Savani brothers open new chapter of running bookshop | Business Daily - Small Enterprise

"Trio picks the cue from father to serve a bigger market in the education field by going beyond books" inform John Wafula, Business Daily.
 

Parents and guardians buy textbooks at Savani’s bookshop in Nairobi last week.
Photo - file: nmg

Savani brothers Baiju, Gopal and Kishen are challenging the conventional concept of the bookshop as cement and mortar premises.

The trio has formed Educate Yourself Ltd— headquartered in Nairobi’s upmarket Westlands — which is a hybrid of traditional bookshop, an educational materials resource centre, and a books-on-order delivery hub.

They are taking the bookshop to customers, the three are saying.

‘‘We dedicate ourselves to our core calling — inspiring education,’’ is the motto on their website.

“When we talk of educational resources it is not all about books; we also consider special needs, for instance in early learning. We offer toys and sports equipment for games which go towards learning activities,” says Mr Gopal.

“We provide anything that aids education, but our main focus is books,” adds Baiju, a Finance and Accounting master’s degree holder from the United States University, Africa. Educate Yourself helps companies to stock up libraries and provide training materials.

“They can select a particular book that they need to train employees. We give them the various options available in the market... [or] import if they are not available locally,” says Baiju. 

The brothers ventured into the business after learning from their father who started the Savani’s Bookshop, a major conventional bookstore in Nairobi.

“Our main knowledge in the field comes from our father,” says Baiju, adding the father is their motivation.

Educate Yourself, which was founded in 2010, has all types of customers, including doctoral students, schools, institutions of higher learning, private and government institutions, NGOs, and individuals. 
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Source: Business Daily (press release) (blog)