Starting a brewery business now, are we mad?

[MyBossIsAn]

Hi folks.

So with a lot of other people out there, I along with a couple of mates have recently lost my job due to C-19. We had been talking about setting up a brewery for some time but had put it on the back-burner a few months back as the C-19 crisis was kicking off and we were all working then. However fast forward a couple of months and we are all now out of work so we have decided to try and get the brewery idea up and running...during a pandemic/recession and when all bars are closed?

Are we mad to do this? IS this the dumbest idea ever of a stroke of genius?

Some background...there re three of us, one of my mates has 20+yrs brewing experience with 7 of those years as head brewer at two medium sized regional breweries in the UK. Their brews have won several regional and national awards albeit under the name of the brewery they worked for at the time. My other mate has worked in the on-trade for over 20 years having run bars in Ireland, Spain and the UK. My background is in sales/marketing with 20+ years experience selling media/software.

We all have lots of beer drinking experience too

So due to the crisis our only route to market now is via post, sending out slabs (12/24 cans) of our tasty brews ordered via a website. This side of the industry (postal delivery) has taken a not so unsurprising boost due to the crisis as beer drinkers still want their brews despite not getting to the pub. We also feel it is a great way to get a foot in the industry as beer lovers may be inclined to try something new now.

We have we believe some strong branding (designs to be arranged) and a good story too!

We want to contract brew (pay a brewery to brew our recipe for us) the first 2-3 brews and if they are successful then we would like to start our own small brewery and build up from there, my mate has consulted on brewery set up before and has industry contacts so we should be able to minimise costs here in terms of sourcing the relevant equipment. We hope by then that bars will be open and we can keg our brews too. We intend to rent a bonded warehouse to have our brews delivered to us from the contract brewer and from which we would repackage them and dispatch to our consumers.

So here are my questions...

1. Are we mad to start a business during the crisis? Has anyone reading this tried something similar, what was your experience, any pitfalls?
2. As a brewery start up can anyone advise on the basics that we need once we have a tasty brew made, I am talking about CRM, e-commerce software, delivery etc.
3. Funding, is it feasible to apply for a Gov start up loan now taking into consideration they are giving out loans to try and keep companies going out of business during the crisis, would it be cheeky to ask for some funding to start something new when many are closing? We all have a small but of personal cash we can invest too however as you can imagine this will diminish as the weeks drag on and we remain out of work.
4. What other questions should I/we be asking here?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies,

A

 

[alan1302]

Don't think you are mad especially if you are doing it all online - good luck to you.

Marketing will be very important - more so that the taste of the beer - if people don't know about you then they can't buy it.

 

[dotcomdude]

We have we believe some strong branding (designs to be arranged) and a good story too!

Branding won't help you initially. If you know what you are doing and passionately work to create the best beer possible and to get your story 'out there' - you will overcome all of the other hurdles and will thrive.

There's probably never been a better time to start a business, providing it's the right one!

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

If nothing else you’ve got time to lay the foundations and do it right. I think it’s a great time to start a business.
Maybe even pay a PR company to get the story in the papers.

 

[Julia Sta Romana]

2. As a brewery start up can anyone advise on the basics that we need once we have a tasty brew made, I am talking about CRM, e-commerce software, delivery etc.

CRM and e-commerce, you have a lot of options, depending on how tech-savvy you.

If you want something simple and you can build quickly, CRMs like Wix and Squarespace have e-commerce functionalities that you can easily integrate.

If you want to customize your site a bit more and have more e-commerce options, go for Shopify and Wordpress. It will be a bit of a learning curve but if you want to be hands-on with e-commerce, it will be worth the effort.

