By Anne Lagrange
Meet Aimee, founder of the Rustic Moon Bookshop, a locally owned independent bookstore committed to offering a quality selection of affordable, pre-loved books for customers of all ages and backgrounds. In July 2021, Aimee decided to pursue her lifelong dream of opening a bookstore and launched a traveling pop-up shop. The shop would visit markets across Austin with 30 boxes of books at a time. Since the beginning, Aimee’s focus has been on sharing her love of reading and writing with others. When her dream location became available in Wimberly she knew it was time to open a brick-and-mortar store.
Aimee shares her experience as a business owner and how EGBI can help you grow your business too.
Hi Aimee! To get started, would you mind telling us what inspired you to start your business?
Passion for the written word really fuels our business. I started the bookstore to foster connection and community by providing an inclusive environment that encourages the exchange of ideas. I want the shop to be a haven for those who find comfort and enrichment in books.
What makes your business unique?
Apart from having a wide variety of genres, we’re also so much more than a bookshop. We offer resources for aspiring writers and authors, host author and social events, and offer workshops on the writing craft.
What are some obstacles you feel like you have encountered in starting or growing your business? How did you overcome this?
One obstacle has been overcoming Covid. Our store is only 200 sq ft, so at first I was worried fear would keep people from coming in. We’ve been following protocols and thankfully seen consistent sales. Apart from Covid the small space has been a challenge itself, but with clever organizing and constantly refreshing our inventory we’ve made it work. We have roughly 3000 books and plenty of more to add! The biggest part of overcoming obstacles is just being creative, resourceful and determined.
What workshops/business coaching have you done through EGBI?
I attended the small business workshop series, which was around 8-12 weeks. I’m a big fan of EGBI and the program. It’s an incredibly helpful and informative workshop series. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start a small business. Since successfully completing the course, I’ve stayed in touch with EGBI and now plan to meet with Monica to talk about getting started with marketing.
How has EGBI helped you?
EGBI allowed me to see that even though it would be a challenge to start a business it was possible. Through the series I learned I needed to be creative and smart about financing, but making the business plan really showed me I could do it. Although it can be uncomfortable or challenging to ask some of these harder questions, it wasn’t discouraging but informative and empowering.
Want to work with EGBI? Contact us to find out how you can get started.