Starting a Craft Beer Store

Talk to people who have opened them elsewhere like the Folks at Four Firkins: http://thefourfirkins.com/

 

Don't do it, wrk at my families liquor store here in CT. The hours are ridiculous(can't trsut people nowadays in a cash business). The profits aren't all that great. I don't know Ohio laws but CT keeps getting worse. The only perk is you get first shot at trying all the beer. My suggestion for what it's worth is try working at one first an see how it is behind the scenes. Then if you still wanna do it Good Luck I hope you succeed

 

Good luck, follow your dream. I hope it works out for you

 

Be ethical. Word will spread quickly if you're not. Just because you sell Heady illegally doesn't mean people will like you.

 

If you are going to specialize in craft beer, and be something special, you need to figure out if you want to be the type of shop that has massive selection of lots of hard to find stuff that other stores in the area don't get, or be one of those small eclectic bottle stores that has a very small selection, but what you do sell is only the really good higher end side of craft beers. Depending on where you are in Ohio, if your in a small town, and you are first craft centric store in town, you could get away with a little more flexibility though.

 

Offer a variety of fresh beer at fair prices.

 

Just because you are passionate about craft beer, take a look around. If there aren't any/many available options in your area perhaps it's because there aren't many others around as passionate as your are. If that's the case, you'll need to spread the word. If you're in macro country, good luck with that.

 

How's your distro? If your distro sucks, a store of your own won't fix it

 

If you have the drive and passion, I'd say go for it.

 

My first piece of advice would be move somewhere that doesn't have a 12% abv cap

 

First step: Research the laws of your town/state. Laws vary wildly so much by state that people from outside your state will have a hard time giving you advice on this. In a state with crappy distro, beer in supermarkets, and no growlers, you'd have a tough time setting yourself apart. If there's a good store somewhere in state but a little farther away, ask them about challenges they've conquered or continue to face. If there aren't a lot of good stores near you, there might be a reason, but maybe also an opportunity.

In general, margin on beer isn't actually that high, so it's probably a tougher hill to climb than you'd think to be an all-craft store without things like taps, growler filling, etc (which may or may be legal in your area).

 

I think you should go for it. I assume you're young so you don't have any mouths to feed other than your own. I know you know how to eat Ramen Noodles. You're passionate about beer. They'll be lots of hours, lots of headaches, lots of debt, lots of problems, and not a lot of free time.
However, the knowledge you'll gain will be something nobody can take away from you. You'll meet lots of great people through networking in the industry who could, if need be, provide you employment if your business ends up folding. But if you're business succeeds you'll end up having balls so big you'll need a dump truck to carry them while you'll walk. Do your due diligence, get a good accountant( the good ones are worth every penny), and get ready for one hell of a ride.
Do it. Fuck the naysayers, they're scared and afraid of failure. Failure is a great learning tool and motivator.