Feedback on Business Idea "Microbrewery for Homebrewers"

[AnnaAnna]

Hello Homebrewers,

we are three university students and want to create a theoretical business plan for a "beer brewing and entrepreneurship" course. It would be so great if you could answer just two questions and give us some feedback if you would like to.

The idea is to give homebrewers, who wish to start their own microbrewery and sell their beer, a place they can rent and produce their beer and then we sell it at our own bar and also sell it to other beerpubs. So we would provide the materials they want, the equipment and the distribution. This would mean the homebrewer can see how the market reacts to his beer and even start his own beerline without having to do big investments. We know that there are already microbreweries that offer homebrewers to come in and make their own beer, but those are usually pretty expensive. We want to offer our brewery at a lower price and also let the homebrewer have a share of the money from his sold beer, so he could make also a profit.

I know these aren't much details, our idea is still at a very raw stage. I hope you like the idea and give us some feedback.

<form method="post" action="http://poll.pollcode.com/leqy47"><table border="0" width="175" bgcolor="EEEEEE" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"><tr><td colspan="2"><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><b>Do you dream about having your own microbrewery?</b></font></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" name="answer" value="1" id="leqy47answer1"></td><td><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><label for="leqy47answer1">Yes</label></font></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" name="answer" value="2" id="leqy47answer2"></td><td><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><label for="leqy47answer2">No</label></font></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2><center><input type="submit" value=" Vote ">&nbsp;&nbsp;<input type="submit" name="view" value=" View "></center></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 align=right><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="000000">pollcode.com <a href="http://pollcode.com/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="000000">free polls</font></a>&nbsp;</font></td></tr></table></form><form method="post" action="http://poll.pollcode.com/hqsd14"><table border="0" width="175" bgcolor="EEEEEE" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"><tr><td colspan="2"><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><b>Would you be interested to use the "Microbrewery for Homebrewers"?</b></font></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" name="answer" value="1" id="hqsd14answer1"></td><td><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><label for="hqsd14answer1">Yes</label></font></td></tr><tr><td width="5"><input type="radio" name="answer" value="2" id="hqsd14answer2"></td><td><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="000000"><label for="hqsd14answer2">No</label></font></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2><center><input type="submit" value=" Vote ">&nbsp;&nbsp;<input type="submit" name="view" value=" View "></center></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 align=right><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="000000">pollcode.com <a href="http://pollcode.com/"><font face="Verdana" size="1" color="000000">free polls</font></a>&nbsp;</font></td></tr></table></form>

Anna, Freddie and Mads

 

[Bithead]

I brew as a hobby only.

 

[Airborneguy]

Hobby for me also. I shake my head when inevitably almost every single fellow "home"brewer I talk to starts mentioning "going pro".

 

[Subsailor]

No desire to go pro! Hobby only, primarily for my consumption.

 

[Billybrewer09]

Sounds like a decent idea.
You say you want to offer your brewery inexpensively and share the profits. I'm not sure how you would manage that.
I personally brew for myself, but think sometimes it would be cool to have a batch on tap at a bar.

 

[david_42]

Might work, although scaling beer from 5-10 gallons to multiple barrels isn't linear.

 

[TyTanium]

Bankers/investors will need to see how you address the implicit conflicts of interest; namely, the owner bears the risk of owning the assets, but is not the one producing the product that will pay for those assets. It may help to frame it as a leasing business, where the tenants happen to brew beer. Also, you'll need to establish demand on both ends: both from the homebrewers to contract brew, and from consumers to buy an untested, unbranded product.

We want to offer our brewery at a lower price and also let the homebrewer have a share of the money from his sold beer, so he could make also a profit.

I like the sound of it, but there's not much margin in brewing, how do you plan on doing this?