A trip to the US with a friend hatched the idea to start their own brewing company. Gave up their full-time jobs & began their journey in the Craft Beer industry in 2011. From 2 FTE - 20 FTE with 30% yearly revenue growth until 2018. (Danielle Allen)

Grow A Small Business Podcast

In this episode, I interview Danielle Allen, a business leader and co-founder of Two Birds Brewing, a brewing company based in Melbourne, Australia, developing and manufacturing craft beers for retail and on-premise sales in venues across Australia. This is Australia’s first female-owned brewing company.

Danielle, together with her friend Jayne Lewis began their journey in the Craft Beer industry after their two-week trip in the West Coast of the US in 2010 where they visited breweries, wineries and dined at some world-renowned restaurants. Jayne was originally a winemaker by trade but transitioned into brewing while Danielle had been in product development and marketing for 10 years. With their complementary skills, Two Birds Brewing was born.

According to Danielle, the hardest thing in growing a small business is the commitment to work. Commitment to work involves many things for the excellence of the business. This is why every business owner must develop the self-discipline to execute the tasks needed to be done.

This Cast Covers:

• Started their own brewing company after their two-week tour on the West Coast of the US in 2010.

• Visited breweries, wineries, and dined at some world-renowned restaurants during the trip, and shared love for the finer delights.
• Gave up their full-time jobs and began their journey in the Craft Beer industry.
• Their skills were complementary and it made total sense for them to team up.
• Launched their first beer together in 2011 and have been growing and building the business every year since then.
• Developing and manufacturing craft beers for retail and on-premise sales in venues across Australia.
• Making well-balanced and approachable beers and find impressive by their consumers.
• The importance of originality when it comes to making their products and how being firm to the vision made them successful.
• How commitment is crucial yet important in growing a small business.
• How understanding each other’s role results in growth and development which are essential in growing a small business.

Additional Resources:

• Two Birds Brewing
• Brewing Up a Business By Sam Calagione
• The Microbrewery Handbook By DC Reeves

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Quotes:

“Stay true to yourself, don’t copy other people, have a firm view of your vision, and just stick to it.” —Danielle Allen

“You can drive the business forward by making sure that the connection between sales and marketing continuously works.” —Danielle Allen

“It is worth getting people that share the same values that you have.” —Danielle Allen

“Understand each other on a personal level, and understand each other's roles as well. That's important.” —Danielle Allen

“I’m a big believer in data integrity, it gives us the ability to have information at the fingertips” – Danielle Allen

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Music from https://filmmusic.io “Cold Funk” by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com. License: CC by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0