How many employees do i need?

[zachj9292]

I plan on having a twenty bbl system. We are doing keg sales only for the first few years.

Year one- i am only selling 1000 barrels and have two employees not counting myself (a head brewer and a laborer/assistant brewer)

Year two - we are selling 2500 barrels and I will add a sales manager to the family.

Think I need more in the second year? I have a feeling I do

[william.heinric]

If you could hire somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 people, the economy would really appreciate it...

In all seriousness, what's your role in this escapade? And how much do you want to earn/sleep? Also, consider your equipment and how long it would take to fill a keg, clean a tank, sell to customers (either retail or wholesale): you start to get the idea.

Bill

[zachj9292]

I plan on being involved in the brewhouse, but I will also be playing the role of
sales manager for the first year.

I am thinking of just hiring one more laborer. So that will be four employees total not counting myself.

[ArmstrongBrew]

Check out this link: http://jvnw.com/Industries/BeerTanks.html

I agree with Bill that you should really look at analyzing the different steps and see where you need your headcount.

But, these numbers can give a baseline. I'm not sure if they are including sales in this or not, but I would think no.

Nick

[russdog63]

The JV Northwest numbers sound about right. In my own personal experience using a ten barrel system 700 to 800 barrels was the rate where I needed a second person and about 1400 barrels to starting adding more help. It could vary according to different brewery setups. Bigger brewhouse helps in efficiency. Other things bottling, packaging add to the labor. We sell a lot of beer in beer in party pigs and that is labor intensive.

You may average 1000 bbls in your first but you may start out at a rate of 500 bbls/year and end at a rate of 1500 bbls/year. Definitely you need two people to start out with. Head brewer full time and an assistant that needs to be trained to be able to do almost everything the head brewer can do to cover for vacations and possible sick leave. You may not need that second person full time at first and if the head brewer utilizes the assistant's time and productivity properly you will get a feel for the extra hours needed for your growth. You will be able to see how that second person's part time job grows into a full time job. Once you see that happen you will have a very good feel for when to hire more help. If your growth rate is as planned you will need to aniticipate ahead of the curve and react fast. As you add more help train them in many aspects of the brewing process and they will be more helpful in the growth process.

[Natrat]

With a 20 bbl system and no bottling, you should be able to meet 5000 bbl with 3 people. 4 would be more comfortable. Are you brewing into 20's or 40's? If your day is only one brew, then I'd say the floor could be handled by one person.

Packaging will add people, fast.

Am I skewed?

[uptown brothers]

I think he's gonna need more people in outside sales than he has inside the brewery, to sell 1000 bbl of draft beer to bar owners who don't yet know who he is, in year one.

But I don't know what market he's in or whether he has a preexisting reputation and connections within the distributorship and on-premise world, wherever he is, so apologies if I mis-assumed. Maybe he has a hundred draft accounts just waiting for him to throw his doors open, or a good start on a hundred. And anyhoo I guess that wasn't his question...

[zachj9292]

I do not have any existing accounts with anyone whatsoever. I am in a market where there is literally no local brewery within the area where i plan to distribute. But there is somewhat of a beer culture in some areas.

[zachj9292]

Also, the day will only be one brew for a long time. And I have not met with the distributor or anything. I don't plan on doing that until i have finished my business plan.

[Dailybeer]

If you look at every post about new breweries, new businesses, brewery expansion, you will see one theme: double the time, double the cost.
So I suggest, you should plan on six employees. If that does not meet your plan: hold off, find more cash, until you can pay all six from brew day one.
Now laugh.
But realize, I am closer to right than you are.
Double your cost estimates, half your sales estimates: if it is still profitable do it; if not, then re-do the plan.
Now stop laughing.
Sorry.