 

[cts1975]

If any business is to be started during these times then a brewing and home delivery business has got a great chance of success. As social distancing becomes the 'norm' and punters think seriously about risking contact with people for the sake of a few beers I think more and more people will drink from home. Again as more people work from home they may well be happy to a have a few extra beers in the evening if they no longer have an early commute?
From the beginning of C19 I've been wondering what businesses will grow and what businesses will struggle. I think your idea would be on the positive list. The only general advice is with 3 of you working on the business then maybe consider all having another income or job. It's going to be very difficult for 3 of you to take any salary anytime soon. This may keep the start up momentum going for a lot longer.

 

[The Byre]

There's probably never been a better time to start a business, providing it's the right one!

THIS!

And don't bother with the PR company - DIY your PR and the papers will run the story - trust me, local rags and local radio love a good-news story like this one and maybe it'll get picked up by broadcasters and the nationals.

I'm a bit oo-er about a contract brewery. I would be looking at a cheap start-up in a small way. Remember that a microbrewery pays only half the beer tax that a pukka brewery pays! That's an important point and gives you a head start.

I'm also oo-er about government loans. They tend to come with strings and with interference and cost a great of time and nerves. But then that just may be my inability to deal with bureaucrats and we do have someone in-house who deals with those and other animals and keeps them away from me.

Can't you guys put enough money together for a couple of fermentation tanks, a cheap hand-bottling machine and a carbonation thingy? Open an account with Barth-Haas and Muntons and off you go! No need to start with your own bottling plant! £50k should be all you need to get the ball rolling!

Your brew-meister will, of course, disagree, in the same way that a cinematographer will tell you that you need about $1m worth of kit and a 1000 sq m studio to make a simple movie! But you need to get the ball rolling now and not when all the cows have come home.

 

[Mr D]

Nothing wrong with starting a brewing business. Now if you started a pub we'd probably say its a bad time.
But people still like to drink.

Sounds like you are ahead of the game in expertise anyway. Wish you luck.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Its a brilliant idea to start a business now and I wish you success with it.

Given that you have brewing expertise, but can outsource the brewing part - and the investment and uncertainty that equipping your own brewery would bring - it may be more useful to think of yourselves as a marketing company than a conventional brewery.

 

[Forgot password]

Unfortunately this will be the start of the end of your friendship with your mates.

Business is hard, gritty, tiring and most fail. I love the business of business and the excitement, buzz and ultimate success it ‘can’ bring. This is the stage your at now which is addictive and fun and is feeding you right now.

NEVER get into business with your mates or family - will end in tears.

I think it’s a great idea and you seem to have the perfect mix of skills between the three of you to start this thing BUT you need to clearly define roles and contracts from the start as before long owner number 1 who has been working on this all weekend and plotting/planning/thinking/stressing wonders why owner number 2 has been fishing and then spouts off to number 3 about it. I know your reading this all excited inside saying ‘no no this won’t happen to us we are all really good friends’ etc but it will.

 

[The Byre]

Given that you have brewing expertise, but can outsource the brewing part - and the investment and uncertainty that equipping your own brewery would bring - it may be more useful to think of yourselves as a marketing company than a conventional brewery.

I disagree because of the 50% beer duty that a micro-brewery pays. If they go to a contract brewery, they must pay 100% and a microbrewery can churn out up to 5,000 hectoliters p.a. That's 500 cubic meters of the stuff or about one million pints!

 

[MyBossIsAn]

Don't think you are mad especially if you are doing it all online - good luck to you.

Marketing will be very important - more so that the taste of the beer - if people don't know about you then they can't buy it.

Agreed, a lot of beers out there are very similar so alongside a quality product branding will be key for us to stand out, we are not looking to put lipstick on a pig so to speak, the pig has to be a looker first!

Branding won't help you initially. If you know what you are doing and passionately work to create the best beer possible and to get your story 'out there' - you will overcome all of the other hurdles and will thrive.

There's probably never been a better time to start a business, providing it's the right one!

I would disagree with your first statement, we could have the best beer in the world but if the branding/story does not catch the eye of or resonate with the consumer then our beers will sit on shelves or in the warehouse going stale!

