Shuffling towards progress.

I stood for a half hour this afternoon, staring at a wall o' business books. This other gentleman and I would occasionally do the polite I-step-forward-and-to-the-right/you-step-backwards-and-to-the-left shuffle to switch places, while we both were simultaneously overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books on the shelves.

No, that wasn't an intentional pun.

Okay, maybe a little.

Anyway, I noticed two things:

Thing the first: there are books on opening all kinds of stores - coffee bars, restaurants, florist shops, car washes - but there wasn't a single book on opening a bookstore. I saw books on opening generic retail businesses, which I realize would mostly apply to a bookstore, but others got so specific, I just sort of figured... well.

So, of course, I'm thinking, "What, are you scared, Borders?* Where are the books on opening a bookstore?" (No, I haven't gone searching for one, but I'm sure such a book exists. Although, it's not an easy time to be an independent bookstore, so I doubt there are very many new books out on it.)

In the end, I walked out of there with a general how-to on starting a small business (the one whose table of contents seemed to best apply to me, for now) and another on actually writing a business plan.

Now, of course, that means I have to make use of them, and not let them gather dust on the Shelf of Good Intentions.

Thing the Second (and this one can go in the eventual employee handbook): Borders failed the One-finger Rule. To wit: on a shelf full of books facing spine-out, you should be able to place an index finger on the top of a single book, and slide it out easily. If you can't do that, or two books slide out instead of one, the shelf is packed too full. Employees of Books That Don't Suck who overstuff shelves will lose one finger for every extra book that comes out during the test.


*I know, I know. I'll do my penance for not buying from an indie this weekend. I promise. I just wanted to have some kind of tangible step taken towards 1/2/12.