Believing in What You Do

Every Friday, Small Batch Standard publishes an episode of The True Craft Podcast. These episodes typically involve discussions with brewery owners and operators around the nation—getting to know them, their stories, and their business.

This week’s episode was a little bit different! It was all about looking back at 2023 through the lens of Small Batch Standard with just our two co-hosts: Chris Farmand and Katy Noel.

What have been our major investments? How have we developed our team? What changes have we made to Compass? And, perhaps most importantly, how has our 2023 served the craft industry?

The conversation started with a question from Katy:?“When you think about 2023, what pillars stand out in your mind as a leader in the company and how we have approached growth at SBS?”

Chris took a moment and responded:

"2023 was a pivotal year because we began it with a leadership change with Tom coming in as the CEO. I stepped aside as Founder and Principal. Best move I ever made.

Where I am and where my head is, we needed someone younger and more ready to drive the business forward and thoughtfully put in our growth plans and execute them."

Chris makes it clear that this leadership change was not because he was "tapped out" at the beginning of 2023, but rather, knew he wanted someone else without a?“beating drum and 13-year bias”?to lay the foundation for growth at Small Batch Standard.

The conversation continued on to breakdown some of the 2023 SBS internal investments. Katy and Chris chatted a lot about each team: Accounting, Tax, Consulting, and Brand. The overall intention this year was to allow for team growth and development:

“We had some major changes around developing our team. That begins with our leaders. And with our departments. Giving them the opportunity to really own their specialization, own their expertise, and finally grow into where we are today.

We’ve been able to expand the services we offer to clients. The autonomy has allowed the team to build a deeper expertise."

The conversation shifted when Katy asked about what brewery owners are likely thinking when listening to this episode—an episode that highlights the successes of our company in 2023.

Chris thoughtfully responded:

"It’s been a difficult year for craft. But I want brewery owners to understand that SBS is going to apply our knowledge, our expertise, and our collective intelligence to help them. Our content is always developed to keep them in mind."

As the conversation continued, Katy and Chris unpacked some of our investments with Compass:

“Compass is?our brewery-specific financial analysis software we've built in-house. And we use it to produce?a monthly PDF report that our clients receive once the books are closed. It is a report that guides the brewery as to their progress and what their next recommendations are, including graphs and benchmarks.

About mid-year, Tom took it to the back office and worked with the team to strip it down and rebuild it around what we were seeing happening in the industry.”

This rebuilding, Chris says, was necessary because SBS had uncovered that a super detailed analysis of a brewery’s Business Units is of the utmost importance in today’s market. This rebuild would also implement feedback from clients—individuals who are directly impacted by its reporting.

The new version of Compass would then lead into guild state conference season in the Fall and inspired SBS to develop their talk,?“Where did the cash go?”?that focuses on learning the methodology behind the analysis and empowering breweries to use this knowledge to their advantage. The talk has been well-received at seven different conferences thus far with more to come.

So, what’s next in 2024?

Chris shares two main priorities:

1. SBS is going to double down on Compass.?“There is so much we can do with this?tool. Modeling out different locations by class, business units by location, and so much more that can impact decision-making for brewery owners.”
2. Exploring, at a more granular level, the Brewery Business Units.?“We could just look at taproom and wholesale. But what makes that unit tick? Is it a SKU? A style? Taking this a step further to be even more actionable.”

And when it comes to the industry at large, SBS’s goal is to help breweries grow and keep more profit. But, as Chris states,?“We want to do that by being as direct and respectful as possible.”

Sometimes a direct shot of truth serum is unsavory and unwelcome. But SBS cares a lot about the industry they serve. And, as Katy says,?“Beating about the bush isn’t helping anybody!”

As the conversation winded down, Chris flipped the script and asked Katy about her experience with Small Batch Standard, having just celebrated her 1-year anniversary this month.

Although it’s been a journey—one that she most definitely loved taking, she shared one final nugget that wraps up SBS in a nutshell:

“It’s really exciting to believe in what we are doing. It makes it easier to be on the Sales and Brand team. I don’t have to pretend [to others] that we are going to be of value because I truly believe we are.”

The full podcast episode,?SBS: A Year in Review with Chris Farmand & Katy Noel, is now live and can be found on our website?here?or on your chosen podcast platform.