Hope you had a good week. I am sensing that my explanation of the Long Game was a bit rushed and murky last week. To clarify, Tom MIller, our COO, sent me this video which should clear up any confusion. (Please Watch) Hilarious, I know. The saddest part is, it basically sums up how 80% of the brewing industry operates. […]
The Long Game Taproom Read More »
Since returning from CBC, I have been fielding 5 new discovery calls a week from breweries wanting to learn more about what we do. I stopped counting after the 6 week mark, but they keep coming. On the surface, it appears live speaking events are an excellent lead generation tool. Signaling roadshow? I have shown up to every one
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I want to talk about case equivalents. Let’s start off with a definition of CE. CE is case equivalent, and this is the language of distributors. Start introducing this verbiage in sales meetings. And to quote our friend Kary Shumway: “The case equivalent, or CE, is a standard unit of measure for a beer wholesaler.
I must admit a rather large mistake I have made on my entrepreneurial journey. It has to do with hiring. More specifically my methodology on hiring. Or better yet, my old methodology. Being the astute bean counter and tax stallion that I am, I thought I needed to surround myself with other astute stallions to
Well folks, It’s that time of the year again when we start planning for… Tax time! Arguably everyone’s favorite time of the year. Said no one, ever. Pardon the sarcasm. This will be the only tax post for the year, so bear with me. The stance I take on taxes is, it is a form
Obligatory Tax Post Read More »
“I’d be hard pressed if you work with another brewery with our same business plan.” “I’m curious how many breweries you work that have the same structure as us, I bet not many.” “We are unique.” MODEST ANNOUNCEMENT: When it comes to the business of your brewery, YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL. Hard pill to swallow?
True story. I was in a Quarterly Huddle* with Rob and Rita last week when I noticed something interesting. They sell, on average, around $27k in merchandise a month. Yep, you read that correctly, $27,000 in merchandise per month. Important note: No online sales, no DTC… this is merchandise sold out of a single location.
Create Your Ecosystem Read More »
As you know I frequently talk about making decisions based on numbers. I strongly believe in this philosophy for a business to thrive and grow. The alternative to making decisions based on numbers is making decisions based on emotions, or gut feeling. The problem with making decisions based on emotions is that when we access
What If You Do Nothing? Read More »
This week I am in Sheridan, Wyoming attending the WYO Brewers Summit. So happy that we are meeting in person again. I was invited to speak at the two day conference and my talk is polished, ready to offend everyone in the room at least once. My wife reminds me all the time that my
Cheers to 11 years! Last Friday SBS turned 11. Wow, it’s been 11 years of helping breweries and distilleries. Another cool thing happened last week, I got to talk about margin versus markup. Before I talk about the differences between the two, let’s talk about YOUR gross margin in wholesale. Do you know what your