Thirteen years a newsagent

I bought my first newsagency thirteen years ago this week. That was the business now known as newsXpress Forest Hill. The previous two owners of the business had gone broke. We bought it after the landlord locked the last owner out. The business was being run by suppliers just to keep newspapers and magazines supplied.

A lot has changed over the thirteen years – in our newsagency and across the channel.

One frustration was being forced to move three times. The biggest frustration, however, was getting flooded out last year when builders did not protect out shop when they opened the roof of the centre for major construction going on next to and above us. Twice we were flooded and here we are a year on and yet to be paid for the thousands of dollars in stock.

Every newsagent has stories of challenge. We must like these challenges because we stick at it. Indeed, we come back for more. I bought another newsagency a year ago and I have a half share in another which opened a year and a half ago.

I am reflecting about the thirteen years today because I am in a reflective mood. Retail is tough, nowhere more so than in newsagencies. Our fixed margin on around 65% of what we sell is a challenge. The lack of fair movement in price of newspapers is another challenge as is the interest in some suppliers to pursue other retail channels. I could go on…

Owning a newsagency right now, however, is the biggest challenge ever. Our world is changing thanks to disruption brought on by technology, greater competition and economic circumstances. These factors converge to create what to some looks scary and to others looks like the best opportunities in a long time.

The intersection of disruption, competition and economic circumstances is an opportunity for us to reinvent. Not nationally, not statewide, but individually. Some newsagents are doing this today, playing with new product categories, offering fresh services. Some are not calling themselves newsagents anymore.

Today’s world is less regulated and presents more opportunities than the world of 1996. The challenge is to summon the energy and locate the capital necessary to make the most of the challenge. This is where opportunistic suppliers and landlords could work with us. They need us as much as we need them.

Today, I and the teams running my newsagencies are playing at the edges of the model.  As the year unfolds we hope to play with fundamental changes closer to the core.  We are buckling in and pursuing change.