Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Trevor Whitehead, Founder of South O Brewing Company, located in Oceanside, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
South O Brewing Company is a local brewing company based in South Oceanside, CA. We brew beer and hard seltzer in our 10bbl facility, along with a taproom along the famous Pacific Coast Highway.
Tell us about yourself
South O Brewing Company started in my garage during the COVID Pandemic. I was a homebrewer with a four-tap fridge, and during this time, my neighbors helped me build a bar and donate a TV, and my garage became the local hang-out. During this time, my immediate neighbor Joel Steinmetz, the other co-founder of South O Brewing Company, started brewing with me. As my garage became busier and busier, we were encouraged by our friends to open a brewery. One thing led to another, and we opened 10 months later.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I believe one of the biggest accomplishments has been to help grow the community around us. Supporting Local Charities, School Events, and Fire & Police departments when they need it most and hiring locally. The accomplishment comes when you have a good customer and business base of support.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
It's hard to pin down for us as owners what the hardest thing has been. Especially opening up at the tail end of the pandemic, each month has been presented with new challenges, from Staffing, Supply Chain to personally being in a new industry and learning what the monthly wants and needs of the customer are.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Adapting your business plan and being flexible with it.
- Understand your product and if you have a customer base for it. You might like your product, but if no one else does, it might be a challenge.
- Create a community of customers and business owners.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://southobrewingco.com/
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3HVOCBV
Twitter: https://twitter.com/southobrewco
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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