Abstract

The case is about an entrepreneurship venture, the JustBooks Community Library Chain. It was started by Sundar Rajan in 2008 in Bangalore as a small library. It expanded rapidly to other cities in India. The case describes the idea behind JustBooks, its growth, operations, and the use of technology that helped the company expand rapidly and achieve high levels of customer service. It ends with a discussion on the challenges a community library chain can face in the time of e-book readers, and downloadable books.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• The highs and lows of an entrepreneur
• Operating a community library chain
• Use of technology in start-ups
• Introduction of retail concepts like self service and RFID in a community library chain

Keywords

JustBooks, Community library chains, RFID technology, start-up venture, entrepreneur