Business goals key to micro-brewing success

Scotland’s microbrewing industry is flourishing and is an industry with barrel loads of passion!

It is a friendly community known for helping other brewers, especially in terms of advice and second-hand equipment.

However, it is important to understand the competition to make sure you have a key differentiating factor.

You can do research online, but attending food and drink fairs and markets is useful and great for making connections with others in the industry.

It’s also important to set yourself some short and longterm goals – even if they are basic to begin with – and pin them up next to where you work.

If you can, find yourself a business mentor or someone who will be supportive and encouraging. Once you’ve done your research, the best place to start is with a business plan.

Although it can be challenging and time consuming, it’s important to get the fundamentals right from the start.

You can and should revisit your plan, but it will give you a great foundation to build on.

It’s also a useful tool when seeking investment.

You’ll need to identify who your ideal customer would be. Think of them as a person. Who are they? How old are they? What’s their background? How much do they earn? What kind of job do they have? What do they like to do in their spare time? How often do they eat and drink out and where do they go? How much time do they spend on social media and what platforms do they use?

Identifying your ideal customer from the outset means you can factor their preferences in to your marketing strategies.

It’s also worth considering the location of your production facilities, particularly in relation to the competition.

There could be other microbreweries in your area, that are using the location as a unique selling point which may or may not impact on your brand.

Also, initial set up costs can vary depending on the space you use for production.

You also have the cost of ingredients, bottling and packaging and the transporting of your product to market.

Funding is available in the form of small business loans and grants from Scottish Enterprise and Business Gateway.

To begin with you may be selling direct to consumers from a website and you might not be selling very much.

Therefore, you should try to sell to other businesses your target audience would visit.

You may also want to target retailers and wholesalers.

Membership organisations like Scotland Food & Drink facilitate “Meet the Buyer” events, which are great for putting you in touch with buyers you might otherwise find difficult to meet.

Branding is particularly important in the brewing sector and it’s not just about the name or the logo, it’s about the mythology, the story behind the product.

Finally, but most importantly, manage cashflow.

Cash is king for any business but this is particularly true in a new business.

To begin with, using an Excel spreadsheet to monitor your income and outgoings is fine.

But as you grow and your production shifts from being a hobby business to a key source of income, you might want to consider a cloud based accountancy package.