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Visit “The Book Hub” …for your reading pleasure
Young Entrepreneur On The Move
“I believe that we should encourage and promote young entrepreneurs as much as possible. I think that we grow up in a culture that teaches us that we should go to school, get an education, then get a 9 to 5 job. That is good, but it is also good to promote independence and entrepreneurship.”
By Allyiah Allicock
Kaieteur News – As part of her mission to share her love for reading with others, 25-year-old La-Toya Barton decided last year to introduce ‘The Book Hub’, an online bookstore that is rapidly gaining popularity.
Barton at a recent business expo
Young Entrepreneur, La-Toya Barton
Barton, who hails from the community of Lodge, Georgetown, is an Audit and Tax Senior at an international accounting firm – BDO Guyana. Not only is this young woman into accounting and is an entrepreneur, but she is also the author of ‘Zombies of Lodge’, her very first book which she published back in March.
The young woman in a recent interview with The Waterfalls said that the idea for the bookstore, which was introduced in January of last year, invaded her mind back in December 2020 and was inspired by her deep love for reading.
“I have always loved reading from a young age, and I wanted to do something to share that love with others. So, that is when I had the idea to open a bookstore. Our motto is: ‘Experience a thousand lives’ because I believe that through reading, we get to escape; live different lives, travel and have different experiences without actually leaving where we are at the moment,” she shared.
Barton said her decision to open her own business was very well supported, and the feedback from the public has been overwhelming thus far. In recognising her support, she expressed gratitude to her older sister who she said helped a lot from the inception.
However, she admitted, there have been some challenges in relation to balancing time between her full-time job and the business.
To keep the business going, she had to ensure that she responded to customers on a timely basis, even as she and her sister put the effort in to facilitate timely deliveries. 
Because there were some difficulties doing deliveries at some points of the day while working a full-time job, Barton said that she had to set specific boundaries between the two by allocating specific timing for her business.
The pandemic, however, has not caused any difficulties to the business.
Given the success she has had thus far, Barton said that her long-term goal is to one day open a physical store where persons can come and access books in a comfortable and open environment.
With that in mind, the young woman also plans on having reading programmes available for children and even young adults who have a desire to learn to read or improve their reading skills.
But according to Barton, her business is “still a work in process” and is “just the beginning of greater things ahead.”
She is of the view that young business people are important to our society, pointing out that, “I believe that we should encourage and promote young entrepreneurs as much as possible. I think that we grow up in a culture that teaches us that we should go to school, get an education, then get a 9 to 5 job. That is good, but it is also good to promote independence and entrepreneurship.”
She highlighted also that in society there are many young people with amazing ideas, skills and talents, who would like to be given the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer. But in order for that to happen, necessary resources must be made available to them.
When asked what she thinks can be done locally to boost small businesses, Barton’s primary recommendation was easy access to capital (land in particular), more grants and even training.
Persons interested in purchasing a book from ‘The Book Hub’ can contact Barton via WhatsApp on telephone number (592) 629-1091 or check her out on Facebook at TheBookHub, on Instagram @thebookhubstore or send her an email at [email protected]
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