Agenda for 8/1 MOTM

This month we've scheduled the naming of the business as one of the tasks, so I thought that would be a good thing to focus on for the meeting tomorrow. What else would you like to cover?

I guess we can keep it kinda informal, if that sounds good to everyone.
It would be good to talk about mentors too and to re-examine the scope of the pub side of the business.

Robin-could you please bring my sunglasses with you to the meeting?

SMSA

When we put the final stamp on the size and focus of our brewery or brewpub we will need to find a statistical market survey area. All we need to do is look into the geographic area (population density and transport cost) demographics of the area (ideally middle income 30-50 year old, but according to Siemens craft beer does well in the 25-30 range as well) exposure and access (including parking, street lights, traffic lights, safety of the neighborhood).

That's it. Then we give it a fancy name and an official abbreviation and call it jargon for the books.

Random Ideas

Some Ideas:

guide to brewing in the menu (upscale) or on the placemat (dive) or part of the table.

sampler set including a range of 5oz beers and information on each beer

looking professional- embroidered logo on sweater vests or whatever you want to wear

employee training manual- include a good degree of knowledge about how the brewery works and beer in general for the front of house

guided tours- given by brewery staff and bartenders

windows looking into the brewery (it would be cute to put up zoo signs, "don't feed the brewers" "Homo sapiens breweri: a vicious and wild creature know to erupt with rage when subjected to poor beer"

rootbeer- for the lunch crowd and the nondrinkers

workmans comp- costs

Scale of the Pub Area

I am still a little unclear about how much focus we wanted to put on the restaurant side of the brewery.

What are our hours of operation?
Lunch specials? (about 50% of people order beer during lunch at a brewpub)
Are we keeping the size the same as we decided previously?
What is easier to raise capital for? How much more will we need?
Different licensing and insurance cost?
How much of our sales will come from food?
What competition will we have?
Where will we locate? Will the costs change?
Would we pull in groups and clubs?

Jobs and Responsibilities

Along the lines of defining our roles in the business I thought I would jot down some of the major responsibilities that we will probably need covered for the business. The top list is managerial positions, probably to be filled by us. The bottom list are positions that may be filled by us, but will most likely be hired hands. The third list is of responsibilities that didn't fit in any one category.
I don't mean to supersede Leigh Anne's titles, I just don't feel like looking them up.

Pub Manager - on site sales, bar, food, HR
Sales Manager - sales to retailers, distributors
Head Brewer - direct brewing staff, QC, create recipes
Brewery Manager - off site sale distribution, production, HR
Accounts Manager - accounts payable and receivable, payroll, etc., HR

Bartender - 1 or 2 depending on available hours
Wait Staff - probably 2 or 3 to start, in shifts
Assistant Brewer - probably 2
Cook - 1 or 2 depending on available hours
Office Assistant - maybe not right away, depends on paperwork

Marketing - likely done by everyone
Cleaning - maybe done by everyone, may need to hire someone
Hiring/ Firing - likely done by person in charge of position with input from group.

Name Ideas

Some more name ideas:

High Desert
Big Sky
Verde
Jumping Bean
5 Caballeros
Backlot

Meeting of the Minds

Is Saturday a good day for the meeting? What time would work for everyone?

Agenda for 7/25 Meeting

Agenda For 7/25 Meeting

• Review of last meeting
• Discuss the time line
• Develop job guidelines and descriptions
• Discuss distribution
• Continue working on a name
• Pooling research and references
• Finding mentors
  
• Pick time and date for next meeting
  

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Timeline

This is my optimistic view of the timeline:

Pick a name - 1 month
look into legal services - 1 months
Decide on business entity - 1 month

Get business license - 2 months
Get federal EIN - 2 months
Delegate Business Plan - 2 months
Trademark name - 2 months

Open Bank Account - 3 months
Join Brewers Association - 3 months
Buy the directory - 3 months
Look into equipment - 3 months
Design label and brand - 3 months (generic) 9 months (individual beers)

Price suppliers and vendors - 4 months
Brew Samples - 4 months
Survey customers - 4 months (initial) 10 months (public)

Determine Operating Costs - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Determine Product price point - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Decide on product - 5 months

Web presence - 6 months
Complete Business Plan - 6 months
Develop marketing plans - 6 months

Distribution plan - 9 months
Design label and brand - 3 months (generic) 9 months (individual beers)

Survey customers - 4 months (initial) 10 months (public)
Determine Operating Costs - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Determine Product price point - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Get Manufacturer's license - 10 months

Food Processors license - future

Brewer's Job Description

I found a great resource that details the job description and hiring criteria for brewers. You should take a look at it Rob and see if you'd like to incorporate any of this when you look for assistants.

Research Material

I've been looking for research material mostly for marketing. I came across this website with tons of links into almost every aspect we need. Take a look.

Oxford Brookes offers some information over the internets too.

As always, BeerInfo has great stuff. Look at the section Brewery Startup.

A short list of essential knowledge from ProBrewer.

