When he started selling three books in a small shop in Muranga town in 1958, Mr Shah Sobhagayachand had only one dream — to establish a big chain of bookstores in Kenya and neighbouring countries.
At that time it did not matter to him that he had just three books in his shop Vidhus Books shop. He continued working hard, remained focused and increased his stock slowly.
Within two months, he had stocked 150 books in the shop. And in two years, he opened two other branches of bookshops in Meru and Karatina.
That was 53 years ago. Today, Mr Shah is the chairman of Textbook Centre Ltd, which he served as managing director for many years.
The bookshop, popularly known as the TBC, is an educational supplies conglomerate he established in 1964 at Kijabe Street in Nairobi, after renaming his former bookstore.
TBC is now one of the biggest booksellers in Africa. It deals with the supply of educational and general books and educational material to individuals, schools, business colleges, universities, government, non-government and international organisations.
We had a chat with Mr Shah, and he gave us his views on what it takes to run a book business in Kenya.
Does it reward to invest in book business?
Yes it does. But it takes a lot of patience, hard work and honesty to succeed. When I started, many thought I was taking a big risk and wasting time.
But now, most of them have come to realise that business is not just about making money but having the passion to run and sustain it for a long time.
What has it taken to get where you are?
Faith and passion for what I do. What one sets his or her mind on, will always give him or her good results. I loved reading books, I still do. I developed this interest when I was a young boy and I can now look back and say my dream has come true.
It is largely believed that Kenyans do not read, is it true?
It is not fair to say that Kenyans do not read. That is a general statement because we have a good number of citizens who love books. We sell books both in wholesale and retail. And every morning, we see people coming to our bookstores to buy them.
How many books do you sell in a day?
We can sell up to 1,000 books in one day. But this depends on certain seasons. If for example its time to for schools to open we sell many copies since most parents and children come to buy books.
How about pricing of books?
Those in the book business (including book publishers) will tell you that pricing books is a tricky affair.
If your book’s price is too high, you will be priced out of the market. If it is too low, your book will appear cheap and will not bring in the money you would like.
To calculate the best price for your book and one that is pocket-friendly to the customer, you must look at prices from bottom-up and from the top-down. You have to be very keen if you want to stay in book business.
What are your marketing plans?
We do our marketing plans by developing a good relationship with our people. We sponsor the prestigious Jomo Kenyatta Price for Literature, which is held every two years. We also sponsor drama festivals in secondary schools. We help students from poor families by paying schools fees and offer them reading materials.
Are you a spender or a saver?
When it comes to money one has to spend to earn more. But this does mean spending all you have with the hope of making a big buck. Its means spending carefully on things that will make you grow financially. I do spend and I do save too.
Do you use credits cards while shopping?
Yes I do. I think credit cards are safer than carrying big cash in your pocket.
What lesson has money taught you over the years?
I always think it’s easy to spend money than working hard to earn it. I have also learnt that when it comes to business the amount of money you have does not matter that much, what matters are your goals.
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