If nothing else you’ve got time to lay the foundations and do it right. I think it’s a great time to start a business.
Maybe even pay a PR company to get the story in the papers.

That is my thinking too, loads of time to get things done correctly however we are keen to get to market soon, we wont rush things as we need to build a solid foundation from which to build out the business. Can afford to hire PR however I used to work for a PR tech company so I can get a list of the right people to contact when the time comes.

CRM and e-commerce, you have a lot of options, depending on how tech-savvy you.

If you want something simple and you can build quickly, CRMs like Wix and Squarespace have e-commerce functionalities that you can easily integrate.

If you want to customize your site a bit more and have more e-commerce options, go for Shopify and Wordpress. It will be a bit of a learning curve but if you want to be hands-on with e-commerce, it will be worth the effort.

Thanks for this, to start with it will be very basic. We want to keep it simple to start with. Thansnkf or the suggestions, I shall check them out.

If any business is to be started during these times then a brewing and home delivery business has got a great chance of success. As social distancing becomes the 'norm' and punters think seriously about risking contact with people for the sake of a few beers I think more and more people will drink from home. Again as more people work from home they may well be happy to a have a few extra beers in the evening if they no longer have an early commute?
From the beginning of C19 I've been wondering what businesses will grow and what businesses will struggle. I think your idea would be on the positive list. The only general advice is with 3 of you working on the business then maybe consider all having another income or job. It's going to be very difficult for 3 of you to take any salary anytime soon. This may keep the start up momentum going for a lot longer.

Agree with all you have said here, thanks. You are correct in that we will need jobs to keep us going while we build the business. I have just lost my job as director of sales for a global tech company, I am now applying for telesales jobs meaning a 70-80% paycut but I don't care so long as I have enough to survive as every penny I make after rent/food will go towards the business.

THIS!

And don't bother with the PR company - DIY your PR and the papers will run the story - trust me, local rags and local radio love a good-news story like this one and maybe it'll get picked up by broadcasters and the nationals.

I'm a bit oo-er about a contract brewery. I would be looking at a cheap start-up in a small way. Remember that a microbrewery pays only half the beer tax that a pukka brewery pays! That's an important point and gives you a head start.

I'm also oo-er about government loans. They tend to come with strings and with interference and cost a great of time and nerves. But then that just may be my inability to deal with bureaucrats and we do have someone in-house who deals with those and other animals and keeps them away from me.

Can't you guys put enough money together for a couple of fermentation tanks, a cheap hand-bottling machine and a carbonation thingy? Open an account with Barth-Haas and Muntons and off you go! No need to start with your own bottling plant! £50k should be all you need to get the ball rolling!

Your brew-meister will, of course, disagree, in the same way that a cinematographer will tell you that you need about $1m worth of kit and a 1000 sq m studio to make a simple movie! But you need to get the ball rolling now and not when all the cows have come home.

I am indeed going to DIY all PR and promotion at the start. We have via my business partner/brewer some good connections within the industry, he is fairly well known so anyone that we approach for contract brewing can be confident that what we make will be a solid beer, they are dealing with someone who has brought beers from concept to consumer while picking up awards along the way. Noted Re Government loans, will research more into this. We dont have the money available to get the equipment now. If our contract brews are successful then we will use this to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough capital to get started small, we will be paying for the contract brews from our own pockets, shallow pockets unfortunately however if we are not willing to spend our on money then we can't expect others to put their hands in their now shallow pockets to help us either!

As for our brew-meister, the contract brewing was his idea so that we can test the market.He knows we don't need all the new shiny equipment to make this work from the start.

Nothing wrong with starting a brewing business. Now if you started a pub we'd probably say its a bad time.
But people still like to drink.

Sounds like you are ahead of the game in expertise anyway. Wish you luck.

Thank you, fingers crossed we will be in pubs before too long!

Its a brilliant idea to start a business now and I wish you success with it.

