The craft brewery industry is experiencing explosive growth, with sales accounting for 24% of the U.S. beer market which is worth over $114 billion. To truly achieve success as a brewery owner or manager in this competitive landscape, you’ll need a brewery business plan.
Whether you are considering opening a large industrial brewery company in a downtown core, or a small neighborhood pub with a beautiful outdoor patio, every brewery starts with great business planning. Your business plan acts as a roadmap that helps you think about tools and technology to grow your business, like a brewery POS system for example. And with the right structures in place from the beginning, you’ll have a greater chance of being successful, and mitigating financial and legal risks.
If you’ve never written a business plan for a brewery before, it can feel overwhelming to get started. To make it easier, we’ve put together a complete guide to writing a brewery business plan. In this guide, we’ll cover:
- How to write a business plan for your brewery business
- The 8 sections of every great brewery business plan
- A free business plan template for breweries
Create a professional business plan for a brewery with this customizable template.
How To Write A Brewery Business Plan
Below, we’ll cover the eight essential sections that go into a great brewery business plan.
Executive Summary for Your Business Plan
Your Executive Summary is arguably the most important section of your business plan. While it’s the first section that investors typically screen, it’s often written last because it summarizes all of the following sections. Here, you’ll explain the type of brewery you will be operating – whether that’s a taproom, brewpub, or another model.
It’s important to state your business model early on because your specific type of brewery will change the direction of your plan. For example, microbrewery business plans describe businesses that produce less than 15,000 barrels a year. Microbrewery business plans therefore focus on selling specialty drinks, instead of large quantities of beer that a craft brewery could offer.
In this section, you’ll also provide a high-level overview of your type of brewery, customers, competitors, sales, and marketing strategies. You can also write about your leadership team, their experience, and provide financial information.
Remember to write concisely and not longer than a page in length. This section should be inspiring and tell investors why they should choose you over your competition. To stand out, highlight what makes your brewery special. Here are a few examples:
- Your location: “Benji’s is a growing brewery in the center of New York City.”
- Your market: “Our market is lucrative and growing with low competition in the neighborhood.”
- Your unique menu: “We serve a curated selection of sours, ales, and IPAs.”
- Target market: “Our ideal customers are corporate workers who love a fresh cold brew at the end of a day’s work.”
Company Profile
The Business Overview section provides a brief snapshot of your business. You’ll want to include details that investors might want to know before they invest in your brewery, like the legal and trade name of your business, your service structure, your business address, and the date you founded your brewery.
You can also provide links where a potential investor can find more information, like your brewery website and social media pages – in addition to your contact information like email, phone number, and mailing address. Optionally, you may include banking details, including your branch and banker.
Create a professional business plan for a brewery with this customizable template.
Company Description
Your Business Description section goes into more detail about your brewery, such as what your service will look like, where you will be located, your menu variety, and the vibe you will be creating. Overall, this section should highlight your overall brewery concept, vision, and goals for achieving business success.
This section gives an overview of your brewery’s mission statement, your business goals, and information about your menu offering. You should also describe your location and why it’s ideal, in addition to your brewery design and why you chose it. Lastly, make sure to mention your legal structure, whether you will be a partnership, sole proprietorship, or corporation.
Market Analysis
As more breweries open up and enter the landscape, it’s important to know how your business operates differently. Your Market Analysis section looks at where your competitors are doing well, and what gaps you can fill.
For example, you can look at competitor offerings, marketing strategies, business functions, and branding. What type of beer is being offered by other breweries? What does their menu look like? Do some brewers offer guided tours? What makes your brewery different?
There are many points that you can include in your Market Analysis to show how your brewery is unique. For example, you can write about your target customer and why they would choose to visit your brewery over others. You can also include research on the breweries you’re competing with, and identify opportunities where gaps exist that you can fill. Can you compete with better business hours, menu variety, or guest tour experiences? It’s also important to note any industry trends, like economic or social impacts, and challenges that you plan to overcome.
Let’s look at an example. If you were writing a microbrewery business plan, you could include data about several new tech companies setting up shop in the area. Then you might include aligned research that microbreweries are more likely to be visited by young professionals in their twenties to thirties. Now you have a case to argue why your location will attract more foot traffic over other breweries that target an older demographic.
Marketing Plan for Your Brewery Business
Having a steady flow of customers is key to the longevity of your brewery business. To achieve this, you’ll need to create a plan for marketing that keeps customers returning.
Positioning
Here, you’ll discuss how you will keep your brand top of mind for your consumers. Outline any key differentiators, like what customers can get from your brewery that they can’t get elsewhere. To figure out your differentiators, ask yourself a few questions:
- What type of beer do you brew?
- What makes your guest experience memorable?
