Are you a big fan of craft beer? Do you want to get into the brewing business yourself? If you’re interested in starting your own brewing business, here’s what you need to know:
If you’re serious — and not just droned — know that it takes a lot of preparation, money, and steadiness to make this dream a fact. Starting a small business is already hard, and breweries are profoundly capital-intensive businesses that come with extra-legal and allowing requirements. But with steady preparation, creative funding, and tenacity, you could build your own community watering hole.
Small brewery businesses are popping up all over the country. Like other types of businesses, some are good, and some are bad. Hence, to set up your brewery on a path to success,
Here are some tips you should consider when planning your own brewing business:
1. Determine Your Knowledge and Skills
First things first, you not only have to like beer–you have to love it, know everything about it, and be willing to pursue it. Knowing only a few things about beer is not enough. For example, if you know the basics of brewing, you have to know what kind of hops is best to use, like Bavaria Mandarina. Learning the basics is a good place to start, but remember that every other brewer probably knows the same things you do. Take it a step further and do further research. In other words, be nothing less of a beer connoisseur.
If you are resembling to construct a new brewery, with all new material, and ask for large sums of finance or loan money, you’ll require to quantify your passion and perform it in a way that your possible investors will appreciate.
Apart from having brewing knowledge and skills, you also have to have other skills that are pertinent to a business such as marketing, sales, record-keeping, and management. If you’re not confident about your skills, take up the necessary classes to build your knowledge.
2. Find a Way to Fund Your Business
Just like any other business, a brewery needs sizeable capital. As you’re making your Brewing Business plan, here are some costs that you need to consider:
- Brewing equipment
- Commercial space
- Initial stocks and supplies
- Utilities
- Licensing and permits
- Furniture
- Insurance
- Payroll
- Electronics and software
A brewery business can take about $500,000 to a million dollars to start, but the costs may vary depending on your business plan. In general, it is recommended that you double the amount of capital required to make room for any unexpected expenses. You can use a website like www.switchpal.co.uk/compare-business-electricity-prices-rates-quotes to find the best deals for your utility cost.
There are much more to the industry than just brewing and drinking beer. Unless you are densely funded and can hire a full team right away, you may notice yourself wasting a large portion of everyday cleaning, and then spending the rest of the day handling your books, sales, merchants, and consumers. And brewing beer nevermore sleeps, so you may also be managing nights and weekends. In reality, many small-brew shop owners keep their day jobs and brew nighttime and weekends until they can manage to pay themselves a wage. However, notwithstanding the challenges, most winery owners say the struggle is meriting it.
After you create a solid Brewing Business plan, think of ways that you can fund your brewery. You can take out loans from local banks, private lenders, or investors that may take an interest in your business proposal. Whichever way you go, you must have a concrete business plan with the numbers all planned out.
3. Create your brand
With many other microbreweries to compete with, how can you set your brand apart? Sure, having a great-tasting beer is the best way to put your brand up there, but how can you make it unique?
The packaging is the first place you should start. If your bottles or can have memorable designs, there’s a higher chance that your brand name will be remembered. Then, create your website and social media pages that revolve around this design to enforce a central theme and make your brand more recognizable.
4. Plan Your Route of Distribution
Now that you have a business plan and a unique brand, how are you put your beer out there? Find a reputable distributor in your area that can tap into the market you want to sell to, get your beer into retail stores, and have a reasonable fee for their services. If you’re having trouble finding a distributor, try self-distributing your beer in the meantime.
Craft beer isn’t new, but it has endless possibilities for development. If you want to be part of the brewing community, these tips should help you start.
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