Craft Brewery Financial Training Podcast

The average health insurance premium for families and individuals has increased more than 24% in the last five years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

And there's no sign of this slowing down.

For breweries who want to provide good, affordable healthcare for employees these cost increases are a real problem.

One option to lower costs and provide better benefits comes in the form of self-funded health insurance.

Speaking from my own experience, self-funded health plans saved our company millions of dollars.

Yes. Millions.

What exactly is self-funded insurance? How does it work? How do I know if this will be right for my business?

You've got a lot of questions, and Erin Butler from BevCap management has answers.  Listen to the podcast and check out the resources below to learn more.

Key Points

• 65% of covered workers in the U.S. have self-funded health insurance
• Self-funded insurance has been available in the U.S. since 1974, with the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
• Bottom line, self-funded insurance is not new nor limited to just a handful of large companies

Resources

• Watch the video of my interview with Erin and download the self-funded health insurance presentation deck
• Connect with Erin to learn more about how you can lower costs and provide superior health benefits, [email protected]

In today's podcast we break down the key steps to build (and implement) a successful brewery financial plan.

The financial plan is the road map. Where are you now? Where do you want to go? What does financial success look like? 

Listen to the podcast. Download the resources. Build your best plan EVER today! 

Key Takeaways

• Use the 6 building blocks to organize the planning process
• The X Factor to financial planning success 
• How to crowd source the best ways to grow sales and cut costs
• Simple and complex financial models to build your best plan

Resources

• Join our network of brewery owners and managers working together to build the best brewery financial plan EVER!
• Get the Brewery Financial Training Program included with your membership to the brewery network

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 breweries are target.

In today's podcast, Tom shares how these crimes occur, how to find out if your brewery 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]

Today we welcome back Tim Near from Agrowgate, a company that works to save you money on cost of goods sold. Think cans, cardboard, malt, freight and so much more.

Key Points

• State of the industry: Trends in costs and commodity pricing
• Brewery purchasing 101: Best practices 
• How to properly source key ingredients 
• Keys to benchmark your costs against industry averages

Resources

• Connect with Tim Near and learn more about how to save money 
• Listen to the Brewery Supply Chain Management podcast
• Join the brewery financial network - connect with other brewery owners to learn best practices to improve profits and cash flow

In today's podcast we hear the audio version of a recent Brewery Financial Round Table meeting where we tackle brewery cost management and expense reduction.

Summary of key points:

• ​Use this 1-2-3-4 step process to put a laser focus on cost cutting and reduction
• Share the Brewery Financial Training Program with your managers and staff – train them in the ways of identifying and reducing (or eliminating) bloated costs
• Key challenges we discussed: Controlling costs related to production and materials, freight and shipping, finding efficiencies, avoiding cost surprises, improving culture and communication
• 78 Ideas to cut costs and improve financial results – Double Your Profits in 6 Months, by Bob Fifer
• Dan Klasen from the Beverage Federation shared details on the group purchasing organization (GPO) to help you save a ‘craft load’ of money

​Join the membership today and get instant access to the brewery financial round table replay, presentation deck, and brewery cost cutting resources.

Today on the podcast we hear from Scott Birkner, VP and Business Lending Specialist at Dogwood State Bank.

Scott shares insights on how to use SBA loans to purchase an existing brewery or make a partial acquisition of a brewery.

Key Topics

• How to finance a start-up brewery, buy an existing brewery, or make a partial acquisition using SBA loans
• State of the lending industry: Credit availability, interest rates, trends
• What does the future of lending look like? Scott looks into his crystal ball and shares his observations

Resources

• Connect with Scott and learn more about brewery acquisition financing, [email protected]
• Join the Beer Business Finance Association - we talk brewery finances all the time! 

Today on the podcast we talk non-alcohol beer with Dave Williams from Bump Williams Consulting.

Dave shares data, insights, and analysis on the non-alcohol beer category.   

Key Topics

• Major players in non-alcohol beer, sales volume, and growth trends 
• NA beer sales by market channel: Chain and grocery, liquor, convenience, and on-premise accounts  
• Retailer response to NA beer: More shelf space, more willingness to take on these brands
• Crystal ball time. What does the future hold for NA beer?  Listen in for Dave's full analysis 

Resources

• Connect with Dave Williams, [email protected]
• Join our financial network of brewery owners and managers 

Today on the podcast we hear from marketing guru Julie Rhodes from Not Your Hobby Marketing.

Julie and I talk about The Power of Marketing + Finance. And dig in on why NOW is the time to invest in your marketing and sales strategy. 

Key Topics:

• Brewery marketing trends, new ideas to try, fundamental marketing tactics to revisit
• Why NOW is the time to double down on your investment in sales and marketing (and where to find the cost savings to pay for this)
• When to add a sales rep (and how to pay them)

Resources:

• Connect with Julie Rhodes at Not Your Hobby Marketing
• Learn more about the Beer Business Finance Association, a network of brewery owners and managers focused on driving profits and cash flows

Today on the podcast we hear from Ross Stensrud, co-founder of Tapwyse, a developer of custom branded apps for taproom breweries.

Ross shares his experience working in commercial fitness - where the business model is all about memberships and recurring revenue - and how this idea can be applied to your taproom to grow sales.

Key Points

• How to develop an app for your brewery to grow sales and create predictable recurring revenue
• Best practices to re-imagine the 'mug club' so you can add unlimited members
•  The best incentives to get customers to download your app, use it to buy your offerings, and receive push messages to come back to your taproom more often

Resources

• Get in touch with Ross and learn how to grow taproom sales with recurring revenue, [email protected]
• Join the Beer Business Finance Association, we are a group of brewery owners and managers, working together to grow sales and improve profitability

Webinar Replay: How to Build Your Brewery Key Metrics Dashboard

In today's webinar I am joined by Alec Johnson from Ekos who shares his favorite KPIs and shows you how to build beautiful (and profitable) dashboards.

Here's what you'll get:

• 50+ key metrics used by other breweries
• KPI best practices: How to pick the right numbers for your business
• Sample brewery KPI Scorecards and templates to download
• Tips to build dashboards and KPIs in your brewery management software

Do this next:

1. Watch the webinar replay: How to Build Your Brewery Key Metrics Dashboard and download the Presentation Deck
2. Join the Beer Business Finance membership. We are a network of brewery operators focused on driving profits and cash flows (and Key Metrics help us do that!)