Today we’re talking about the old adage, “You are what you eat.”
And if I got to eat exactly what I want all the time…
… I would be a giant, fluffy, glistening egg roll. Chinese takeout happens to be my absolute favorite food.
Now, I think we all know, consuming that stuff all the time is probably not the best choice.
As I get older, that stuff just doesn’t land the way it used to. So I choose, for the majority of the time, to eat home cooked healthy meals.
That means, in the event I want to splurge and get the food that I absolutely love… and is a huugggg in a plate… it doesn’t hurt that bad.
You feel me?
You feel what I’m talking about?
My question to you today is:
What are you consuming at your brewery that’s either good or not so good for you? What lands really well and what doesn’t land well? What’s positive and what’s negative?
See, there is so much content out there these days and there’s so much negativity out there around craft manufacturing, that I’m really asking you to stay with me and find the positivity out there.
I am choosing to stay positive because the alternative is no bueno. Instead, I’m reading content, consuming videos and consuming, information that positively moves the industry forward. And I’m gonna give you three reasons why positivity is a better choice than negativity these days.
In an industry cycle, there are peaks and there are troughs.
Yes. Craft happens to be in a bit of a trough right now. I don’t need to tell you that.
But guess what?
When you get into a trough, the cycle typically has nowhere else to swing but up. So, right now we’re in a normal part of the business cycle where we’re saying to ourselves, “It doesn’t look like it did in 2017/2018.” But even with that, there are a lot of breweries out there doing really good things, in addition to the breweries out there that are struggling at the moment.
This is completely normal.
Trust the industry cycle, trust the consumer. Eventually, this will swing back up.
Craft manufacturers are just resilient humans.
During COVID, you pivoted in so many ways to get your product into the packaging that customers wanted. You did so many creative things to stay open and to stay profitable. And that speaks to your resilience as craft business owners.
It’s this resilience that is going to get you through this trough to the next upswing.
And you’re just going to be okay.
The third and final reason why I implore you to stay positive: The universe is speaking to craft right now.
The universe is speaking to craft and it’s saying, “Yeah, we understand this is a slower time. What you need to do right now is gather your troops, get your processes and numbers in order, and take advantage of what you’re experiencing, so then at the next upswing, everything is on point and you just take off from there.”
So… the universe is talking to you.
It may sound froo-froo, but it really isn’t. Just feel me out on this.
This is the time that you want to work on processes, leadership, team, numbers, and dial in everything so when the next upswing happens, you’re just rocking and rolling.
So to recap, the three reasons we should stay positive: industry cycles, resilience, and being given time to organize and prepare.
We should be consuming content around these three items, so we can usher our team through the slower period to the next upswing.
And remember:
If you continue to consume the negativity, it’s going to show up with your team, and eventually bleed into the customer experience.
If you bring the positivity, if you bring the heat, the same thing’s going to happen, but in the opposite direction:
You’re going to feel lit, your team is going to feel it, and your customers will feel it too.
Have a great week.
I’ll talk to you soon.
-cf