Chapter 2: The Numbers Don't Lie — Startup Costs

You might have a decent chunk of money to start your brewery. A redundancy payout, early retirement lump sum, savings you've been building for years. It feels like a lot. It will go terrifyingly fast.

The problem isn't that people don't budget. Most people who are serious about opening a brewery sit down with a spreadsheet and work out the numbers. The problem is that they budget for the things they know about and underestimate — or completely miss — the things they don't. And in brewing, there are a lot of things you don't know about until they're standing between you and your first brew day, demanding money you've already spent on something else.

We'll cover the full picture of capital investment in Chapter 15 and funding options in Chapter 16. This chapter is about the reality of where your startup money actually goes — and why it goes faster than you planned.