MicroBrewr 066: How to get an SBA loan for a startup brewery with First Community Bank.

MicroBrewr 066: How to get an SBA loan for a startup brewery

/1 Comment/in /by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Kris Kennedy works in the Small Business Lending Group with First Community Bank in Roseville, California. They were the first financial institution listed as an allied trade member of California Craft Brewers Association.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s loan program makes it easier for small businesses to get funding from traditional lending institutions. Kris teaches us how to get an SBA loan for a brewery.

All participating banks must go by the SBA guidelines. There are typically 5 criteria to judge worthiness for a loan:

  1. Cash flow – This could be historical or projected. Can you repay the debt?
  2. Economic environment of the industry – Also includes changes to the industry such a new regulations or supply issues.
  3. Collateral – Can include business assets and personal real estate.
  4. How much the borrower is investing – They typically require 20-25% for startups.
  5. Character – They check your credit score including public records such as judgments and liens. Credit score must be at least 680.

Loan funds can be used for a variety of things. Eligible expenditures include:

  • Operating equipment
  • Real estate
  • Tenant improvement to real estate
  • Construction of a new building
  • Refinancing for business debt
  • Purchase of an existing business
  • Working capital

Loan amounts can range from $350,000 to $5 million dollars. Loans are offered in 10-year and 25-year terms. They’re fully amortized, meaning that the monthly payment will be the same through the life of the loan. There’s usually no pre-payment penalty after the first 3 years.

Kris says the ideal candidate should have experience working in a commercial brewery. Planning on opening a brewpub, have restaurant or hospitality experience. Basically, show that your past experience applies to running a brewery.

If you’re a homebrewer wanting to get an SBA loan, it could help to have awards for your beer. So start entering in contests!

Lastly, Kris says, it’s good to work with a lender that has experience in the industry. If you’re in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, or Oregon, and you need funds to start or expand a brewery, get in touch with Kris.

“Not every startup is something that a lender is going to be able to finance.” [Tweet This]

 

Listener question:

From Josh Button: How much business experience should I have? What kind of experience or education would you ecommend?

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Pale ale

Other resources:

You can reach Kris Kennedy and First Community Bank at:

Sponsor:

Beer

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

Subscribe on iTunes             Listen to Stitcher

MicroBrewr 065: Finding the right small business insurance for a brewery with Moores Insurance Management.

MicroBrewr 065: Finding the right small business insurance for a brewery

/0 Comments/in /by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Moores Insurance Management, in St Paul, Minnesota is an independent insurance agency. They’re not an insurance company; instead they act as an advocate for small businesses, to assess risk and help pick the best insurance plan for your situation.

Jack Moores has been working in the industry for 5 years. He’s the risk advisor for the agency that his father heads. They specialize in finding the right insurance for craft breweries.

Insurance categories that a brewery likely needs:

  • Property insurance – For the building and the brewing equipment.
  • General liability – For third-party claims against your brewery such as “slips, trips, and falls” or other “allegations of negligence.”
  • Workers compensation – If an employee becomes injured or ill while working on the job.
  • Liquor liability – For claims concerning “over-served patrons.” Also covers your defense costs, which could come in handy in the event of frivolous lawsuits.

So how much will insurance cost for your brewery? Plan on budgeting about $5,000 to $10,000 annually for all insurance needs.

Keep in mind that cost of premiums can vary widely based many factors including:

  • Location
  • Property value
  • Amount of equipment
  • Square footage of the building
  • Projected revenue
  • Percent of beer sold on-site
  • Amount and type of live music

Additionally, businesses are rated based on “loss experience” and judged against other businesses in the same industry. Basically, if you have more claims than other breweries, you rates can go up. This is especially important in terms of workers compensation insurance.

“Haste leads to accidents…” says Jack. “Safety and prevention of claims really pays off because workers compensation constitutes close to half of a brewery’s total insurance program.”

Craft breweries experience twice as many claims for workers compensation than their macro brewery counterparts. And many of the risks present in the brewing environment are unique to the industry.

“The brewing business is a unique enough exposure that it warrants specialized coverages,” explains Jack. “A standard commercial insurance policy slapped onto a brewery is really going to leave some pretty significant gaps [in coverage.]”

Other insurance coverage that a brewery should consider:

  • Product recall
  • Employment practices
  • Beer spillage
  • Tank leakage
  • Refrigeration coverage

“The cost isn’t necessarily more, it’s just coverages that are tailored toward breweries,” explains jack

The main thing is to be proactive in managing your risk. Don’t think of insurance as a chore that just needs to be done, so find the least expensive plan.

“You have a product that you love, it’s dream job. I really don’t think it makes sense to jeopardize all of that just to save a few dollars on insurance.”

“Haste leads to accidents… Safety and prevention of claims really pays off.” [Tweet This]

 

Listener question:

If you could ask one question to every brewer or brewery owner, what would you ask? Let me know.

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Sour beer

Other resources:

You can reach Jack Moores and Moores Insurance Management at:

Sponsors:

InMotion Hosting

“Fast, reliable, affordable, web hosting.”

advert-inmotion-hosting_250x250

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

Subscribe on iTunes             Listen to Stitcher

MicroBrewr 064: How to write a business plan for a brewery with Growthink.

MicroBrewr 064: How to write a business plan for a brewery

/0 Comments/in /by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Dave Lavinsky went to business school at University of California at Los Angeles. After he won a business plan writing competition, he wrote a few for other businesses. Then he started Growthink, in Los Angeles, to help entrepreneurs and business owners develop their business plans so they can raise capital and grow their business.

