Take Small Business to the Next Level
by John McDonald, President, Boulevard Brewing Company
I’ll be honest with you: When Ingram’s asked me to reflect on how we built Boulevard Brewing Co. from a small business into a regional company, I had to think about that question for a minute. Back in 1989, when a handful of people who shared a passion for brewing great beer joined me in this quest, we were working so many hours and so hard that we really weren’t focused on formal growth strategies. It was like somebody had put a ring in my nose and started pulling me down the road.
That’s probably not the most effective approach for most organizations. But our experience does reinforce my belief that the best way to position any business for growth and expansion is through a relentless focus on producing a superior product or service. For us, it was all about great beer.
For the better part of 22 years, expansion of our brew house has been almost an annual occurrence. With each expansion, the output of the brewery has increased, requiring more employees and new divisions of responsibilities. That means your people become the key to your success, so it is vital that you hire the right ones who share your vision and passion. You also need to create an environment where they can succeed, and be rewarded for that success. You want employees who enjoy coming to work.
Remember, too, that growth will change you as much as it changes your company. Through our growth, my job has certainly changed; I don’t remember the last time I brewed a batch of beer. But whenever I’m asked on a document to list my occupation, I still write in “brewer.” That’s important to me because we can’t be a service nation; we have to be able to produce goods as well as services.
Your own success, in the end, will contribute to Kansas City’s economic viability by creating the job growth we need. It has always been our vision to be a local brewery first, and we’ll never let go of that. But new opportunities beckon; we’re already selling our Smokestack series on the East Coast, and plan to expand to additional markets across the country before too long.
But local is what makes the difference. More than 85 percent of the beer made in the United States today is produced by foreign conglomerates. And if you want to see the impact of that, look no farther than St. Louis, Missouri. The sale of Anheuser-Busch has led to a reduction in that brewery’s work force from 6,000 to roughly 2,000 today.
At the end of the day, if a guy doesn’t have a job, he can’t buy a case of beer. That’s why your own growth matters. As you get there, never stop asking whether your business plan still holds up through the growth, never forget the people who are making it happen for you—and never take your eye of the quality of the final product.
Cheers. 
