumption based on your own analysis, of how many of those books would likely get damaged or stolen. Suppose you say 5 of them. That`s 5%

You could charge a deposit of 5% of $20 to open an account, right? I`m sort of making this up out of my head, but perhaps there are some Loss Prevention people in the community who might have a better formula?

Dear Awe,

I am not offended at all.

Lots of people ask me how I got that name.  It`s a story that is as long as my life.  I do have Cherokee blood, but that is not the whole story.  If you are really curious, look into the legend of Cassandra (http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/fittoncass andra/intro.html).

I understand now why you are interested in book rental (online, right?) and how the library system failed--the relative availability of the resource (in this case, the inaccessibility of  the libraries).

I regret causing you to feel as if you had to justify yourself.  That was not my intent at all; I just didn`t understand all the variables in your equation!

I still wish you all the best!


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"Ask not, know not." --Me

Truck stops in the United States have audio book rentals.  It seems to work there, you rent at one place, and can return it at another.  They have a bar code reader that scans your card, then your rentals or returns.

I know they made a big bunch of money off of me for several years.

Keep working on your plan, you might be on to something.  Do some research on "Books in Motion" or "Audio Book Rentals"

Awe,

Its nearly a year since you shared your ideas. So how far have you progressed. How are things with your business. Would love to hear your journey story.

to all who follow this post, especially to navneet... i`m sorry.
frankly, i haven`t even lift a finger to make it happen, trapped in my daily chores and struggle to provide for my daily necessities.

oh yes, i can throw in lots of excuses and give out a good logical reason why i haven`t done anything yet to work on it, such as not enough funding, not enough time, there`s no one to help me, and bla..bla..bla..., but that doesn`t change a fact that i did nothing at all.

is it because of my lack of faith? well... perhaps.
or fear from taking risks? that could be.
whatever it is, i`m still hoping to make it happen... soon.
:)

Awe,

Write to me at my email id my first name which u know then after that add kalia at y^a^h^o^o ................dotsssssss com

I would like to understand what you are trying to do and why you have not been able to make progress

hi, thx for caring. ok, maybe u can help me do something about it. or perhaps documented it, start a research and write a book based on it. who knows:)