Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Danica Sommerfeldt, founder of Coastal Bookstore, located in Port Moody, BC, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I own and operate an independent bookstore in Port Moody, BC. Coastal Bookstore sells new books and other goods such as jigsaw puzzles, candles, and over 40 varieties of artisan chocolate. Our book selection is carefully thought out, with an emphasis on quality over quantity, diverse representation, and lots of Canadian content. I also make sure the books we bring in have been well-reviewed or seem promising. I love choosing books that I think would enrich the lives of the people in our neighbourhood, and I am happy to do special orders for those wanting something we don't stock. The bookstore also hosts writing workshops and book clubs. We look forward to developing a full event calendar in the upcoming years.

Tell us about yourself

My first choice was to become self-employed, and the bookstore is one iteration of that original idea. Personally, stepping away from the workforce was a deliberate, feminist act. I essentially decided to stop participating in the hierarchy in general and patriarchy in particular. Workplaces are still very patriarchal. I was just done with it. I'm an idealist, and I want to make the world a better place for everyone, myself, and others. My ability to act on that instinct was constantly constrained by someone else's power. In desiring more freedom for everyone, I first needed to make myself more free.

In practical terms, I'm an avid and passionate reader, I have a BA in Philosophy and English, an MFA in writing, and I am a community-minded individual. In life, I have also have picked up a fortuitous assortment of administrative, business, and leadership skills. That's a pretty good mix of experience to open a bookstore, and this neighbourhood - a place I already loved - happens to be lacking a bookstore.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I was in the process of opening the bookstore in the spring of 2020, so the pandemic disrupted every part of my business plan from day one. Every day for the past two years, I've had to conduct myself with the awareness that the whole enterprise could fail at any moment for reasons beyond my control. New businesses fail in the best circumstances. I just did the best I could with the limited information and resources I had on any given day. Now, in the spring of 2022, I look around my little shop and am satisfied. It looks a little beat up - and I feel a little beat up - but we're both still here. That the bookstore exists at all right now is such an accomplishment. Nothing about it was graceful, though. I had to let go of pride. I feel sort of proud and embarrassed at the same time.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Refusing to heed the many voices of doubt, internal and external. Hope is a discipline.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Accept that failure is part of the deal, and also go in with an understanding of what your limits are, what exactly you're willing to lose before you start.
  2. Another entrepreneur once told me that from what he'd seen, people who went into their new venture full-time were more likely to succeed than those who started a side-hustle. It's risker, but if you don't have a safety net, you're more likely to do what you need to do. After all the times I would have quit in the last few years if I had other options, that rings true.
  3. Don't study the classic business books that everyone recommends because the authors have proven to be successful in business. A lot of those people built oppressive, opportunistic companies that care nothing for human beings or for the planet. I like to imagine those behemoths are on the way to extinction anyway. Take a look at who is successful now, conducting business in a better way? Study them.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://coastalbooks.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastal_books/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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