We are considering opening a home brew beer & wine supply. I am just starting the business plan now. Does anyone have any advice? Does anyone know how to find out the annual sales revenue per square foot of a brew supply store or, for that matter, estimating the rest of the financials required for a business plan (projected expenses) as I'm not having any luck asking current stores?
home brew supplies business plan help
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TyTanium
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Know your market. Be intimately knowledgeable of other shops in the area and what you can provide that they don't. The better you understand the factors outside your control, the better you can manage what you can control.
Oh, and cash flow cash flow cash flow.
As for estimates, talk with banks/lenders. I can almost guarantee you that most homebrew shops have some form of bank financing.
opusx11
Well-Known Member
.. provide cheap/free shipping to Canada because we routinely get screwed by shipping prices! 
everything that Ty said.
Just wondering how you are making out with this venture. I am considering doing the same in Eastern Canada, where there are very few homebrew supply stores. In fact, there is nothing of the sort within a 200 km radius of my location.
GrogNerd
mean old man
breweries popping up everywhere. not that I'm complaining 
but what the US really needs is more LHBSs.
I wish you all the luck in the world
but what the US really needs is more LHBSs.
I wish you all the luck in the world
Robert Waligora
My Brew Supply
Hi, any update on what you found regarding home brew supply store revenue?
And only active for a total of 12 days. I’d guess it probably never grew legs.
Control Freak
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Ok, here gos, LHBS around here are dropping like flies and homebrewing in general is declining so if your looking to the math it's not in your corner. I'll put it this way, if LHBS were a stock I would short it.
My LHBS was combined with a bicycle repair shop, which kept it afloat.
I took a run at having a store in the Philadelphia area from late 2000 and it lasted not quite 4 years to 2004. Many issues, some of which have only gotten worse.
I’m going to say it was never really profitable. I could not afford to have any employees. Many weeks I couldn’t pay myself. I would just take $20 out of the register to put gas in my car or whatever. It was a constant struggle to pay the bills, especially toward the end. I was always behind. In the end i probably wasted $30,000 and my wife at the time paid just about all our bills.
I’m also going to say that in a way I’m glad I tried. I had the opportunity, it was a learning experience and if I hadn’t tried I probably would have been beating myself up over it for many years,
First, homebrewing is a niche. If you own a pizza shop a very large percentage of the population will be your customer. If you own a homebrew shop, its an infinitesimally smaller percentage.
Second, you have very tough online competition from companies who can offer lower prices because they buy in much larger quantities than you can and get enormous discounts you can’t get. Often times you are buying things for what they are selling them for. And they offer free shipping.
Speaking of shipping - Third, your cost of getting goods shipped to you is increased, Freight shipping by the pallet is probably at least double today what it was then.
I can’t speak to declining participation but I know the availability of beer everywhere isn’t helping.
As others have said, many of us don’t have a local shop anymore. Many have tried, most have failed.
I’m going to say it was never really profitable. I could not afford to have any employees. Many weeks I couldn’t pay myself. I would just take $20 out of the register to put gas in my car or whatever. It was a constant struggle to pay the bills, especially toward the end. I was always behind. In the end i probably wasted $30,000 and my wife at the time paid just about all our bills.
I’m also going to say that in a way I’m glad I tried. I had the opportunity, it was a learning experience and if I hadn’t tried I probably would have been beating myself up over it for many years,
First, homebrewing is a niche. If you own a pizza shop a very large percentage of the population will be your customer. If you own a homebrew shop, its an infinitesimally smaller percentage.
Second, you have very tough online competition from companies who can offer lower prices because they buy in much larger quantities than you can and get enormous discounts you can’t get. Often times you are buying things for what they are selling them for. And they offer free shipping.
Speaking of shipping - Third, your cost of getting goods shipped to you is increased, Freight shipping by the pallet is probably at least double today what it was then.
I can’t speak to declining participation but I know the availability of beer everywhere isn’t helping.
As others have said, many of us don’t have a local shop anymore. Many have tried, most have failed.
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