It’s been quite a month here in the Bluegrass State. While our Test Kitchen — Abettor Brewing Company — celebrated its fifth year in business; my alma mater is amid its basketball coach leaving for another school, one of the highest-level coaching searches in history has ensued; and the industry has begun its winter thaw for the third time this year.
First and foremost, one thing I’ve been reminded of this week is that quitting is for quitters. Only quitters quit when life gets hard. In all fairness, the reminder has been ongoing for several years, so maybe there’s a time to throw in the towel, but as owners and leaders we don’t follow that reasoning.
Secondly and most importantly, spring is popping up in most of the country now and it’s time to get back to business as usual — make more, sell more.
However, as simple as the brewing business can be, we all know it’s mildly more complicated than that. Such as, how do you improve revenue in your taproom without spending too much?
What if you had a solution that could potentially cost you nothing?
Last year at our brewery we were turned onto a service called Harvest Host. Essentially this service turns your space into the living room of a vacation rental. While we may have been slow to this opportunity we’ve seen true gains in this scenario — in many cases, it assisted our slow nights through the winter months.
Each night we receive two, sometimes three, RVs or campers in our parking lot. They’re only permitted to stay an evening and the assumption is that they’ll patronize the location they’re staying.
In our case, they get set up, cozy in their traveling vacation homes, and then enjoy our taproom without the barrier of driving anywhere afterward.
Many nights these wonderful people from all over the US purchase between $50-$200 worth of product. In most cases, they’re also taking with them cans and crowlers to share with others on their travels or simply to consume at later destinations.
Our little town of Winchester, Kentucky is truly only on a person’s direction to the Red River Gorge or West Virginia, but we meet a lot of guests that are coming off I-75 which runs north and south through the state about 15 miles from our location. Many are willing to make the short drive for a fun overnight experience.
We know almost everyone loves a brewery and having the opportunity to stop in one for the night has been highly beneficial.
Lastly, they don’t take up as much space as you might expect. We’ve never had issues with these guests in a little over a year and have met some truly wonderful people.
This isn’t a paid sponsorship; rather insights from a brewery owner that was turned onto a cool revenue-generating service that cost us nothing. In a business environment where everything costs something, it’s been one of the most refreshing opportunities I’ve found.
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