Given that you have brewing expertise, but can outsource the brewing part - and the investment and uncertainty that equipping your own brewery would bring - it may be more useful to think of yourselves as a marketing company than a conventional brewery.

Thanks for your reply however I would disagree with this, craft beer drinkers want to know they are consuming a quality product, I think referring to ourselves as a marketing company would cheapen the product and brand. If we called ourselves a marketing company we would be no better than those companies that add branding to pens, mugs etc for other companies, nothing wrong with those companies however its just not what we are nor want to be. The recipes are ours, the branding is ours, the concept is ours, we are just outsourcing production until such time as we can bring it in house, assuming all goes well.

Unfortunately this will be the start of the end of your friendship with your mates.

Business is hard, gritty, tiring and most fail. I love the business of business and the excitement, buzz and ultimate success it ‘can’ bring. This is the stage your at now which is addictive and fun and is feeding you right now.

NEVER get into business with your mates or family - will end in tears.

I think it’s a great idea and you seem to have the perfect mix of skills between the three of you to start this thing BUT you need to clearly define roles and contracts from the start as before long owner number 1 who has been working on this all weekend and plotting/planning/thinking/stressing wonders why owner number 2 has been fishing and then spouts off to number 3 about it. I know your reading this all excited inside saying ‘no no this won’t happen to us we are all really good friends’ etc but it will.

I was waiting for one of these somewhat negative replies and it is well received and gives us more to think about so thank you. I have indeed heard stories about mates falling out when they went into business together however for everyone one of those stories I hear there is another success story to read. You offer great advice with respect to defining roles and working together and we want to make sure we have everything laid out at the beginning so as to have a solid foundation from which to build the brand/business.

I disagree because of the 50% beer duty that a micro-brewery pays. If they go to a contract brewery, they must pay 100% and a microbrewery can churn out up to 5,000 hectoliters p.a. That's 500 cubic meters of the stuff or about one million pints!

TBH I have no knowledge on this, my biz partner knows all this stuff so I shall leave that part to him!


Thank you all for the replies so far, it is much appreciated, please do keep them coming!

 

[The Byre]

I have indeed heard stories about mates falling out when they went into business together

This forum is full of sob stories about partners falling out and taking one another to court! A good shareholders' agreement will be vital. Sit down and discuss all those unpleasant topics like death, illness, not pulling their weight, running off with a scarlet woman from Pondersend, fraud and fire and flood!

TBH I have no knowledge on this, my biz partner knows all this stuff so I shall leave that part to him!

That is why I was so puzzled and negative towards the contract brewery idea - the beer duty rebate is the one thing that makes a microbrewery a really inviting business prospect, esp. when starting up.

Aldi and Lidl do special local craft brewery promotions in various parts of the UK and they have specialists who know how to deal with small start-ups. They also pay within 30 days to small companies.

 

[KAC]

Unfortunately this will be the start of the end of your friendship with your mates.

Business is hard, gritty, tiring and most fail. I love the business of business and the excitement, buzz and ultimate success it ‘can’ bring. This is the stage your at now which is addictive and fun and is feeding you right now.

NEVER get into business with your mates or family - will end in tears.

I think it’s a great idea and you seem to have the perfect mix of skills between the three of you to start this thing BUT you need to clearly define roles and contracts from the start as before long owner number 1 who has been working on this all weekend and plotting/planning/thinking/stressing wonders why owner number 2 has been fishing and then spouts off to number 3 about it. I know your reading this all excited inside saying ‘no no this won’t happen to us we are all really good friends’ etc but it will.

NOW is the time to set up a partnership/shareholders' agreement while you are all friends. Don't wait and try to do it after the business has become successful. Have a look at @The Resolver 's website and good luck

 

[The Byre]

BTW, your brewer will know of ways to make small amounts of beer without using expensive equipment - I mean zero budget brewing!

