This Billion Dollar Business Sells Children Books

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With revenue close to $1.6 billion annually, Scholastic is an absolute POWERHOUSE in publishing. The craziest part is that they are hyper focused on children’s books and have been using the same techniques since the 50’s.

Here’s there story

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Founded in 1920 by Maurice Robinson originally as a magazine distributed to high schoolers locally. By the 1940s they expanded into the publishing world and never looked back

In 1957, they launched their book club program. This was the game changer for them.

The goal; make affordable books accessible to kids via schools and create lifelong readers. Not to mention a recurring revenue stream that to this day is what makes up the largest % of their revenue.

Just like the greats, Munger and Buffett, Scholastic was patient and continued to grow steadily, waiting for the right opportunities to come their way.

In the 70s and 80s, they hit it big with The Baby Sitters Club series and Goosebumps series of books.

They had now solidified themselves in the industry and by the late 90s, picked up Harry Potter. This poured rocket fuel on the fire and took scholastic to a globally recognized level.

Since then, they have continued to adapt and grow with the times, but what they currently do well is what they have done well for almost 70 years; the book fair.

Scholastic partners with schools around the world and takes the books right to the schools and into the hands of millions of kids.

It sounds crazy that in a time like we live today, with all the online sales, digital marketing and virtual products that exist, in person book sales works… but it does.

This is the foundation of their success and something they have made sure to maintain.

I still remember the excitement of running into the Scholastic book fair 30 years ago and NOW I get to see that same excitement in my kids. It’s not just the fact that the books are there, it’s also nostalgia. Scholastic has done it right.

From an entrepreneur perspective, this is a gem of a business model and one I truly admire. They have hyper focused on a powerful niche. They became experts in this niche and brought their product DIRECTLY to consumer. As they grew, they expanded their reach my creating a monopoly. Publishing, education, book fairs, licensing and media, classroom magazines, and so much more.

Taking off the entrepreneur cap for a second, they have done something so much bigger than the $1.6b in revenue, they have created lifelong readers.

The number of kids that have been positively influenced by a book that they purchased at a scholastic book fair, is too many to count. Myself included.

Scholastic’s story isn’t just about profit; it’s about passion, persistence, and profound impact.