The Passion Behind Sam Adams Beer

Jim Koch Sam Adams Beer

We recently caught up with Jim Koch, founder and CEO of Sam Adams Beer. Jim spoke at the US Chamber & Latino Coalition’s Small Business Summit in D.C., and aside from his story of persistence, I knew I liked this guy when he busted out a beer and downed it during his speech.

As it turns out, Jim left for college believing that for the first time in 150 years he would be the first of the Koch’s to turn his back on beer. After college and graduate school Jim began a promising career in management consulting. Even though he followed that path for several years, he always kept an eye on the beer business.

In 1984, he started brewing an old family beer recipe in his kitchen. Before long he was packing samples in a suitcase and going from bar to bar, trying to get people to taste his lager.

Only one year later, the beer was re-introduced as Samuel Adams Boston Lager, at the re-creation of the first battle of the American Revolution on Patriot’s Day. Three months later, it was voted “Best Beer in America” at the Great American Beer Festival, in which 93 national and regional beers competed. The publicity that followed helped the Boston Beer Company’s sales grow to 7,393,000 liters (63,000 barrels) by 1989. The beer was first put on tap at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain.

Today, the idea born in that kitchen has approximately 840 employees in its Boston, Cincinnati and Breinigsville, PA breweries combined. It is also the largest craft brewery in the U.S.A.

The lesson? If you’re going to follow your passion go all out. Think big. And when you get a NO, believe a yes is just around the corner.

Cheers!

The Not So Secret Path For Business Success, And Tools to Get You There

If you’ve ever watched ABC’s “Shark Tank” you’d agree that the true value for a business owner to take on investors isn’t really about the money. Let’s face it, in a financial pinch, most of us could probably resort successfully to the famous three Fs of finance: Family, Friends, and Fools.

The elements that make investors worthwhile are their contacts, their industry experience, and more importantly, their business knowledge. Here’s how Mark Cuban, a self-made billionaire and regularly an investor on Shark Tank, puts it: “entrepreneurs don’t fail for lack of resources, it’s their lack of brains.” That’s not to say we entrepreneurs are somehow less smart or unimaginative, but it does reinforce the idea that we don’t know it all and, like professional athletes, we too must to go back to basics regularly to acquire new insights and new knowledge.

Just this morning, GE released findings from its annual survey on innovation; and business education topped the list of priorities among entrepreneurs.

To that end, I recently came across the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, and not only is the program measuring its success by the companies it grows, plus business genius Warren Buffett is involved — best of all — it’s a free opportunity. Of course you must meet certain criteria, but it’s simple.

Here’s what I have on the program: The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is a $500 million investment to help small businesses create jobs and economic opportunity by providing them with greater access to business education, financial capital, and business support services. The program is based on the broadly held view of leading experts that greater access to this combination of education, capital and support services best addresses barriers to growth.

If you’re in Southern California, the criteria to be eligible is:

• Applicant must be an owner or co-owner of a business
• Business in operation for at least two years
• Business revenues between $150,000 and $4.0 million in the most recent fiscal year
• At least 4 employees (including the owner)

Again, it’s a free program, please take advantage. Here’s where to sign up:
http://socal10ksb.com/apply/selection-criteria/

If this program isn’t for you, make somebody’s year and share it with them.

Why Businesses [really] Fail: What to Do

In working with chambers of commerce and business associations I’ve met many business owners who strongly believe that access to business capital is their number one barrier to growing their companies – and to some extent, and now as an entrepreneur, I can relate. The number two and three reasons usually stated are raising costs of health insurance and taxes. Most times these are also the same factors blamed for a failed business.

However, I believe those factors are more symptoms than the root cause, and the infographic alludes to that idea. The real problem? Intellectual capital (or the lack there of). This is the brainpower provided by a person or persons who know your industry better than you do; they know the who, the what and the when of things, and they sometimes have access to key figures to plug-in to. They see your business from a different perspective and could even provide you with an advantage over your competitors.

As you look at the infographic below, think of your business and the pains that afflict you, and then think of who specifically would best solve that problem, their skill set, is it a consultant, and MBA, a SCORE mentor perhaps? Think of that person and don’t limit yourself by money, or as Harish R. Rao says: “pay enough so that money isn’t an issue, then give high recognition, autonomy, and the opportunity to learn and grow,” and watch your team excel. The right person, after all, could be the catalyst for growth in your business and thus worth the investment.

Folks, we as entrepreneurs need to stop trying to do it all ourselves and instead need to hire, outsource, or create partnerships – in other words; delegate to the right people!