- What makes your brewery unique?
Beer Pricing Strategy
In this subsection, describe how your pricing compares to competitors in your market. Here are a few questions you can answer in your pricing strategy:
- What are your costs? Including everything from materials to labor to packaging.
- What is the market price for similar beers that are selling?
- How does your business pricing measure up to the market price?
- What return on investment do you expect to see?
Remember that your pricing strategy needs to cover the costs of production and leave room for profitability!
Create a professional business plan for a brewery with this customizable template.
Digital Promotion
Here are a few restaurant marketing ideas that can be incorporated into your brewery plan:
- Digital advertising: Many consumers can decide where they will buy a drink based on an ad, or Google search. Consider investing in paid advertising on platforms like Google or Facebook.
- Social media: Use your social platforms to improve your customer experience by engaging guests in real-time conversations. For example, you could ask if they prefer beer branding on bottles or cans.
- Your website: Use SEO tactics on your blog to show up in Google keyword searches. Make sure your brewery’s website is full of useful content, and your online menu is easy to find from your main homepage.
Business Operations
Here you’ll describe how you will put the plan you’ve described so far in place. This means outlining everything from your business team to suppliers, insurance, and licensing:
- Team structure: Identify the members of your business team. You can include their years of experience, qualifications, and responsibilities. Be sure to outline how each person will help you run the brewery efficiently.
- Supplies and inventory: List your supplies in this section, such as brewing equipment, ingredients, bottles, technology, and furniture. Consider using a dedicated brewery POS with an added integration like BevCheck to keep track of your inventory.
- Insurance plan: Ensure that you have insurance in place to prevent an unexpected financial loss. Without insurance, you’re risking the chance of having to close your brewery in the case of an injury or equipment failure.
- Licenses: You’ll need a brewery license that allows you to manufacture and sell beer in accordance with local regulations. This is different from a liquor license that restaurants use to serve alcohol. It’s best to contact your local government website to find out what local licenses or permits are required. For example, California has many licenses, including one just for beer manufacturers.
Business Plan Financials
The financial section of your business plan should demonstrate your potential for achieving revenue growth. This is especially important if you are trying to get financing from potential investors.
Include any documents that demonstrate your financial viability, like balance sheets, cash flow, and income statements. You can also show that you are financially responsible with loan and banking statements. All of these documents demonstrate that you are capable of handling cash and making timely payments – two characteristics that are highly valued by investors.
You can also include your financial goals, such as quarterly goals for your revenue growth. To demonstrate how you will achieve these, you can provide revenue projections for the next five to 10 years.
This section of your business plan should include your costs, such as labor and training, rent, supplies such as ingredients, marketing, and brewing equipment. Remember to always explain how your profit will outweigh your costs to demonstrate your potential for success.
To keep track of financial information more accurately, you can use accounting software like MarginEdge, Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, or Shogo.
If you’re looking for more information on how to break down your financial section, it’s good to reference a brewery business plan example.
Business Plan Summary
This section should highlight the strongest points of your business plan to tell your brewery’s story, and show your reader why your brewery is unique and worthy of investment. It should also describe how your business will grow and achieve financial profitability.
Make sure to include:
- What you require to succeed, such as loans or an advisor
- How your brewery is special compared to your competitors
- A few sentences to thank your readers for their time and interest
Create a professional business plan for a brewery with this customizable template.
Now that you’ve completed the written component of your business plan, it’s time to polish up your presentation skills! You’ll need to memorize all of your key points, and get your business plan in front of the right people.
Once your plan is ready to go, send it to your investor contacts, and network with as many people as you can to get more leads and referrals. You can also send an email introduction to your target reader and let them know you have a plan you’d like to send.
If you’re meeting in person, or by Zoom, it is helpful to prepare a presentation that covers the main elements of your brewery business plan. Setting up one-to-one meetings will also create a personal connection, and allow time for questions. To prepare for your presentation, think of questions or objections your audience might ask, and have prepared answers.
Remember to be transparent and honest. By showing you care about answering questions to your fullest ability, you’ll show investors that you have the drive to potentially work together to achieve your brewery business goals.
If you’re opening a brewery, you should highly consider writing a business plan. While it may seem like a lot of work, the time and sweat that you put into your plan will most certainly pay off in the long term. A thorough business plan can help you ensure your business can launch successfully, thrive, and grow.
Looking for a brewery business plan example? You can find many ideas in TouchBistro’s brewery business plan template. Inside, you’ll find inspiration with industry-specific tips, such as ideas for how to write a microbrewery business plan, and more!
Create a professional business plan for a brewery with this customizable template.
Debra was a Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, writing about the latest food and restaurant industry trends. In her spare time, Debra enjoys baking and eating together with family and friends.
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