Cost to start a Nano?

[TopherM]

My buddy who started his own 3BBL microbrewery with a tasting room opened with 30K from kickstarter and about 40-45K of his own money (NO LOANS!!). The brewery is about 2500 SF in a office park off the beaten path.

He was making money week 1. He now employs a head brewer and 4 bartenders. I doubt he's getting rich, but he seems to be doing just fine.

 

[chad_]

My buddy who started his own 3BBL microbrewery with a tasting room opened with 30K from kickstarter and about 40-45K of his own money (NO LOANS!!).

Interesting, how did he go about getting that much money from kickstarter for a nanobrewery?

 

[TopherM]

Mostly friends and family. We have a pretty strong homebrew and craftbrew community in Tampa Bay, and he's definitely dialed in!

I did just go to the kickstarter page to verify, and it was actually $20,000, not $30,000. He did put up a little over $70K startup money, and didn't borrow any money.

 

[messiah]

For all of those saying $100K, is that with the facility to brew? I can't buy any kind of commercial space for that kind of money.

 

[thisisbeer]

I assumed they were leasing.

 

[Demon]

For all of those saying $100K, is that with the facility to brew? I can't buy any kind of commercial space for that kind of money.

Lease, but plan on 6 months of paying rent without brewing a drop of beer.

 

[messiah]

Leasing seems to cost about the same amount yearly as any of the spaces I thought about purchasing, and its just money lost. I suppose it would cut back on colateral for loans though.

 

[porterpounder]

I think the main sticking point is your local gubmn't. Most of the town people we dealt with were excited and supportive, but it only takes one A-hole to ruin everythihg.

We tried starting one with 100K and were budgeted well for a 2 bbl system in a 3600 sq.t ft. space. In our area the zoning is very strict and there is no light-manufacturing space <2500 sq. feet. It took us 7 months just to find an acceptable space (zoned for manufacturing AND retail sales) and signed a conditional lease. Then we ran into a huge road-block with the local gas and plumbing inspector. What should have been $5K of equipment and labor turned into about $40-50K of "required safety improvements" to the space. The inspector cited concerns over liability if he approved custom-made equipment that was not on the state approved list, required gas solenoids linked to the vent fan to stop one from operating the burner without the vent on (as if we were complete morons and looking to poison ourselves and haven't been doing this for 15 years), GREASE TRAPS on the sinks (???) and new floor drains as he felt the existing ones in the space were not sufficient. He didn't have a clue, was not interested in a reasonable discussion, wouldn't budge on any ridiculous point and essentially killedus. The rent alone for the extra months required for the "improvements" with labor and applications to the state plumbing board for variances would have broken us before the first drop was brewed. The feds and state were a cake-walk compared to that guy.

 

[greatschmaltez]

For all my comments, I was assuming leasing, you don't want to add a real estate loan to this chaos of starting up.

Government can be tough, we plan to get the local guys involved as early as possible.

J-bird, I'm awaiting feedback on a request for pricing I submitted recently. Depending on price we would structure out chronological cash flow to slowly build a keg fleet over time to avoid the additional upfront capital. I will let you know what the price schedule is.

 

[sok454]

^ This. I don't own a brewery but am forecasting to open one in June 2015. Part of the delay is saving, as well as developing a solid business plan. There is a great farm style brewery about 10 miles from me that has started up and really done well. They already owned the land, structure, and have many acres of land to grow hops, and they are planning to grow grain soon as well. They had a lot of resources to start out with... I'm working from the ground up, and frankly, want to compete with these guys. (note: I've talked to the guys and they are top notch, good people.)

I am currently working on my business degree, which requires to write business plans, etc., So I'm in slow progress mode given the family, day job, school, and brewing... Starting to SLOWLY put equipment pieces together, but still is a long way from where I want to be, 2 years away from really opening doors. It is tough, but it is a dream that is getting closer (and more frightening). I realize it a huge risk and will be challenging, but I have a very supportive wife and family, and I'm working many of the details.

Hopefully I will have my own thread someday about the ups and downs of starting up.

Cheers

You description of the fellas in your town sound an a lot like a local brewery here in Springfield. Makes it a bit easier if you already own a building land and have capital!

 

[Komocabo]

You description of the fellas in your town sound an a lot like a local brewery here in Springfield. Makes it a bit easier if you already own a building land and have capital!

Springfield, Oregon? I live in Harrisburg...

 

[sok454]

Oh. No. Illinois. Funny. We have a family op just like u described.

 

[Phunhog]

Lease, but plan on 6 months of paying rent without brewing a drop of beer.

Actually I have heard more than a few nano's specifying in the lease that rent will not be charged until they are licensed and operating. Of course you have to make it worthwhile to the landlord to assume the risk. If you can pull it off though it takes care of a BIG issue.

 

[sok454]

I have looked at making a deal w the landlord either in the terms of the repairs i'll complete for the property or asking them to delay the rent payments for x # of months and then increasing the rent appropriately.

We are lucky that we have a few properties in our town that are between 500-1000/ month and were set up for eating establishments in the past... they are about 1200-1400 sq ft.

There are a couple of larger ones that are more warehouse style but they are quite a bit more in terms of rent.