3 reasons why people don’t do a business plan:

  1. No time
  2. Don’t know what to write
  3. Don’t know how to do the financials

Dave is steadfast that you shouldn’t take too long to write a business plan. “To spend more than 2 to 3 months to create your business plan is foolish,” he says, “because there is diminishing returns. After 3 months it’s not going to get all that much better, it just means that you’re probably procrastinating.”

Here are the essential parts of a business plan that you must have:

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Company Overview
  3. Industry Analysis/Market Analysis
  4. Customer Analysis
  5. Competitor Analysis
  6. Marketing Plan
  7. Operations Plan
  8. Management Team
  9. Financial Plan
  10. Appendix

To help explain how to write a business plan for your brewery, here are some notes on the outline above.

Think of the Executive Summary as the sales piece to convince investors that you can execute this plan. It should be 1- to 3-pages in length. Do this last to summarize the whole thing. Write it in very approachable language.

“It doesn’t need to be beautiful Shakespearian prose,” says Dave, “It needs to be something that’s accessible.”

Be sure to include what Dave calls the “success factor line.” Write, “We are uniquely qualified to succeed because…” Explain any of your unique skills, expertise, or resources that will guarantee your success. This might be background or expertise, products or services, location, systems, intellectual property, or a built in customer base.

The Company Overview is where you note the organizational structure and type of business entity.

The Competitor Analysis should describe both direct competitors and indirect competitors. Your direct competitors are nearby breweries. Indirect competitors might even be supermarkets, taverns, or liquor stores that carry a good selection of craft beer.

The Marketing Plan is where you talk about product and pricing, and how you will promote your product.

In Management Team, of course describe who will be running the company. But also explain the gaps in management and how you will fill those gaps. Maybe you will find another partner, hire a manager, or outsource some roles.

The Financial Plan has 3 spreadsheets:

  • Income Statement (Profit/Loss)
  • Balance Sheet
  • Cash Flow Statement

The Appendix has your supporting documentation. Include anything additional to help make your case that you can successfully execute on this plan. Some examples might include: lease agreement for the location, interior design plans, letters of commitment from buyers, customer surveys or other market data.

Lastly, be sure to have somebody edit the entire business plan. You could pay a professional to give it a once over. At the minimum, ask a friend to check it for readability, grammar, and typos.

Now you know how to write a business plan for your brewery. Let’s both take Dave’s advice and commit to finishing our business plans within 3 months!

“Running a business is not doing everything yourself.” [Tweet This]

 

 

Listener question:

If you could ask one question to every brewer or brewery owner, what would you ask? Let me know.

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Double IPA

Other resources:

You can reach Dave Lavinsky and Growthink at:

Sponsors:

Audible

Download a free audiobook.

Audible. Download a free audiobook. https://microbrewr.com/audible

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

Subscribe on iTunes             Listen to Stitcher

MicroBrewr 063: A hundred-page business plan and barely enough money, with Crazy Mountain Brewing Company.

MicroBrewr 063: A hundred-page business plan and barely enough money

/0 Comments/in /by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

At the height of the great recession, Kevin Selvy had a hundred-page business plan and started Crazy Mountain Brewing Company in Edwards, Colorado with $500,000. He calls it an irresponsible amount of money and estimates that nobody should do it with less than $1.5 million.

Nonetheless, he met his 3-year sales estimates within 3 months. After 5 years, their beer is distributed to 18 states and Europe, and they just entered the California markets.

“The best advice I could give,” says Kevin, “is give up your day job and go work for a brewery. When it comes to finding investors, if you can say, ‘I’ve got several years of experience in the industry, I know what I’m doing,’ that goes a lot farther than somebody saying, ‘I just like making beer in my kitchen.’”

Kevin sent his business plan to more people than he could count. He drove 10 hours and slept in the back seat of his car to meet with a potential investor.

“Raising money is a very difficult aspect of starting a brewery,” warns Kevin. “You’re going to get 900 ‘no’s before you get one ‘maybe.’”

Here’s some of his advice:

  • Research your business plan
  • Have a packet ready for when investors ask
  • Don’t give up

Although Kevin’s business plan was about 100 pages, lots of it was graphs and financial tables.

“Make sure it’s very thorough and points a really good picture of what you’re trying to accomplish.”

Brewery specs:

Kettle size: 20 BBL.

Size and quantity of fermentation tanks: 23 tanks, 20-BBL, 40-BBL, and 60-BBL.

Size and quantity of bright tanks: 1, 40-BBL; 1, 20-BBL; and 1, 60-BBL bright tank.

Annual brewing capacity/last year’s production: 17,000 BBL brewed in 2013. 20,000-BBL capacity.

Square footage: 10,314 sq. ft.

Years in operation: 5 years (opened 2010).

“The best advice I could give is: Give up your day job and go work for a brewery.” [Tweet This]

 

Listener question:

From Kevin Scott: Can you talk about the pros and cons of contracting for raw materials for your beers (i.e, hops, malts, etc.)?

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Session IPA

Other resources:

You can reach Kevin Selvy and Crazy Mountain Brewing Company at:

Sponsors:

InMotion Hosting

“Fast, reliable, affordable, web hosting.”

advert-inmotion-hosting_250x250

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

Subscribe on iTunes             Listen to Stitcher