For example, he could make a concentrated wort and ferment that like wine to 12-15% and add carbonated water as it is required, bringing the end product down to 4 or 5%. You don't even need a carbonation machine then, just wholesale batches of heavily carbonated water. That makes your production costs about 8p-12p a pint. Other than a hand-bottling machine, you need zero equipment for that, just some containers and large catering pots. Muntons and Barth-Haas sell their stuff in smaller amounts for such operations. 25-liter malt extract and 5kg dry hops are the smallest amounts they sell.

Working that way, you can make and bottle the beer in 100-liter batches.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Thanks for your reply however I would disagree with this, craft beer drinkers want to know they are consuming a quality product, I think referring to ourselves as a marketing company would cheapen the product and brand. If we called ourselves a marketing company we would be no better than those companies that add branding to pens, mugs etc for other companies, nothing wrong with those companies however its just not what we are nor want to be. The recipes are ours, the branding is ours, the concept is ours, we are just outsourcing production until such time as we can bring it in house, assuming all goes well.

You're welcome; but I didn't make my point as clearly as I should have.

I agree that for craft beer drinkers the product is paramount.

I didn't suggest that you refer to yourselves as a marketing company. I suggested (not very clearly) that as you have the luxury of almost unlimited production (without having to buy or build your own brewery) you (internally, the three of you) can concentrate fully on developing your market.

You can determine who your target market are, what they like to drink, what they will pay more for, what matters most to them (taste, packaging, price, speed of delivery etc) and then try to develop a (range of) product(s) to ensure that more of them spend more of their beer budget buying from you!

I also reiterate what others said about a Shareholders' Agreement. By spending a little time (and money) now, you will avoid a lot of problems later.

 

[MBE2017]

OP, best of luck. You have been given plenty of things to think about, none of it was negative IMO, just pragmatic.

What you do have going for you is at least you are asking the questions now, not later. The role defining, resolution dispute etc is extremely important, the forum is littered with threads on failed partnerships and ruined friendships.

As James Johnson rightly said, it almost always happens, can take days or years, but it normally happens.

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

It’s certainly true that some businesses between friends and family can get messy, but it’s definitely not 100%. Just make sure to have good agreements in place before hand. Worth paying for these and you will regret it in future if you don’t.

 

[Solly]

My concern would be and I don't have the evidence to back this up it's just a gut feeling, is that the UK craft beer market is some what saturated with hundreds of micro breweries. I am not saying don't do it, but I would put the effort into researching the routes to market before you put the investment in.

But good luck

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I think Solly makes a good point, there does seem to be a huge glut of small breweries popping up. Great for me as a craft beer drinker! And great for small independent businesses - but wonder if there will be a saturation point?

I wouldn't take Financial Modellers advise r.e. a marketing company as a negative - he said think like you're one! For me I think it's imperative you know your aim in your branding, your customers, where you want to position yourself and I think there's two routes you could go;

1. The opposite to what FM was suggesting - Start traditional and brew yourself. The converted garage, outdoor shed, someones loft, whatever it might be. It tells a good story (particularly if it is somethinq quirky like a converted shed or a shipping container for example!) - it should get you publicity at the start and ongoing as you then expand and get your next unit, it's coverage as you grow. By starting at this level you will really build a connection with fans/customers who really see it as you putting the graft in, brewing in the evening etc whilst holding down a day job - and that makes them want to support you and try your beers or order a delivery just to support that work ethic. Further to that, people love to be there at the beginning! To be able to turn round in a few years and say "yeah I was buying off them when they were making it in their mums conservatory before they had this million pound production line!". It develops a real connection between you and local customers.

My point is, I think, that you would struggle to get this kind of connection with the outsourced brewing. It could be seen us "yeah we've had this idea but we don't really want to do a lot except sell it and make money". People like the crafted idea, the thought that you've worked your chunks off to make it and that it's coming from half a mile or a mile away.

2. Embrace FM's suggestion and go all out marketing, perhaps take on the big boys and try and make a bigger splash or come across as a much bigger outfit than you really ought to. Cause some controversy with an outrageous beer name or big launch party or whatever....I hate to say it but look how successfully brewdog did it especially in their early years. Certainly pay a huge amount of attention to your image which I think was FM's point, and the question of how local it is or who brewed it is less important.

