It's totally doable if you stay focused and work your ass off. A few things to keep in mind:
I'm going to jump here since, like Bob, I have experience building and then opening a brewpub from the buildout forward. His advice is spot on and his experience shows. Listen carefully.
You have to be ALL IN. No working a "real job" then after work go open your business.
Yep. While I'm sure there are some folks who started out this way, it's not ideal, IMHO. This isn't for the faint of heart. It requires absolute dedication and the energy and passion that will keep you going when you hit brick walls, and you WILL hit brick walls on many levels. People romanticize this profession to a level that boggles my mind. It's work, HARD work and requires not only business skills but brewing skills and the ability to fix ANYTHING that breaks quickly and efficiently. A brewer just doesn't brew beer. You have to be a jack of all trades and understand all the equipment at the same level of those whom you would call to service it. It saves a LOT of money and time being able to do so.
Don't expect to start out as big as you want to be. Start small and debt free and grow into a bigger business.
Great advice. Too many folks leverage themselves into an untenable situation and learn a hard lesson as a result.
Say bye to your home brewing days. All your time for brewing and beer will be spent at your business.
Yep, and I don't miss it at all. I don't even do pilot batches on my homebrew system anymore. Don't really need to. I know my brewery equipment so well at this point I just develop a recipe and brew it on the "big" system, which for me is only 5BBL, and if it needs adjustments I do it during subsequent batches. Here's one big lesson I've learned: There are times when I think a certain beer isn't all that great and I need to work on it, but I've learned that since taste is so subjective other folks will like it. Since we started, I've brewed about 2000BBL and we've sold every drop. Not saying my beers are all great and world class, but they're brewed clean and within the style guidelines so they sell.
Speaking of business: that's what it is. It's a business. Write a business plan. Know your demographic. Forget about brewing what you want to drink. It is now about what the public wants to drink and what they will pay for.
I agree to a certain extent, but also have found that core clientele like to explore ONCE you get them out of their I-only-like-[fill in the blank] beers. Once you get the locals dialed into the fact that there are a lot of wonderful beer styles, they will follow and will also talk them up to visitors to the pub. This is one aspect of being a brewer that I really like.
Having said that, it is a business and, like Bob said, you have to give your customers what they want. For a long time, I held off doing an American Pilsner even though folks were clamoring for it. I did one and it has become one of our best sellers. I had to learn to put my personal biases aside and brew for others in the same way I'd brew for myself. It was a good lesson to learn and has served me well since I learned it.
Learn and know the law(s)
To the extent you'll know more than the government representatives that are supposed to know them. Usually, you'll know more than them. At least that's been my experience.
Use an accountant that has bar/brewery/alcohol business experience.
Absolutely. It can save a lot of headaches and hassles to have pros take care of this aspect of the business. We're a multi-million dollar company at this point and we have hired guns who are at the top of their game in the accounting world. I couldn't imagine doing it ourselves at this point.
Be ready to work all the hours your self with out employees if you can. The most expensive part of any business is the employees.
Agreed. There will be many long days until you get everything dialed in.
Get ready for hundreds of "know it all" people to start dumping their advice on you. You will hear "You know what you should do..." fifty times a day.
LMAO! So, so true. When I hear "You know what you should do" from someone who doesn't remotely have a clue about this business (a brewpub is a restaurant too so you have "those" people), I walk away. My business speaks for itself and, at this point, I really don't have time to hear from those who truly don't understand this business at all.
To follow up on this, I also don't pay attention to reviews on Yelp, Untappd, and the like. I look at the full pub, the bottom line, and the fact that we've grown and gotten stronger every year as benchmarks for our success. The rest is just gossip.
You have to have a thick skin. Business ventures always bring out the nay-sayers. If you listen you will fail. Every clique thinks they can make or break your business. Smokers tell you you will fail if there is no smoking. Foodies will tell you you will fail without a kitchen. Back porch people will tell you you will fail without outside seating. Bikers will tell you you will fail with out a bike night. I've heard it all.
Yep. Great advice. Do it your way and if you're product is up to snuff you'll do fine regardless of what anyone says.
Watch your money. Just because you made $200,000 that year doesn't mean you can run out and buy a boat or a new car or a Harley. There will be lean times and you'll need that money to create an even financial flow.
Covid definitely taught that hard lesson to a lot of small breweries.
Make your business an L.L.C.
More good advice.
Try to operate with six months capitol in the bank and try to keep your business cash strong.
I think that should be the minimum. You never know when you will need to make a capital investment in equipment or your staff so always be prepared financially.
Make sure your beer really is good. Friends and family will lie to you, That's what they do - they support you. I bootlegged my beer to some places for several years before going legal. Then I would go there and sit next to them at the bar and listen to what they said about the beer to their drinking buddy. I called it Clandestine Research in my business plan. If you are doing this because people tell you you make great beer and you should open a brewery. That's not good enough.
Yep again. Whether or not my beer was good enough was one of my biggest fears and I had been home brewing for almost 25 years before I turned pro. Too many folks got into this with too little experience and, well, they paid a big price for that premature jump.
Stay Positive. Your going to have some shitty days but that's not what customers want to see in you.
Yep.
Great advice all around, Bob!
Cheers,
--
Don
COO/Head Brewer/Founder
Idyllwild Brewpub