Today on the podcast we hear from Bob Higgins of P3 Cost Analysts. Bob and his team specialize in identifying and reducing over-spending in your business.

We talk all things expense management, cost reduction strategies, and share ideas on how your wholesaler business can save money.

Highlights

• Bob's process for identifying and eliminating unnecessary expenses
• Biggest cost-saving opportunities that companies commonly overlook
• The most surprising savings P3 has been able to secure for clients
• Trends in business expenses today, and where breweries will need to focus their cost-saving efforts in the future

Resources

• Connect with Bob, [email protected]
• Get the free wholesaler financial training newsletter

Today on the podcast we hear from Dave Williams, the Analytics Czar from Bump Williams Consulting.

Dave provides a recap of 2024 beer industry data, trends, and insights. We also cover “Dave’s Top 7”. These are the hot topics that he's been hearing about recently in the beer business.

Key Points

• Growth in non-alcohol beer and ready-to-drink products
• On-premise results
• Health guidelines and the impact of tariffs
• Trends in cannabis and crossover brands

Resources

• Connect with Dave, [email protected]
• Sign up for the Beer Business Finance newsletter. Financial tips and tactics to build a stronger beer business, delivered straight to your inbox.

Today on the podcast we hear from Rebecca Maisel from Gulf Distributing. Rebecca is the Senior VP of Legal and Governmental Affairs and recently elected Chair of the National Beer Wholesalers Association. 

Rebecca and I talk about how to become a world class beer wholesaler, her vision for wholesalers to adapt, grow, protect, and invest, and how to continue to innovate in the beer distribution space.

Topic Summary

• Key focus areas for beer wholesalers in legal and governmental affairs
• Best practices for portfolio management
• Operations and technology initiatives implemented at Gulf Distributing 
• How to organize and streamline supplier contracts

Resources

• Connect with Rebecca, [email protected]
• Sign up for the free Beer Business Finance newsletter - Financial intel delivered straight to your email inbox

Today on the podcast NBWA's Chief Economist Lester Jones breaks down beer sales data from 2024 and provides an outlook for 2025. 

Key Points

• How did beer do in 2024? What is the data telling us? 
• Total beer sales / consumption
• On / Off premise trends
• Surprising trends and predictions for 2025
• Tariffs, inflation, and interest rates...what does it mean for beer sales in 2025?

Resources

• Connect with Lester Jones, [email protected]
• Get the free beer business finance newsletter

In today's podcast you'll get best practices, tools, and inspiration to build your 2025 beer wholesaler financial plan.

Topics Covered:

• Open Q&A: What is your BIG budget challenge right now?
• 3 Steps to take right now to build a great budget
• Budget prep outline template to keep you organized
• 6 Budget questions you need to answer
• Sample wholesaler budget templates - sales, GP, OPEX, etc.

​Key Takeaways

• How to overcome analysis paralysis in the budget process
• Tactics to consolidate multiple business entities
• Best practices to overcome the 'unknowns' of financial planning
• One wholesaler's process to achieve a 2-day financial close

Resources

If you need 1-on-1 help to create your best beer wholesaler budget ever, learn more about my financial coaching package. We'll work together to build your 2025 financial plan.

Today on the podcast we dive deep into the world of supplier incentives. What they are, how they work, and how to get alignment between these incentives and bottom line company goals.

Summary

• How supplier incentives fit into the bigger picture of compensation
• The ideal compensation mix: Base, commissions, PFP, and supplier incentives
• The complexity of managing different categories of supplier incentives: Volume, placements, facing, displays, etc.
• The potential for misalignment of incentives: Is the supplier incentive aligned with your wholesaler business goals?
• How VxP helps you calculate, measure, and manage supplier incentives 

Resources

• Connect with Bud Dunn to learn more about how VxP can help manage supplier incentives and sales compensation - [email protected]

Today on the podcast we hear from Sean McLaren and Adam Bush from OMAC Beverage Advisors.

OMAC has worked on hundreds of transactions in the beverage industry, and understand the unique considerations for these types of deals.

Sean and Adam share insights and analysis on the state of wholesaler consolidation, trends in valuation multiples, and best practices to make ready for a sale. 

Summary

• Multiples of EBITDA steadily rising from 7x-9x to 10x-15x
• Annual transactions remain consistent at 20-30/annually
• The main driver of business sales: Family dynamics

Resources

• Connect with Sean and Adam: [email protected], [email protected]
• Learn more about OMAC Beverage Advisors

Tom DeMayo is a partner with PKF O'Connor Davies, specializes in cybersecurity, and is a self-described 'ethical hacker'.

Cybercrime is a $10 trillion problem globally, and beer wholesalers are target.

In today's podcast, Tom shares how these crimes occur, how to find out if your company is vulnerable, and what steps you can take right now to prevent a ransomware attack. 

Key Points

• Terms defined: Dark web, deep web, surface web, ransomware
• How hackers break in to your systems and what you can do to prevent this
• Basics of compliance testing and risk assessment
• Tips for creating and managing those pesky login credentials 
• The case for a cybersecurity committee 

Resources

• Connect with Tom and learn how to protect your beer business from cybercrimes, [email protected]

Want smarter wholesaler analytics to get better results?

Then you'll want to learn more about VxP, the best tool for guided selling strategies to increase sales and gross profits while decreasing finished product loss.

A powerful 1-2-3 combo to supercharge your income statement.

In this recorded workshop you'll learn how VxP provides the tools for real-time execution, automated workflows, and smarter analytics.

Workshop Overview

• Review of VxP: Who it's for, why it's important, how it works, and the problem it solves.
• Compensation planning process: What considerations are made prior to diving into a comp plan? What are the typical components of comp? How are components prioritized? How does VxP align compensation between route sales/team lead/sales management?
• Look under the VxP hood. We build sample compensation structures using a blend of base, commission, bonus, and pay for performance.
• Hear success stories. Results that have been achieved. And they are impressive $$$.

Do This Next...

1. Watch the sales workshop video below
2. Listen to the Tapped In Podcast, Sales and Strategy for Beer Distributors
3. Learn more about VxP and join over 1,500 high-performing distributor sales reps. Book a demotoday, or reach out to Bud Dunn directly, [email protected], c: 269-317-5209

Today on the podcast I'm joined by Orman Anderson, CFO from Glazer’s Beer and Beverage, and RJ Martucci, a partner with PKF O’Connor Davies.

You'll hear the audio version of our NBWA presentation on A Practical Guide to Beer Wholesaler Mergers and Acquisitions.

Our presentation covers four key issues -

1. Target identification: Selling or buying, who are you valuable to, and who is valuable to you
2. Due diligence: Research, homework, what you need to do
3. Valuations and models: Current market, quantitative and qualitative measurements
4. Post acquisition: What happens after the deal is done, and how to combine the right way

Do this next:

• Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, we are a network of beer industry professionals who come together to network, share ideas and best practices to build a stronger beer business