Store & Operations Management Independent Study
Study up on Store Ops with our individual classes
Our Store & Operations Management Course is designed to help owners and mangers set up systems to keep their stores running smoothly and so help improve their bottom line. Across the classes, stores build a handbook to capture staff policies, processes, schedules, and all the other information that keeps bookstores operating.
Individual classes from the course include:
Defining Your Store - No matter the model of your store - brick and mortar, pop-up, mobile, or online only - your business needs to know who it is is, what its values are, and who the customers will be. ($65)
Inventory Decisions and Store Layout - This class introduces the concepts of inventory and curation and discusses key concepts including: shelving and merchandising; understanding and preventing shrinkage; how to do inventory; considering store layout; returns ($65)
Basics of Bookstore Finance plus Batch - This class gives an overview of the financial tools necessary for understanding how your store is operating, including: Chart of Accounts; Profit & Loss Statement; Cash Flow; Balance Sheet. There is also a presentation from Nathan Halter from Batch for Books. ($65)
Emergency Preparedness - Sometimes emergencies happen - a broken water pipe, severe weather, streets closed for city work, parades, or demonstrations, or an accident or family emergency. This class will help you create an Emergency Plan for your bookstore, including a plan to ensure all staff are trained and ready for potential emergencies and sample template. ($65)
Store Systems - This class helps owners/mangers get daily/weekly/monthly tasks organized so they can run smoothly and you can free up time for bigger projects. You'll learn how to: identify maintenance tasks and set up a system to track them; create a master calendar; create clear step-by-step instructions to capture your processes for customer book orders, web orders, and shipping; and add all of this information to a store handbook to help employees stay on task and on time. ($65)
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Booksellers Say:
Audrey Beatty
River Bend Bookshop
The Basic Bookselling Certification Course is truly anything but "basic!" The material covered is comprehensive and the instructors were invaluable fountains of knowledge and experience. I've been a bookseller and shop manager for over three years--I both wished this course was available to me when I started AND I felt like I gained so much from the coursework even though I'm no longer brand new to the business! I couldn't recommend it more highly to anyone that is a frontline bookseller, regardless of the number of years under your belt.
Amani Jackson
The Ivy Bookshop
The Inventory Management class I took through PBS made me confident enough to take on a managerial role at my bookstore and introduced me to career booksellers from across the country. I hope more and more booksellers have the opportunity to take classes and open their minds to what a career in books can look like.