Bookstore "Okbook" in Tivat: life without marketplaces but with a free banner

There are things that appear not from business plans but from a nervous tic and the desire not to lose your mind.

That’s exactly how the shop "Okbook" appeared in Montenegro, which this piece is about.

No grants, no investments, no ten years of book-trade experience. Just a woman from Moscow, her daughter, a stack of books that ran out far too quickly, and the Montenegrin vibe where you can win an auction all by yourself.

Contents

Location. Mood.

Relocation and the idea of opening.

How fast and how hard was it to open a new business in an unfamiliar country?

What books do you sell? What’s your main product?

Opening and today. What’s the trajectory?

Okbook’s customer - who are they?

Are there pitfalls and drawbacks of the distinctly Montenegrin kind?

How to quickly find a suitable space in Montenegro.

Language barrier - a problem? Bug or feature?

Montenegrin "polako" - sometimes it’s really great!

It’s not businesses that survive, but people

Location. Mood.

We met with Maria in the off-season, when Montenegro finally wraps itself in an unhurried polako, and the streets of Tivat, not that crowded to begin with, look almost deserted.

The "Okbook" shop is seemingly not far from Porto Montenegro, and you could even call the location the city center, but whether it’s the chill drizzle or that’s just how it is, it feels as if a house from Diagon Alley was "transplanted" into an ordinary Balkan residential area. So... we sat on the little balcony, armed ourselves with coffee, and talked with the shop owner Maria about how such a project even came to be. The floor is hers.

Relocation and the idea of opening.

I initially came to Montenegro via other places with my daughter. After February 2022. We spent the summer here. With no thoughts about work, just in mild horror.

Then in September we decided to go back to Moscow. But we didn’t stay long there - by October we returned...

And even then it was clear that stress was here to stay. We piled up the suitcases and books - and read. And suddenly they ran out. We read everything we’d brought ten times. I went online to buy new ones. And found nothing. Literally nothing! Not a single online store that could serve us. A void.

And since I’m not a very mercantile person, my first thought was: "Maybe open a library?" But my husband turned out to be more practical - he suggested a store. And on that adrenaline everything came together. I’m an interior designer and had nothing to do with this field before.

How fast and how hard was it to open a new business in an unfamiliar country?

I don’t know, it was a real miracle! From scratch it took me just a month and a half. That included finding a space, getting a residence permit, registering the company, and an accountant - everything! Apparently, when you strive for something really strongly, life helps you.

There were small issues with renovating the space - as an interior designer I find that aspect especially karmic - but otherwise everything came together incredibly.

For example, the accountants were stunned when two days later I brought them a certificate of no criminal record that I didn’t even have before. They decided I make a business out of that and even started sending "clients" to me. It was very funny.

So to sum up, that part felt fairly straightforward. And now, three years later, it turned out the hardest thing is to sell your product. Because the market capacity here is quite low.

What books do you sell? What’s your main product?

We sell various literature, so everyone can find something to their taste. In different languages, too. But I chose children’s books as the main focus. Let’s be honest: people don’t skimp on children, parents of any nationality love their kids. And picture books on the internet are not the same. You need to hold them in your hands.

And of course I meet my own needs, too. When revenue isn’t great, I comfort myself: "At least I’m buying books for my child!"

Opening and today. What’s the trajectory?

Oh, the opening day was a real rush, a frenzy! I absolutely didn’t expect that! I had a bottle of prosecco ready to celebrate - but I didn’t even find the time to take a sip! I didn’t leave my workstation from morning till night - everyone came in, looked at things, searched, asked, bought. I was in shock. And I thought it would be like that every day.

The moment of opening was a "golden autumn," as many local restaurateurs say. The old-timers, after the Covid lull, were shocked by the surge and "vibe." But... gradually the flow went down, everything settled... And eventually it got to where I even thought of closing. I had to gather energy, come up with new formats. Ideas appeared to build a small stand in the yard, hold theater shows, readings.