In either case you of course need the product to be right but sounds like you have that no problem. For me I think you need to be absolutely clear how you will present yourself. We actually have quite a few small breweries round here and I can tell you this;

Brewery 1 - Been going the longest, 20+ years. Traditional beers, they took that traditional route, built up over time, mainly supply pubs. Bottles are available but not a big thing for them and they are known by almost everyone in the town - walk in many, many pubs and you will find one of their beers on tap.

Brewery 2 - A relative upstart but much more more in the line of option 2. They are more IPA's and DIPA's up to 7.5%. Their branding is really good, quite "aggressive", very noticeable. They went straight into an industrial unit and added a tap house on the side in that "urban" or steampunk sort of style. Appear to be doing very very well considering they've only been going a couple of years and available in a lot of local outlets already.

Brewery 3 - Well....they've kind of done both. They started off brewing in their garage. Then they started to build their own bar that got half finished and was never completed. You'll see their beers occasionally pop up in some pubs but then disappear. Sometimes traditional cask beers, sometimes far out flavoured stouts and other things. They try to push sales of their beer directly to customers online, they also then eventually did build their own bar but that doesn't seem sure what it wants to be - it only opens limited hours, constantly chops and changes ideas (quiz night/buskers night/karaoke night/doing food/not doing food/local market inside the pub). The branding of the beers is quite good and a number of the beers are excellent. Yet - they've never really made a statement either way, and to be honest it shows.

Brewery 1 are what they are - locally produced, traditional independently supplied cask beers. Brewery 2 are what they are - young upstarts, making canned/kegged craft beers that are stronger, bolder flavours, cleverer names but actually all linking around their main brand name.
Brewery 3 - well....I'm not quite sure and I don't think they are either.


Phew...that was a long post! Hope it makes some sense.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Look at the basics you aim to sell unknown beer to beer drinkers on the net, Why would I ever think of buying a unknown beer when I can buy my favorite online with my groceries

Your slab will be very heavy and cost a fortune to deliver by courier

You have no professional marketing plan and hope to compete with micro breweries that have established themselves

There are no trade shows or beer fairs likely for many months to get publicity

Probably undercapitalised from the start and just a idea rather than a proper plan of action

Pubs may well have to discount beer prices to get regulars back into the pub once it's over

Suggest put it on hold for 9 months and then plan knowing the situation at that time and with a great marketing plan after doing 9 months of reasearch

 

[SillyBill]

Hi folks.

So with a lot of other people out there, I along with a couple of mates have recently lost my job due to C-19. We had been talking about setting up a brewery for some time but had put it on the back-burner a few months back as the C-19 crisis was kicking off and we were all working then. However fast forward a couple of months and we are all now out of work so we have decided to try and get the brewery idea up and running...during a pandemic/recession and when all bars are closed?

Are we mad to do this? IS this the dumbest idea ever of a stroke of genius?

Some background...there re three of us, one of my mates has 20+yrs brewing experience with 7 of those years as head brewer at two medium sized regional breweries in the UK. Their brews have won several regional and national awards albeit under the name of the brewery they worked for at the time. My other mate has worked in the on-trade for over 20 years having run bars in Ireland, Spain and the UK. My background is in sales/marketing with 20+ years experience selling media/software.

We all have lots of beer drinking experience too

So due to the crisis our only route to market now is via post, sending out slabs (12/24 cans) of our tasty brews ordered via a website. This side of the industry (postal delivery) has taken a not so unsurprising boost due to the crisis as beer drinkers still want their brews despite not getting to the pub. We also feel it is a great way to get a foot in the industry as beer lovers may be inclined to try something new now.

We have we believe some strong branding (designs to be arranged) and a good story too!

