The success of a craft brewery depends as much on the quality of the business plan as it does the quality of the beer.
With more than 1.2 million homebrewers in the United States and millions of craft beer drinkers, the business of craft brewing has been growing rapidly, but brewing beer and the business of beer are not the same. Now, interested beer entrepreneurs have an opportunity to learn how to craft a business plan for their beer vision guided by experts in business planning and brewing.
Echo Chamber Consulting will be holding a “How to Start a Craft Brewery” workshop on Sept. 14 – 16 in the beer mecca of Asheville, N.C. The two-and-a-half day course will cover strategy, market analysis, financial projections and all the components of an effective business plan. Plan to come out early and immerse yourself in the 18 breweries in the Asheville area, then learn how to create your own business plan for your craft brewery venture.
“We help students figure out that what they don’t know, they don’t know. We see strategies completely change as they start to see the reality of their market.” said Leo Sharkey, principal with Echo Chamber Consulting.
The workshop will focus on the business of beer, not the mechanics of brewing. This highly interactive course will take you through the planning and strategy that will best fit your market and goals. Participants will receive paper and electronic copies of business plan components, including a financial projection model to modify for their plan.
“In our last workshop, we had expert and novice homebrewers, people with no brewing experience, even a student who doesn’t like beer but was interested in the business.” said Roger Woods, a principal with Echo Chamber Consulting.
The workshop will start on Sunday morning, allowing participants Friday and Saturday to explore all the beer culture that Asheville has to offer. On Saturday, Echo Chamber is partnering with Brew-Ed to offer a tour of breweries with Cliff Mori, Certified Cicerone. Monday night, Echo Chamber will be hosting a dinner and tour at Hi-Wire Brewing, a chance to see a working brewery and sample their excellent beers.
Be sure to check out the Echo Chamber Consulting website for registration details.
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