Craft beverage production is often a labor of love, with owners directly involved in every facet of the business. However, as companies mature, organizational processes grow more complex, testing the founders’ capacity. Leaders at the helm of expanding companies need to learn how to shift from working in the business to working on the business. 

In this webinar, the Virginia SBDC Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden speaks with Catoctin Creek Distilling Company Founder and General Manager Scott Harris about his experience growing the distillery from a small family business to a global brand.

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) has been getting a lot of attention lately. As a result, the market has been flooded with individuals and investor groups looking to acquire healthy businesses from a retiring owner. While the concept is sound – younger entrepreneurs coming in with fresh ideas and growing the established business while leveraging its existing customer base, brand recognition, and infrastructure – good acquisition targets can be hard to find and the best ones may not be close by or affordable.

Entrepreneurship Through a Franchise (ETF) might be a more viable alternative, as it mirrors many of the principles of ETA.

In this webinar, you learn:

• How acquiring an existing franchise location is the most similar to ETA with the added benefit of an experienced franchisor helping you with your turnaround and growth. 
• Franchises that help new franchisees identify independent businesses that are ripe for acquisition and growth through conversion into the franchise model.
• When launching a new franchise location from scratch may mean starting off with brand recognition and/or existing customers from national accounts
• How all of these models can empower entrepreneurs to scale proven models, leverage existing systems, and accelerate their growth with reduced risk.

Whether you are an aspiring franchise owner looking to rapidly scale your business, an independent business operator wanting to launch a profitable new division, or an ETA enthusiast, you want to tune in!

To reach consumers and distinguish themselves from their much larger competitors, small craft beverage producers need to find impactful ways to speak to consumers’ values, including an established market preference for local, sustainable products.

In this webinar, the Virginia SBDC Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden asks Steve Haring of Virginia Agroecology Services how producers of all sizes and business models can implement and convey sustainable practices to grow their audience.

With all the permitting, licensing, inspections, and fundraising rquired, building a brewery, winery, cidery, or distillery from the ground up can feel like an impossible task. Meanwhile, founders in the alcohol industry often struggle with the process of exiting the business they’ve invested so much time, energy, and money.

In this webinar, Virginia SBDC Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden asks Janine Aquino, Senior Consultant & Licensed Real Estate Agent at Aquino Baron Consulting, about how to create ownership transitions that benefit all parties.

The manufacturing of alcohol requires significant capital and yields relatively slim margins, so success hinges upon leadership’s stewardship of company funds.

In this webinar, Craft Beverage Assistance program manager Chris Van Orden asks Devon Ponds, principal at Ironclad Consulting, about best practices in financial management for the craft beverage sector.

To be successful in an increasingly competitive marketplace with tight margins, alcohol producers need to make a high-quality product and do so efficiently and reliably.

In this program, Virginia SBDC’s Craft Beverage Assistance Manager Chris Van Orden asks Nassim Sultan of BarrelVision about the many ways in which breweries, wineries, and distilleries can reduce waste and improve quality on the production floor.