Syracuse University issued the following announcement on May 01.
Anything But Beer, a craft brewery in downtown Syracuse, was incorporated in June 2017, one month after Logan Bonney completed his master’s degree in entrepreneurship. “We make grain-free, gluten-free, craft alcoholic beverages that are essentially beer alternatives,” says Bonney.
At first, the business operated with a wholesale model, manufacturing in Syracuse and distributing to other bars and breweries, which helped those retailers better serve niche consumer segments. “Then, after having people show up in our parking lot multiple times a week asking where they can try the beer, we realized that there was a demand for us to have a tap room,” Bonney says.
Bonney and co-owner Brittany Berry researched and found a downtown location that inspired them to expand their value proposition. The space came equipped with an 1,800-square-foot commercial kitchen. They decided to sell not only craft beer alternatives but also food geared toward people with dietary restrictions or food allergies. The brewery’s new taproom had been open for just 30 days—during which it made $70,000 in revenue—when social distancing guidelines closed every dining room in the area. “Now we're at around $4,000 a month. It's about 5 percent of the amount we were making,” Bonney says.
Faced with an existential threat to his business, Bonney relied on the building blocks he learned in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises program. He is also reaping the benefits of hospitality training he received through the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV), a program he was eligible for based on his seven years of service in the U.S. Air Force.
Considering his customers’ now-limited budgets, Bonney set out to understand what consumers need and made a plan. “During recessions, people don't drink less beer, people drink less expensive beer—but it’s the same volume,” he says.
At Whitman, Bonney learned how to organize and conceptualize a business, from managerial accounting to how he could most effectively interact with his customers. He also learned how to analyze data to ensure he was meeting his customers’ needs. He used those skills to evaluate his business model based on market research and has adapted his business in response to the crisis.
Original source can be found here.
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