Starting up a brewery on a budget

"Pinch pennies" quoted from Sam Calagione.

 

Hey, not much experience or money? Don't look any farther than Not Your Father's Root Beer for quick returns.

 

how big are you planning?
what is your target budget?
targeted sq. footage?
number of employees?

 

See if you can get a job in the business to gain some experience. It's great to have a goal. Save your nickels and dimes, running out of money can be a killer.

 

Not that I am a businessman, but if you are reaching out to the masses on BA for business advice, however knowledgeable we may collectively be, I think you should not bet your money against your business acumen. Not to rain on your parade, but this is a competitive, increasingly over-saturated market you are rather sheepishly entering. I second the idea about getting jobs in the field first, opening your own place second. If you are really gung-ho on being your own bosses from the get-go, pay an expert for real, experienced, professional business advice and go from that. $10K is so damn low. Investors would help. Maybe go on shark tank? I don't want to crush dreams, but I don't want you to go broke when a bunch of late night buzzed non-business-savvy beer enthusiasts tell you to "Go for it!!"

Feel free to quote me as one of the early naysayers when you are raking in the dough on your beer empire.

 

7bbl @ $10k budget seems way way way way too low. 1 used Ferment vessel could run you 20%-50%+ your budget. and $15K for your brewhouse (used). Unless you get lucky and can snag a system for a defunct brewpub on the cheap.
you might wanna do the math again on that budget.
This might help. Once you have that number. Once you have the build-out cost then shoot for 30% of that as working capital.

 

I have a friend that raised money by having investors. There are lots of people who have some money and want to say they own part of a brewery. As long as you open with little to no debt and are willing to work hard it's hard to lose money.

 

If you build your own brewhouse, maybe with used 9 barrel stainless milk or syrup tanks, and do all your fermenting in plastic ethanol fermenters, build your own walk in, build your own keg cleaner and fill system, build your own malt grinding room and auger, and manage to secure enough good hops to make popular styles of beer, 10k is gonna leave you wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy short, as you need to plan not to make any money for the first year. Because chances are you won't.

We figured if we did the above we still would need minimum 75K to have chance of success (sadly we didn't get funded).

The old saying is so true. "Wanna make a small fortune in brewing? Invest a big fortune."

 

Another Im going to open a brewery or craft beer bar thread

 

Has he written your business plan yet?

 

I think you're on the right track saying you want to get jobs to fund this idea first. This is an industry where new breweries are a dime a dozen and even if you set yourself apart immediately by making incredible beers, you have to be able to ride out the first year or so until you get far enough beyond break-even that you can actually not only sustain the brewery on the income, but sustain yourself at the lifestyle level you want, PLUS have the overhead capital to deal with any unknowns that may come up.

To me, graduating, getting a good job and practicing on homebrew in the interim is probably your best bet, so you can hone your skills and build the capital you need, plus have the security of a stable career in the event you can't get it off the ground on your first try.

 

Guy earlier in the year posted he opened a brewery in Kentucky or Tennessee For a bout 20-25 grand. Start small. In Ct i believe you can sell directly to consumers are farmers markets once you have a license. Good way to get your name around without spending a ton of money. But in reality, without a solid amount of cash to weather a slow start (1-3 years), it could be rough

Good luck

 

Cool to have goals and dreams but from the info you provide it sounds like it's way too early for you. Opening a business on a tight budget is always risky, specially if you have zero previous experience running one. Unexpected costs will come and chew that budget in a bit. Good luck but don't rush it. Keep homebrewing for a few years, go to homebrewing clubs to share and get feedback on your product, and watch a lot of Shark Tank.

 

Used equipment is as expensive as new, or almost. Why? You can get it delivered quickly and start brewing. New equipment has a looonnnng waiting time as the suppliers a booked with new orders.

Edit - you could open with a small system <3bbl, work like crazy, then have proof of concept to get a loan so that you can get the 7 bbl. Many don't recommend that once they have gone down that road.

 

I have a recommended business decision. Once you make beer, if you have a beer that is not up to snuff, no matter how hard it is to throw out a batch, dont serve it. Only serve beer that is on par with what you plan on making the entire time. One bad batch can turn away return customers really easy.

 

Some local guys just pulled in $40K from a Kickstarter campaign. Prior to that they had done a lot of home brewing and going to beer fests handing out samples. As you're learning get a brewery name and get it out there on social media so when you do try to raise money the community will have heard of you.

 

Make inquiries with brewers associations.