The Microbrewery Handbook

Chapter 8Figuring Out Your Financials

ONE OF THE most overwhelming parts of opening a craft brewery is trying to figure out the numbers. It doesn't really matter if you are a brewer or have a background in finance; when a new, unproven business enters a market, there are so many variables that can affect the success of the brewery that no level of financial expertise can predict with confidence if your business model will be successful.

In other words, if you feel like that whatever you're going to put down for projected revenue, expenses, payroll, utilities, taxes, insurance, and more is just a guess, don't worry. We've all been there. It is a guess. The goal should be to make that guess as educated as possible.

I was always intentionally conservative on revenue and very liberal on expenses. I wanted to make sure that we would still be successful even if we had more expenses and less revenue than I hoped. It's important not to daydream here. This is the reality of the feasibility of your business and all the hard work you plan on putting in in the years to come. There's no room for lying to ourselves.

Later in the book I share my talk with Audra Gaiziunas, a brewery finance consultant and CEO of Bhramari Brewing Co. in Asheville, North Carolina, to get her expert perspective on what she has seen from startup and young breweries and what they should be paying attention to most.

Before we get there, here are some questions and concerns you should be considering as you project ...