Angel Investments

New Mexico Angels > angel investors club
Angel Capital Association> North American club association
Angel Capital Education Foundation> resources for entrepreneurs

Albuquerque Demographics

Business Type, Business Size and General Start-up Info> Gaebler. com

Sales

Beer sales are up 6% for retailer Total Wine & More. (Washington Post)

sales of "below premium" beers -- which account for nearly a quarter of the market -- were up 3.3 percent by volume this year compared to last. Budget beers jumped 4.8 percent. At 7-Eleven, beers sold by the cases of 18 or 24 have been particularly popular

Although consumer demand remains strong, the beer industry is suffering from the high cost of grains and fuel, increasing production and distribution costs. Prices of beer have increased as much as 7 percent in some categories, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen's has lots of other free market info.

Beeronomics

The Motherload! I downloaded the publications for the Beeronomics conference that took place in Belgium this May. Included in the conference:

Beer Markets in Europe and the United States
Beer in Good Times and Bad
Depression Economics and Alcohol Comsumption
National Television and the Market for Local Products
A Simple Hedonistic Model of Beer Pricing in Major Cities around the World
Consumer Level Determinates of Beer Purchases in Canadian Restaurants
Beer Diversity article
...and more

So much good stuff that will help us make some smart decisions.

Local Mentors

I would like to talk to a few people who work in the industry and find a mentor. Do you know anyone or have an idea of who you'd like to talk to?

I think the Rotary Club might be a good place to start for a general business advice. We might be able to contact the Rio Grande Brewing Co owner to see if we could bring him in for questioning. Perhaps the Duke of Ale would recommend and connect us with other local industry leaders.

How about a field trip? We may be able to go to Soccoro Springs and talk to them.

Volcano Brewery

Have you heard of this?

I was looking through the business directory and found a brewery called Volcano Brewery in Rio Rancho. I don't think they are still there, but I'll look into it a bit more.
Hmmmm. Looks like the building is now the Center for Hands on Learning.

Kraus Brewing Services, I called them and left a message asking what they offered.

Pinon Brewing, ABQ Journal piece 250 gallon a month "nanobrewery"

Trinity Beverage Company, I cant find any info on them

Rough Rider Brewing Co., as a blog with only two posts

Rio Grande and Cabezon, a rather grim look at brewing in NM Business (out of business)

Turtle Mountain: I didn't know how many different kinds of brews they have!

Southwest: out of business

db kelly de vargas inc, db brewery: Does anyone know about this? Is this Kelly's? All I found is this profile.

Advantages

What advantages will our products have in it's market?
Half-Keg retail prices: (w/o deposit) Bud Light- $75

"One of the advantages that a small company has over a large company is that the small company can move quickly to develop new products or to capitalize on a new idea. Small brewers have developed many new products that have found niches that large brewes would never be able to exploit. Large brewers are looking for national opportunities-and they must move national bureaucracies to seize those opportunities." (Beer School, pg 103)

Big brewery wholesale traditionally work on a 25 percent margin, but craft brands may bring margins higher than 30 percent. (pg 104)

Incorrect Time on the Calendar!!!!1!

The meeting is scheduled for July 18th, @ 9am. We are meeting at the Flying Star on Juan Tabo. Please let us all know if you have a conflict so we can reschedule.

Distributors

Marble, Santa Fe, Sangre De Cristo (Taos),and Tractor all do their own distribution.

Here is a list distributors in New Mexico:

Premier: Budweiser, Widmer, Hoegaarden
Primo/Mountain West: Sierra Blanca
Maloof: Coors
There isn't a website for Maloof Distributing, but there is a lot on the Maloof family. It's quite interesting.

http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Joe_and_Gavin_Maloof_Bio.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/magazine/15MALOOF.html?ex=1392181200&en=0d600f6c90205f17&amp%3Bei=5007&partner=USERLAND
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2003/07/14/daily4.html

List of NM distributors from the AGD.

Local Solar Companies

Local solar companies:
310 Solar
G.E.W. (think they do solar, but their website is lacking)
Sunergy
Advent Solar
Zomeworks
WindSunNM
AAASolar-has some used

Solmomma
Address: PO Box 1980, Moriarty, New Mexico USA 87035
Telephone: 505-832-2722
Fax: 505-832-5357

Affordable Solar Group, LLC
P.O. Box 12952
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA 87195

Conergy, Inc. Conergy, Inc.
1730 Camino Carlos Rey, Suite 103
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA 87508

New Mexico Solar Energy Association
1009 Bradbury SE
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA 87106

The Solar Biz
HC 61 Box 184
Glenwood, New Mexico USA 88039

Positive Resources
Phone: (505)430-7705
Description: Designer, Dealer, and Installer of Renewable Energy Systems.

Review of 7/2 Meeting

The Beer
Bottle 4 of the most liked, 10 on tap, one is a German style
Yes to producing a lager.
Questions we need to answer:
What are we going to carry?
How will it be produced?
How much of each will be produced?
What advantages do we have in regards to product and production?
Strategy and Good/Evil Alliance
Key terms: Friendly, Environmental, Good Workplace
Business Entity Form
Will discuss with a tax attorney
Time Line
We are going to take a look at the list and try to organize for the 7/18 meeting.
Health Insurance
Way down the road, Robin will be on it when the time comes.
Brainstorming Names
We did! I'll add it to a new post.
Time and Location of Next MOTM
Flying Star on Juan Tabo July 18th @ 9am

Amendment to Agenda: We decided to start with some merchandise, like t-shirts.