We want to contract brew (pay a brewery to brew our recipe for us) the first 2-3 brews and if they are successful then we would like to start our own small brewery and build up from there, my mate has consulted on brewery set up before and has industry contacts so we should be able to minimise costs here in terms of sourcing the relevant equipment. We hope by then that bars will be open and we can keg our brews too. We intend to rent a bonded warehouse to have our brews delivered to us from the contract brewer and from which we would repackage them and dispatch to our consumers.

So here are my questions...

1. Are we mad to start a business during the crisis? Has anyone reading this tried something similar, what was your experience, any pitfalls?
2. As a brewery start up can anyone advise on the basics that we need once we have a tasty brew made, I am talking about CRM, e-commerce software, delivery etc.
3. Funding, is it feasible to apply for a Gov start up loan now taking into consideration they are giving out loans to try and keep companies going out of business during the crisis, would it be cheeky to ask for some funding to start something new when many are closing? We all have a small but of personal cash we can invest too however as you can imagine this will diminish as the weeks drag on and we remain out of work.
4. What other questions should I/we be asking here?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your replies,

A

My business is contract tolling (chemicals, not beer) so I'd naturally disagree with posters about not using a contract manufacturer to help you off the ground.

We must have helped dozens and dozens of fledgling outfits over the years that come to us with nothing but a brand and a need to get a leg in the door with some initial product. Why would anyone spend £50k or £500k on all the gear when you are not even sure if you will have a single customer? When you could drop a few £k at low risk and test the concept. If you get a hit and some money in then you bring it in-house.... I am a toller and I even use other tollers to do this for new products where I would need significant CAPEX investment...so I outsource an outsourced contract in effect. When I know it is profitable and the business is there I then spend the money. I just sacrifice short term margin to de-risk the investment.

Also the advice about partners wasn't "negative", it is the single best heads up you can get from people that have been there and done it. More important than everything else on here. I would not personally work with family or friends for all the money in the world and I genuinely mean that. I am lucky to have had great business partners (non-related and not friends) who I have generally got on well with but even then the strains have been massive at times. Life is too short for me to mix business with pleasure now. It is just a "go in with your eyes open" thingy.

 

[billybob99]

A friend of mine noticed that a very well know brand of "surface cleaner" that kills 99.99% of germs contains mainly Benzalkonium Chloride - he went and white labeled another companies product that was more or less the same product with the active ingredient of Benzalkonium Chloride for hardly anything.

Makes quite a few bob from that and all the others.

 

[Energise Accounting]

The trouble is the real ale drinkers are a small part of the market.Another problem you will face is there are 100's of micro breweries around now, most end up supplying wetherspoons.

If you can come up with a excellent product and get your name out there you will have a good chance. You will want to try and sell into supermarkets, pubs etc.

To make money in brewing you have to get upto quite a large scale production.

 

[CVRO]

Starting now may actually give you an advantage over established micro and small breweries as you can start by avoiding costs that others are already saddled with.

In terms of starting by contracting others to produce your beers, read about how Innocent Drinks started out. It's a similar story as far as I can remember.

Just to add to what others have said, draw up the shareholders agreement now. Whether things work out or not, you will need it at some point and, in either case, you will likely regret not having done it while starting up.

 

[Bethen]

Unfortunately this will be the start of the end of your friendship with your mates.

Business is hard, gritty, tiring and most fail. I love the business of business and the excitement, buzz and ultimate success it ‘can’ bring. This is the stage your at now which is addictive and fun and is feeding you right now.

NEVER get into business with your mates or family - will end in tears.

I think it’s a great idea and you seem to have the perfect mix of skills between the three of you to start this thing BUT you need to clearly define roles and contracts from the start as before long owner number 1 who has been working on this all weekend and plotting/planning/thinking/stressing wonders why owner number 2 has been fishing and then spouts off to number 3 about it. I know your reading this all excited inside saying ‘no no this won’t happen to us we are all really good friends’ etc but it will.

