In the modern world, many people are looking to turn their hobbies into careers. With over half of millennials saying they want to start a business and avoid traditional employment, more people than ever are looking to the things that they enjoy, and feel passionate about for career inspiration and guidance, instead of looking at the subjects that they were good at in school. Fortunately, starting your own business is easier than it’s ever been before. You can use the internet to market your firm, design your own logos, write business plans and more. If you need help, you can hire freelancers instead of having to shell out on full-time staff.
This, along with a hipster trend for craft beers and ales (and a tax break!), goes some way to explaining the growth of the microbrewery industry. Most cities and towns have at least one microbrewery, selling directly to the public with a bar and shop, as well as to other pubs and bars in the area. They’re trendy.
Learn Your Trade
A love of craft beer isn’t enough to create a profitable business. You need to learn the trade first, and this can take years. Most people follow one of two routes. Either starting a homebrew, practising and growing as your skills develop and your beer starts to taste better. Or, starting as an apprentice or employee with a brewery. Both are great ways to learn and to make valuable contacts for your own business.
Get Your Equipment Right
A lot of the businesses that people are starting nowadays don’t need anything more than a computer and internet access. Brewing isn’t one of them. Building a brewery, even a small one, means finding a lot of equipment. You’ll need to find the right Hose Manufacturers, kegs, kettles, bottle and canning equipment, tanks, fermentation tanks and filters, refrigeration equipment, boilers, labeling machines, taps and handles, waste treatment and more. You can buy a lot of it second hand to get started, but make sure you see before you buy.
Prepare to Invest
All that equipment is going to cost money. Even second hand, it won’t come cheap, and your business might take a while to become profitable. So, be prepared to invest, or to find investors. A microbrewery isn’t something that you can do without start-up cash.
Market, Market and Market
There are thousands of microbreweries out there. This is good. It means they are fashionable and on trend. But it’s also bad because there’s a lot of competition, both from other microbreweries and large chains offering cheap beer. So, great as your product might be, you need to market.
Microbreweries appeal to a young audience, so social media and influencer marketing are your friends. Set up profiles, run contests, get bloggers in to do reviews and get the word out as much as possible.
Try Different Income Streams
Many microbreweries fail because they try to do everything and focus on nothing. But, at the same time, to do well early on, you need to be making money from several streams. So, it’s all about balance. Try things, drop them if they don’t work and focus on what does. You might want to try selling to chains and stores, getting your product into hotels, or serving food in your own bar.
- This post has been written for Morning Business Chat by an outside source
