Beer store owner: I'm not obsessed w/ biz growth

Nick Wendowski and his wife bought Stone's Beer & Beverage in 2019. They had no experience in the industry and Nick's qualifications didn't go beyond liking good beer.

But after years in the corporate world, he realized he wanted something more meaningful out of his career. For him and his wife, that meant owning businesses in their home neighborhood. This would allow them to provide services (plural because his wife runs a yoga studio down the street) to their neighbors and feel like they were making a positive contribution to the community they love. Not to mention they'd also eliminate their commute and spend more time with one another.

How they bought the beer store is a long and winding tale involving a couple years, long nights, and a single beer with the store owner (check out the video clip for more on that), but the most compelling thoughts Nick shared came when I asked him about his 5-10 year vision for the business.

Here are some takeaways:

• "I'm not obsessed with growth as a business owner," Nick said. This is super interesting. We're all so focused on growth that this point of view feels...almost transgressive. In a healthy way.
• Instead, his goal is getting to a point where "it's all good," meaning everyone's taken care of and all stakeholders are happy. At that point he won't be stressing about getting any bigger. Here's how he's thinking about those stakeholders:
• Stakeholder 1: Staff. Nick wants everyone who works at Stone's has a "joyful" experience, and feel that they're a better person for having worked there.
• Stakeholder 2: Neighborhood customers. Nick wants his retail customers—who are also his neighbors—to feel happy with the store and proud to shop at the neighborhood beer shop.
• Stakeholder 3: Brands he reps. Nick promised the brands he reps that he wouldn't take on so many others that they'd lose his attention. He's keeping that promise.
• Stakeholder 4: Customers he distributes to. Similar to the brands they represent, Nick aims to provide his distribution customers a high quality experience, and does so by not growing too big.
• And last but not least, stakeholder 5: Nick and his family. This deserves its own paragraph:

Nick knows you don't get into this line of work to cash in—"this is a make-a-living business," he said. But compared to his previous corporate job, it's got everything he's looking for as far as deeper meaning and how he spends his time on earth. "It's a lifestyle play" as he puts it.

And here's what that lifestyle allows: he sees his family all the time, and can even pop home for lunch if he wants; his customers are his neighbors, and he's providing an important service to a hyper-local place that he loves; and he's not obsessing over career trajectory or business growth. Instead, he knows the humble place he'd like to be, and once he's there "it's all good."

Check out the interview clip for a lot more from Nick about his history, how he bought the business, the quirkiness of PA liquor laws, and, of course, his enlightened take on work, family, and community.

Why?

Because it helps customers order faster, which can mean better beer sales for you and a better experience for them.

Beer drinkers generally know what kind of beer they want when they walk through the door.

For example, summertime me is looking for something hoppy. There's no world where I'll get a sour, stout, or amber. But, of course, some folks avoid IPAs at all costs.

If I see a section called "Hoppy" on the menu, I go there straightaway: "awesome, no need to scan the whole menu." For those IPA haters, if they see that "Hoppy" section, they can just skip on by: "ok, great, I'll just go find the section I'm looking for."

In each case, sorting the beer by style makes it easier for customers to find the beer they want. And that's a great thing for them and for your beer sales.

How?

You can do this manually. How you'd implement it depends on what works for your team, but it could look like this:

• Create an editable menu doc in Google Docs, Word, Powerpoint, or whatever and give everyone who needs it editing access.
• Make the beer style menu sections you need: Hoppy, Crisp & Bright, Toasted & Nutty, Dark & Roasted, Fruity & Spicy, Tart & Funky.
• Copy and paste your beer (and the beer info!) into the relevant category.
• Anytime your beer selection changes, delete the beer that's gone, then add new beers to the relevant category.

It certainly takes some time, but doing this would definitely be worth it.

• Some hard hitting science out of Stanford found that "beer goggles" aren't really a thing: having a few drinks doesn't actually make others look more attractive. But it may give you the "liquid courage" you need to approach someone you find attractive.
• If you're in Indiana in early October, get your tickets now to 450 North Brewing's Corn Maze Beer Fest. It's the only beer fest in a corn maze, which may or may not be a compelling thing to you.
• Vinepair wrote an interesting article about how airlines are finally taking spirits and RTDs seriously.
• And Food & Wine published an article about how aging liquor under and upon the ocean is trending. Why? The reasons range from gimmick (scuba dive to select your own bottle of gin from the ocean floor!) to serious and helpful (the movement of the ocean "accelerates and enhances the maturation process.").