“If anyone said anything about the practicality of opening a book cafe, I would have never started it,” Cecilia Koh confided to us.
It wasn’t really her initial business plan to open a children’s book cafe either. In fact, she described it as an impulsive decision.
But the book cafe idea wasn’t born out of nothing.
At the time, Cecilia had already founded and was single-handedly running Natventure. It’s an online independent bookstore for kids with a key curation on nature and adventure-themed books.
One year into the business, she got the idea to expand it physically into a book cafe. Believing her book cafe concept was unique enough, Cecilia didn’t think much about the actual implementation.
“Because my friend was also equally excited about the idea, we decided to [just] go for it,” she shared.
That’s how Natventure Book Cafe opened at Syed Alwi Road in 2020.
Nurturing independence in children
With three young kids of her own, Cecilia is well aware of the challenges that come with bringing children out.
“Not to mention, the judgement we may face when children don’t display behaviours deemed proper by society in general, like sitting still and talking softly,” she explained.
So the concept for Natventure Book Cafe was to create a safe and child-friendly space where the young ones’ experiences were prioritised.
“We believe that children are capable individuals and we wanted our space to allow children the freedom to express their independence within reasonable limits.”
Cecilia and her friend designed the book cafe with low floor seating for children to move around freely. Visitors could even bring their own mats to lay down their babies while they dined at the cafe.
In terms of the cafe, there was a learning tower provided so that children could interact with adults at the same height level.
Children were encouraged to place orders for the cafe’s drinks and cakes on their own, with photos of the F&B offerings shown in the menu to help make the process easier. There were also little trays with handles for the kids to carry the food back to their seats.
It was this approach and attentiveness to children’s independence that made Natventure Book Cafe quite popular. So much so that the demand eventually outweighed what they could deliver.
Knowing when to say goodbye
When Cecilia envisioned the book cafe, her key focus was to offer good books and book-related events. The F&B aspect came second to that so Natventure Book Cafe wasn’t very well prepared to run it.
This later turned into a bit of a problem.
“After running the book café for a while, we realised there was more demand for F&B such a setting that we curated for children. And even the renting of venues for kids-related parties and events,” she shared.
Unfortunately, the book cafe couldn’t cater to such demands because it didn’t have the right facilities. For example, the electricity load wasn’t enough to power more efficient kitchen equipment like commercial dishwashers.
It was also during this period that Cecilia’s personal life became a little hectic.
Shortly after giving birth to her third child, she took the role of a caregiver to another family member. This meant that both she and her husband went from taking care of two to now four other people.
“Even without a business to run, it was still a very challenging period and transition for us,” she recalled. Realising that there was just too much on her plate, she unwillingly rolled up the book cafe.
Properly focusing on her niche
“I was upset and disappointed to shut down the book cafe, and felt like giving up the whole business entirely. Especially in view of what was going on in my personal life,” the founder divulged. “It was so tough, mentally and emotionally.”
But the support of her husband, friends, and other entrepreneurs she’s met along the way kept her going.
Despite shuttering Natventure Book Cafe, Cecilia realised that this wasn’t the end of her entrepreneurial journey. She still had the original online bookstore which is actually her real passion.
So she took some time to restrategise and come up with a business plan that seems to be working out better for her.
Now, Natventure focuses on building a community of international readers from the younger generation. It offers local authors and Singaporean stories to enrich their appreciation for our culture.
Another way she accomplishes this is by collaborating with agencies to curate unique experiences for young readers. For example, last year she set up a pop-up roving bookstore in partnership with Singapore Art Museum.
She also occasionally does storytelling sessions with children at other stores like the East Coast Commune cafe.
With a clearer vision of how she wants the brand to be, Natventure continues to work towards that, and Cecilia has put the book cafe out of mind… for now.
“My interest is in books and in creating spaces/experiences for children where they can feel free and empowered. But if there’s an F&B establishment that would like to recreate a similar space together, I’m open to discussing,” she shared.
Featured Image Credit: Natventure
