Notes from Chris

Episode 1296

In 2016, Dylan Jacob was running Vicci Design, a company he started that sold subway tiles & mosaics. Around this time, he also started getting into craft beers. He loved the taste, but the beers always came in 16 oz cans. Normally, more beer would be great - but not in this case. By the time Dylan got to the beer at the bottom of the can, it was warm … and Dylan hated warm beer.

This sent him on a personal mission. He started researching koozies to find one to use for his drink, but found that there was none that would fit the size of the craft beer cans. His research deepened into the insulated drink market. No one was paying attention to what mattered to Dylan… keeping alcoholic beverages cold.

He decided that he was going to solve the problem himself and began working on his first koozie design. But before spending any money on his idea, he wanted to ensure that there was actually a market for it.

He started his process by drawing up some rough sketches, which he brought to a local engineer who helped him create a 3D version. From there, he headed over to one of the biggest breweries in his area to see if they liked the idea. They were impressed, and agreed to carry the product in their gift shop when it was ready.

Dylan was feeling great about his start, enough to shell out a bit of money, but he wanted more confirmation before he went too far. So he started by investing $3,000 into creating his first product, a 16oz insulated koozie he called the “Hopsulator.” The investment provided him with 100 prototypes that he could release to the brewery store to get customer feedback. The response was excellent—the initial batch sold out in two weeks!

Over the year of perfecting his product, Dylan continued to experiment with various marketing techniques. He tried creating a Kickstarter, had giveaways, and even paid bloggers and influencers to promote his products. He also spent $20-$30 a day targeting different audiences using the same images and copy to see who responded best, to ensure he knew his audience.

Over that year he found that his estimated target demographics (including age range and gender) were totally different than what he initially expected. Thankfully, because he had been quick to release his initial prototype and willing to test different markets through advertising, it quickly became clear where to get more customers.

Finally ready, Dylan officially launched BrüMate the day after Black Friday in 2016. He marketed his product to be the perfect holiday gift, and sold $250,000 worth of products between November 24 and December 14 of that year. Dylan says that this was due to perfecting his product and spending nearly a year focusing his marketing efforts on reaching his ideal customers.

All of his efforts paid off exponentially. In 2019, BrüMate brought in $36 million in annual revenue. The company is currently on track to making $75-$100 million in 2020. And get this: this is Dylan’s third company at just 25 years old.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more Dylan and his beer kozie line at his website, BrüMate.

SEE ALSO:

• Polish Bartender Makes Money While Drinking Beer: After being frustrated when setting up a bar for Virgin Atlantic, a Polish bartender living in the U.K. sets up an online shop to sell cocktail equipment.
• Two Friends Use Welding Skills To Keep Beer Flowing: Two Montana coworkers use their skills in welding to start a side hustle making sure brewery equipment is up to codes.
• Bartender Brews Up Brewpub Tour Biz: After being asked for brewery recommendations over and over, this bartender turns an old school bus into a Maine attraction for beer drinkers.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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