In general, you have to look for new moves and facets rather than give up. As experienced people say, business always goes in waves: down, then up, and that’s normal.

Okbook’s customer - who are they?

My first thought was of course the Russian-speaking public. But to be fair, I immediately brought in books in Serbian/Montenegrin as well. It’s important that when Montenegrins come in, they see and understand there’s something for them, too.

Later I brought children’s games from Spain - very beautiful - and then locals started coming more often. And when my daughter went to an English school, I realized I had to keep the assortment as international as possible. Even though it’s not that easy.

Are there pitfalls and drawbacks of the distinctly Montenegrin kind?

The saddest thing is that for more than two years I couldn’t set up online payments on my website. Even for me - the person who can get a certificate of no criminal record from Russia in two days - this task seemed impossible. Largely because our passport doesn’t let you just go and open an account...

In one financial institution they did open an account for me, and I immediately clarified that it was needed specifically for e-commerce. At first they agreed to everything, and then said at least two years had to pass from that moment: "We need to know how trustworthy you are." PayPal also has restrictions here - only as private. And if you send books by mail, with the prices they charge for postal services, nobody will buy anything from me - it’s too expensive.

But in the end everything worked out - and now everything is up and running, done properly!

How to quickly find a suitable space in Montenegro.

At the time when I needed to look for a space for the store, sites like nepokretnost.me didn’t exist in Montenegro yet. Local portals turned out useless.

So I told Zina, my daughter: "Get in the car. Let’s drive around the city. Just look at the notices on doors."

Rain, a downpour. We randomly drive onto this street, I see a "no entry" sign, I turn around and see a white sheet of paper on this house. I park. I take a photo of the number. That’s how my search ended! It was really fate. Because it all worked out exactly how I wanted: there would be a garden, the atmosphere - not a cold office but a place nice to come into. And suddenly everything matched exactly what I had in mind.

Language barrier - a problem? Bug or feature?

At first I thought the language would stick on its own. But somehow it didn’t. Because of that I got very nervous when Montenegrins came in. I thought: "How can this be? They’ll be upset that a person works here and doesn’t know their language."

But it turned out that everyone basically doesn’t mind - Montenegrins understand my Russian perfectly, and somehow I understand their Montenegrin. If they speak fast and I start to worry, some reserves kick in and everything becomes clearer.

When the time comes, I’ll find a teacher and we’ll learn it.

Montenegrin "polako" - sometimes it’s really great!

I once saw a banner near Porto Montenegro parking: "Vaše mjesto za reklamu." With a phone number. Naturally, I couldn’t get through - not that day, nor the next, nor a week later.

I went to a lady in the booth. She suggested: "Go to the parking service. There’s an auction, it’s complicated."

I came there, showed a photo of the banner. The employee said: "Yes, you need to take part in an auction. Submit an application to the newspaper for that." Me: "I don’t understand anything. Will you help?" - "Of course! I’ll write it all up and send it. You only need to pay 50 euros and provide the banner size and a design description."

Important: those 50 euros were the official fee, not a "thank you." The woman helped purely out of kindness.

A couple of days later she writes an email: "Congratulations, you won the auction." To my question about how many participants there were, the answer was telling: "One." So the auction was basically made just for me!

I was afraid that renting a banner in Porto would cost a fortune. But it turned out to be just about 60 euros per month. And now they’ve stopped charging me altogether: something broke on their side. For half a year the banner has been hanging for free. That’s the vibe.

It’s not businesses that survive, but people

After talking with Maria, it became clear to me personally that "Okbook" is of course not about money or big plans. It’s about how, in a new country, you can build yourself an island of normalcy - out of books, conversations, and the Montenegrin polako. It’s not business calculus, but a natural desire not to go crazy in a difficult time and gather around you people for whom reading and staying alive in thought and feeling matters.

Perhaps that’s exactly why this project continues to live and delight its customers. Or maybe it’s the magic and depth of the worlds that books give people. So come by "Okbook" yourself - for a quick hello. Or for a coffee :)