Hello all, working on the final stages of a business plan for a micro/nano on a remote island in Lake Michigan. We currently have about 600 year-round residents, but the tourist/summer residents/vacation home numbers are much larger.
Aside from having a hard time estimating the numbers of customers we'd be likely to have in various seasons, the other challenge is sizing the system so that we have enough capacity in the summer without having to idle the equipment too much in the off season.
That said, the island currently has five bars, only two of which are currently open year-round. One of the seasonal ones is a bar only, but the others are all restaurants with bars. We would initially be opening as a brewery with a taproom, with the possibility of becoming a brewpub at some point.
Oh, and one other thing, two of the bars are adjacent to each other and operated under the same liquor license, because the liquor license for one was transferable and got sold off the island decades ago. Not only that, but the owner of those two also owns two of the others, which means that, yes, out of five bars in town, four are under the same ownership and management. (He partnered with the owners of one to keep it from going under, and ended up taking over when they wanted out. His most recent acquisition was purchased when the owners were contemplating closing because their attempts to sell the successful business had failed. So his monopoly may not be as nefarious as it looks, but it is nearly complete, and a lot of folks would like to see more options and more competition.)
That said, I have investors who are very interested in the project. My question for the moment is actually about competition. Obviously we'll be in competition with the other establishments. While I'd like to have my beer on tap in all five bars, I'd rather have folks come to the taproom than buy it from someone else, all things being equal. So here is my idea: what about offering to develop a signature beer for each of those local accounts? So they get to choose a style of beer, name it, and have it on tap exclusively at their establishment. We wouldn't sell any of those in the taproom, and we wouldn't offer any of our main beers to those establishments. In my mind, that gets our brand out there while allowing each establishment to have something distinctive and locally brewed without cutting into our taproom sales of our main beers. I know keeping up with production, storage, and distribution of particular beers would be a bit of a headache, but as this is really the only distribution we'd be doing initially, it seems like a good way to balance collaboration and competition for the betterment of the island economy as a whole.
Anyone have experience with custom or exclusive beers? It isn't really contract brewing, but kind of like it. The contract would be interesting, I'm sure. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Aside from having a hard time estimating the numbers of customers we'd be likely to have in various seasons, the other challenge is sizing the system so that we have enough capacity in the summer without having to idle the equipment too much in the off season.
That said, the island currently has five bars, only two of which are currently open year-round. One of the seasonal ones is a bar only, but the others are all restaurants with bars. We would initially be opening as a brewery with a taproom, with the possibility of becoming a brewpub at some point.
Oh, and one other thing, two of the bars are adjacent to each other and operated under the same liquor license, because the liquor license for one was transferable and got sold off the island decades ago. Not only that, but the owner of those two also owns two of the others, which means that, yes, out of five bars in town, four are under the same ownership and management. (He partnered with the owners of one to keep it from going under, and ended up taking over when they wanted out. His most recent acquisition was purchased when the owners were contemplating closing because their attempts to sell the successful business had failed. So his monopoly may not be as nefarious as it looks, but it is nearly complete, and a lot of folks would like to see more options and more competition.)
That said, I have investors who are very interested in the project. My question for the moment is actually about competition. Obviously we'll be in competition with the other establishments. While I'd like to have my beer on tap in all five bars, I'd rather have folks come to the taproom than buy it from someone else, all things being equal. So here is my idea: what about offering to develop a signature beer for each of those local accounts? So they get to choose a style of beer, name it, and have it on tap exclusively at their establishment. We wouldn't sell any of those in the taproom, and we wouldn't offer any of our main beers to those establishments. In my mind, that gets our brand out there while allowing each establishment to have something distinctive and locally brewed without cutting into our taproom sales of our main beers. I know keeping up with production, storage, and distribution of particular beers would be a bit of a headache, but as this is really the only distribution we'd be doing initially, it seems like a good way to balance collaboration and competition for the betterment of the island economy as a whole.
Anyone have experience with custom or exclusive beers? It isn't really contract brewing, but kind of like it. The contract would be interesting, I'm sure. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Comment