Business of Craft Brewing
This course, a complementary offering alongside our Beer Brewer Professional Certificate program, takes students through the business side of the craft brewing industry, from exploring the different models for a brewery and how to approach strategic planning, through the financial planning and analysis process, all the way through the creation of brewery marketing and sales plans.
Students will have the unique opportunity to complete on their own brewery business plan as they work through the 10-week-long program.
The course is taught through a combination of lectures, case studies and demonstrations. Students apply what they’ve learned to their own brewery business plans throughout the course. The course also includes weekly “office hours” check-ins, providing additional opportunities for students to work with instructors on their projects and to collaborate and give and receive peer review.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the different types or models of breweries
- Perform basic financial analysis of brewery operations
- Develop a basic brewery marketing plan
- Understand and create a brewery sales plan
- Write a business plan for a brewery
Course Topics
The course will cover the following topics:
- How to decide what type of brewery business is right
- How to start your brewery business
- Financial planning and analysis needed to run a brewery
- What marketing plans are and how to use them
- How to plan strategically for sales and growth
Who Should Take This Class
This course is ideally suited to the following people:
- Brewing industry professional upskilling in order to manage a brewery
- Entrepreneurs seeking to launch their own brewing business
- Beer Brewer Professional Certificate earners seeking additional training in the business of craft brewing
- Anyone curious to learn more about running a successful brewery