Q&A Inside Track

What is special about your business?
In a world of mass-produced industrial beer, we are an oasis from the madness. Corporate quarterly reports? Not for us. It takes us that long to produce one of the beers we brew.

What sets your products apart in your sector?
Our beers are much stronger in alcohol (anywhere between 7 and 8 per cent) and come in a 750ml bottle compared to the standard 500ml. We see our potential customers as people who drink wine, so our beers have lots of flavour. Our attitude is "Why drink cheap imported foreign wine when you can drink top-quality Irish beer?"

What has been your major success to date?
Being here! Right through the boom, micro-breweries really struggled. Nobody wanted to know us. Just staying in business was a huge achievement. I'd witnessed people with a lot more resources than me go under, so just being here – I'll drink to that.

What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting people to actually try our beers. As a nation, we lost our beer culture and it became all about drinking. Trying to reverse that attitude is a massive challenge when you have two corporate giants with massive marketing budgets and enormous profits. That challenge of cultural change becomes constant and part of your business.

What key piece of advice would you give to someone starting a business?
You must, beyond a shadow of a doubt, know what you want. It's like the foundation of a house: without it, no matter what you build, you'll end up with nothing. You may not always get what you want but every business decision, every piece of equipment you buy, every person you employ will be better if you know what you want.
Who do you admire most in business and why?
It's a guy I met many moons ago in the UK called Tony Brooks. He owns a chain of pubs over there. His enthusiasm, passion and simplistic approach to dealing with things were an inspiration. Business is one big problem as he used to say, and those who deal best with that survive.

What could the Government do to help SMEs in the current environment?
They definitely need to streamline dealings with Revenue. Small businesses raise a lot of money in relation to their size but we have to do the same amount of work as large firms. A one-stop shop in dealing with Revenue for businesses up to a certain size would make life a lot easier and make the entry into business smoother.

They should also lead the way and start purchasing from smaller Irish-owned business. For example, the Dáil bar has no Irish craft beer available. It’s a very small thing, but if that is replicated right across the board, what does it say about our leaders?

In your experience are the banks' lending to SMEs currently?
Absolutely. If you've a good business model, run a tight ship and keep your nose clean why wouldn't they? After all, they're a business too. People also need to remember that the banks got severely burnt by the people they gave money to, so naturally they are going to be a bit more cautious.

Also crowd-funding is starting to raise its head here in Ireland through linked finance, which is a great way for people to start taking control away from the banks and back into the hands of the community. We used it.

What's the biggest mistake you've made in business?
Not planning enough. It cost me business, lost weekends, lost holiday, and lost time with my family.

What is the most frustrating part of running a small business?
The length of time it takes to get anything done. Your heart would be broken sometimes trying to get things achieved. When you're small, you put your life into your business and that can sometimes have an overwhelming effect which is not easy when you have a family.

What's your business worth and would you sell it?
You couldn't put a monetary value on what we're trying to achieve here and you can't sell values.

In conversation with Olive Keogh