THIS MAN WANTS TO BEER YOUR VALENTINE
A GOLD Coast company is looking to tap a gap in the lucrative Valentine’s Day market — bouquets for blokes.
From his Broadbeach Waters base, Ryan Touliatos runs Brewquets — a start-up which delivers bunches of Aussie craft beer as gifts.
Mr Touliatos, 23, bought the business when it was two weeks old as a side venture to a consignment company, Upstitch, which he was running with business partners in Sydney. He has since sold out of Upstitch to focus on Brewquets, which has been delivering the frothy goods since 2016.
“Myself and my former business partner like beer, we drink beer, and we thought we could grow this early business,” he said.
“We’ve tried doing champagne and wine, targeting the female market, but a few things went wrong — the price point and demographic.”
The endeavour last year managed $10,000-$15,000/ month in revenue, increasing to $25,000/month in peak periods like Christmas and Father’s Day.
A key challenge has been marketing a product for men to buyers who are mostly women, Mr Touliatos said.
“On our Instagram for example, we’re not posting pleasant photos — it’s all beer-related, but it’s not guys buying the beer,” he said.
The company copped some flak last year from beerloving women complaining that they too would like someone to send them beer instead of flowers. Mr Touliatos said he responded by changing the marketing to suit — but it simply didn't work, so they went back to what did.
He said men were often neglected in the jewelleryflowers mushy marketing bonanza of Valentine’s Day — and that meant an underserviced market.
“There is an untapped opportunity for guys to get gifts too,” he said.
The company offers sameday delivery in central Sydney, as well as areas of Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Finding distributors was the hardest part — there’s a stay-at-home mum taking care of the Melbourne operation; a florist working it in Brisbane; and an existing delivery business working in Sydney. Mr Touliatos does the Gold Coast deliveries himself.
While the business began in Sydney, Mr Touliatos has moved it back to his home town on the Gold Coast as it expands.
“I have the Australian side of the business pretty much where I want it, but my next option is scaling it to London and also to New Zealand, where I have people,” he said.