Can life in the industry be chill?

Here at Brave New Bar/BeerMenus we have a life- and family-first attitude about work. The approach isn't something we've ever put a name to, but an article that made the rounds here last week summed it up nicely: what we aim for is "chill work."

With chill work, you work hard and do what you need in order to build and carry on your business, but you don't sacrifice things like seeing your kid's first steps in order to do it, and you don't push your employees so hard that they start hating you and hating work.

This got me thinking about an interview I did last year with Nick Wendowski from Stone's Beer & Beverage, a beer store in Philadelphia, PA.

"I'm not obsessed with growth as a business owner," Nick said in that interview. Instead, his goal is to just get to a point with his business where "it's all good," meaning everybody involved in the business—from him to his employees to his family—is in a decent spot.

In other words, obsessing over growing, growing, and growing isn't his priority, because it isn't worth the sacrifices it would take to get there. Getting stable, consistent, and comfortable is the sweet spot.

Check out the interview for more from Nick about his atypical approach to business:

Why?

Because customers don't trust menus without one—they've heard “oh, sorry, that keg kicked yesterday” way too many times at this point.

Time-stamping your menu with an “Updated on [date]” footer, header, or subheader is a simple way to combat that lacking trust.

How?

You could do this manually—drop it into the footer or subheader of your menu doc. Going forward, make sure editing the time stamp is a part of your menu updating process. (It's easy to forget when you're moving quickly.)

• Strike averted? Late last night, the Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch announced they reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The union members still need to vote to approve the contract, but it looks like the nationwide strike that was set to begin Friday will be averted. Teamsters president Sean O'Brien claimed victory.
• What's your Leap Day offer? Primanti's, a 6-location place in PA, is giving everybody w/ a valid ID a free beer.
• Here we go again: another year, another push for wine at NY grocery stores. Big chains are pushing the measure, while liquor store owners say it could put them out of business.
• No more nips? A group in CT is trying to ban the 50ml bottles. The main motivator appears to be concerns over litter. I think everybody can acknowledge seeing the discarded little bottles on roads, sidewalks, and in parks is common, but banning them would certainly have an outsize effect on less affluent folks.