I totally agree with this, starting a business with friends is very dangerous and most such business fail, or at least one of the owners quit, while you might think that all your ideas are the same eventually you will start to notice the difference between work and friendship. Some may not like the way one of you does work, perhaps the time management or the way your perspective is on some ideas. People are different when you are just hanging out with them and when they are working.

It's a good idea to start such a business, you will need to consider all the marketing plan, prepare a website, analyze your company's structure and such though.

 

[Gill Courage]

I'll second most of what has been said about getting a written partners agreement now. Before you spend any time or money. Make sure it has clear exit provisions to cater for any one of you wanting out - for any reason.
Something else not mentioned is to have one person responsible for finance and accounts. It really helps to know exactly where you are at any given time and "down and dirty" with the tax and reporting requirements. It ain't glam and it ain't always popular, but somebody has to be there demanding receipts, invoices and paperwork! I've done it in the family business for three decades and I know it to be true.
Apart from that, beer is always popular and a mix of good quality, good price and a good story is a great start. Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Brewery 1 - Been going the longest, 20+ years. Traditional beers,

Not very long then.

Try http://www.spingoales.com/

Today is Flora Day in Helston and the Blue is where I would be if not for the lockdown.

 

[Digital-Marketeer]

It might not be such a bad time to start a brewery, but many are going to crash and burn soon. If you have capital -ideas - drive best look for someone about to burn. Be hard headed what you can bring to it that will turn it round and you almost certainly have leverage. If nothing else you can get equipment - premises cheap. It's all going to be a very different business world as we come out of this.
Branding is expensive and only for those who have been around for a while (or the capital - track record to suggest they will.) Let's face it there's a lot of "Dragon Slayer" etc out there.

 

[Ofo]

From a professional graphic designer's point of view, I'd say branding is key especially with the logo and campaign quality, being that there's a huge online presence at the moment and a need to chill(with a cool beer) from the confinement stress.

 

[fisicx]

I'd say branding is key especially with the logo ....

I get all sorts of craft beer delivered. Looking in the fridge right now and none of them have a logo. They all have funky labels - but no logo.

 

[Ofo]

I get all sorts of craft beer delivered. Looking in the fridge right now and none of them have a logo. They all have funky labels - but no logo.

If you knew what logo design is all about in the first place, you'll know the label is it.

 

[fisicx]

No. The label on one has a picture of a mountain. The beer is called Everest. The brewer is neither. They have their name at the bottom of the label. Another beer from the same brewery has a totally different label.

I know what a logo is. These ain’t one.

 

[BMX90]

Hows it going?

 

[Tom321]

Even more mad if you do it in 2026! Hard grafting and working hours below minimum wage is how you start up now. Getting the kit is easy but the planning progress can take an age. Suggest to start brewing on a cheap homebrew kit before looking to scale up. Sort yourself out a nano-micro scale brewery system that will get you brewing and producing commercially before you take the financial plunge with a bigger system.

 

[AndrewHamilton]

Hi Tom

If you need distribution transport we handle urgent deliveries for SMEs across the UK — if anyone needs advice about logistics, I’m happy to help.

 

[fisicx]

It’s been 6 years since the question was asked so I suspect the brewery is either going strong or has run out of beer.

 

[AndrewHamilton]

Fair point; I truly hope it's the latter far too many companies ran aground during COVID it would be nice to see somebody made it through

 

[Lisa Thomas]

Probably time to freeze this post @Ozzy

 

[Fruzia]

Even more mad if you do it in 2026! Hard grafting and working hours below minimum wage is how you start up now. Getting the kit is easy but the planning progress can take an age. Suggest to start brewing on a cheap homebrew kit before looking to scale up. Sort yourself out a nano-micro scale brewery system that will get you brewing and producing commercially before you take the financial plunge with a bigger system.

That’s a really good point. Starting small and testing things out first seems like the smartest way to avoid unnecessary risk, especially with how unpredictable costs can be right now.