I’ve observed people who who can surmount any obstacle, fix any problem, or win any prize.
A story sells. But, like many others, I’m not very good at talking about myself. I mean, I admit that I do talk about myself too much. But in things like writing my resume, explaining my skills, or saying my achievements, well, I need some practice if I am going to sell a product like craft beer coming from my brewery.
Writing Tools by Pete O’Shea on flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The last 2 posts were about how help and inspiration could manifest in a craft brewery. Creativity, the last of my 3 core principles, is an easy one to describe.
We Still Work by Matt Reinbold on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
People have asked me rhetorically, how could beer be inspirational? “You want them to drink your beer and be inspired to do something? To think something? What?” a friend asked perplexed. “How does beer inspire?”
Reaching for the stars by Adi Prabowo on flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
I’ve written a lot lately about my 3 driving principles: to be helpful, inspirational, and creative. I’ve given an overview of how that will look in my craft brewery. I feel like that could still be fleshed out. Here’s a little bit more about how a brewery can be helpful.
Help is on the way, elevator, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL.JPG by Cory Doctorow on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It is very surface-level to think that a company merely brings a product or a service to market. Companies are run by people, and people are more complex than that. We are driven by interests, desires, and principles. We have intentions, passions, and compassion. In a previous post I explained a little about the underlying reasons for my overarching theme: to be helpful, inspirational, and creative. In all that I do, I want to help, inspire, and create. Here’s what it looks like in a brewery.
Helping hand by Tomas Sobek on flickr (CC BY 2.0)
I spent the better part of last year writing a brewery business plan for the brewery that I plan to open in Monterey, California. It’s all so new to me. I talked to some small business owners in the area. Looked up a ton of stuff online. I attended the Startup Weekend and entered the Startup Challenge. And learned a lot doing it all. I don’t feel like my time was wasted writing the business plan. However, I’ve learned that it’s not as necessary as I once thought.
Stack of papers by Jenni C on flickr (CC by 2.0)
In the last post, I explained that this blog is a place to gather my thoughts and cast a vision about starting a brewery. To ensure that all partners are striving for the same thing, a clear vision is crucially important. Last time, I explained that my ultimate goal is to help, to inspire, and to create. This time, I’ll explain that another reason I want to start a brewery is to help bring the craft beer renaissance to the Monterey area.
Part of the reason that I wanted to start a blog, was to gather my thoughts and cast a vision about starting the brewery that I’ve been planning for the last year. When my partners left the project earlier this year, I learned that a clear vision is crucially important. This blogsite is a place to catalog my business ideas and other thoughts on the beer industry. In this post, I’ll explain that one thing I want to accomplish with a new microbrewery in the Monterey area is to help, to inspire and to create.
My last 2 posts were about my continuing battle against perfectionism. A big effect of my perfectionism is procrastination. My subconscious mind uses procrastination to prevent me from doing mediocre work. My mind has tricked me into thinking that anything less than perfect would be mediocre, and that mediocre would be unacceptable. It’s an ironic predicament because doing nothing is even worse than doing mediocre work. Furthermore, perfect is unattainable.