Journal

I Love It When A Business Plan Comes Together

2012-02-04T13:34:01Z

Just like Hannibal from the A-Team, my plans always work out in the end, just never the way I originally intended. And one of those plans that I know will end up working in the end is my business plan. For someone that does not come from a business background, the business plan can be a bit of a daunting task. After looking over page after page after page of financial projections, balance sheets and income statements, my head begins to spin and I worry that maybe this plan wont come together. Of course then I play Mr. T in my head saying "I pity the fool who doesn't let a business plan come together" (Yes I know that is from Rocky and not the A-Team, just go with it.)

So where do I go from here, how do I get this all important document started? I need to get this business plan together and if you have ever written any type of paper you realize that starting is the hardest part. So after scouring the internet and the bookshelves, i have come away with a muse, and his name is Guy Kawasaki. I originally picked up Guy's book, The Art of the Start, and have since started following his blog, "How Change the World, a practial blog for impractical people". Hey, that's me!

So what is the allure of guys advice, over the multitude of shouting voices and blowhards in the business world that have also written books and blogs and whatnots? Simplicity. Now if you know me, you know that keeping things simple is not always my forte. But if I am to create a business plan and succesfully pitch that to investors, whether they are a bank, family and friends, or some guy walking down the street, things need to be simplified.

Guy comes from a tech background, having worked at Apple, being a founding partner of Garage Technology Ventures and started the site Alltop, a massive aggregator of stories from around the web, but I believe that his advice can easily extend into the brewing world. In the Art of the Start, his first piece of advice is to "Make Meaning"

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning --- to create a product or service that makes the world a better place.

And that is what I want to do and every other craft brewer is doing right now, we are making our own little world of beer a better place.

From the pitch, to the plan, to projections, Guy's ability to simplify what needs to be done and how to do it, is not only helping me get this arduous task done, but overall it is going to be a better plan to boot. I love it when a business plan comes to together.

What's In a Name?

2011-03-09T23:19:06Z

While I may not know every little bend and turn along the road of this journey to the land of Craft Beer, I do know one thing, the eventual name that will emblazon the crest as I cross the threshold into my own craft brewery, Strongrope.

Strongrope is a name with origins that date back to 2001. First and foremost it is an homage to, Eric Ropiteau who died on September 11th. He was my best friend and has been an inspiration for everything I have done since then and this is my small way to honor his memory. A nickname of his had been Rope, and he was an amazing guy, albeit a bit eccentric, but that is what I loved about him. So I had come up with a name, a catch phrase if you will, that at that point was not attached to anything in particular, just more of a feeling I had when thinking of him.

I started home brewing about a year later and as I am sure most home brewers do, played around with names for my brewery. My first idea for the name of the brewery, while wholly appropriate, DrunkenSahler, just was lacking something… Oh yeah, class! It wasn’t till a couple of years later that I had applied Strongrope to the brewery, and it just fit.

But it is much more than just an homage to my long lost friend and brother, it is a philosophy.

Sustainability is of paramount importance for me and it can be broken down into four integral parts; social, environmental, economic and cultural. In other words for this brewery; People, Planet, Profit and the Pint. It is important to have a strong community, a strong earth, a strong business, and a strong understanding of the culture you are entering. While I am obviously using this for my brewery, i think this applies to any industry and business.The community; the earth; the business, the culture. All of these need to be strong and to work together in order for each to thrive.

Whenever and where ever I start my brewery it is going to not just deliver amazing brews, it is going to give back to the community that my family and I live in, to the earth that provides the essential ingredients, to the people that work not just for me but with me, and I hope to the overall culture of beer.

Cheers,

Jason

What Could One Little Competition Do?

2011-03-04T03:15:58Z

Hello, my name is Jason and I am a Home Brewer with aspirations of grandeur. Whew, do I feel better getting that off my chest. So to give a little history, i have been home-brewing for a number of years. All told I have brewing for about 7 years which includes, beer kits, years off and more than one failed batch. For the last 5 or so months I have taken brewing much more seriously. I have tried to brew once a week on my 1/31st bbl brewery (yes I am brewing 1 gallon batches) somewhat of a necessity when you have an amazing and understanding wife and are living in a 600 sq. foot apartment in Brooklyn. But with the more diminutive batches comes flexibility. No batch of beer lasts that long so i was able to work on recipes, getting them to just where I want them. I was getting happy with my brewing abilities and my friends seemed to like them, though I am pretty sure they were being nice with one or two batches.

Then comes along the Brooklyn Wort home-brew competition. I decided to enter my brown ale J.J. Bollerack's Big Brown Ale (more on the name of the brewery and the beers in another post). A hoppy full bodied brown ale, it is the one that I have brewed the most and decided now was the time to see what people thought of it when they weren't a friend or family. The day was long, but fun, and the feedback was great. People seem to really like what I had brewed (it wasn't all in my imagination!) But when it was announced that I had won 1st place of the judges award, I was beside my self. My grin stretched from ear to ear and lasted long into the next day. And thoughts of owning a brewery started to boil over. Yes i had had percolations before, but what home-brewer doesn't? But winning the Judges prize and the people's reaction to my beer just set the burners on high. If all these people liked my beer that much why couldn't I brew beer, which i love doing, as my life? So that is the origin of this here site. It is a record of my path to living the dream, owning my own brewery. There will be leaps forward as well as stumbles backward and I will try and get all the details down here for everyone to see. From the name and design to the licenses and recipes, I will be talking about it. Like my beers this site will change over time. What could one little competition do? Change my life...