What To Do When You Get Caught In It

It began with a little bite, a mere taste…

You can’t quite remember when it was, but you remember that things were never quite the same. You decided not to follow the status quo, and that decision sets you on a brand new path.

It is a journey of adventure and failure that takes you many places, teaches you resilience, and how to embrace never-ending change.

Later it gives you the confidence to pursue your dreams, learning from the inevitable mistakes that are all part of the voyage. You, my friend, have been bitten by the Entrepreneurial Bug, and are now caught in The Entrepreneurial Web!

Tune in for this energetic conversation at TalkRadio.nyc or watch the Facebook Livestream by Clicking Here.

Segment 1

Today's episode of the Entrepreneurial Web is coming live from Fort Hamilton Distillery in Brooklyn's Industry City. Today's guest is Alex Clark, the proprietor of Industry City's new distillery and tasting room, Fort Hamilton. Alex supplies many local restaurants and bars, and liquor stores. Jeremiah refers to seeing the concept of the business in its "sperm stage" to grow into an actual business! Alex says that being an entrepreneur, "your tolerance for risk, you have to negate at some point." Alex says that if one were always worried about the consequences of doing things, they would never do it. One of the biggest things he has learned has been sales; "you can have a great brand, but if you're not moving product, then you don't have a business." Rye whiskey was his focus because it's the original whiskey of America and New York, and they "wanted to bring it back and put it on the pedestal as king of the American whiskeys, what it was until prohibition killed all the distilleries in Northeastern America." Fort Hamilton is a brand based on the history of the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Brooklyn (which technically the British won).  They are trying to establish that NY Whiskey is the oldest whiskey in America and goes all the way back to Revolutionary War times. 

It can be trickier to get the product to market because making whiskey is a time-consuming process. Alex believes that people's biggest mistake is not focusing on branding first, not thinking about how the product will get out on the market. Jeremiah asks Alex where the point of branding started for him. Alex says that the backyard of his house is where "the plan was hatched." He admits there were long lists of names that really sucked. And adds, all names suck until you do it. Especially when naming whiskey, he had to think of what else was out there? How do you get your story across in two to three words? Alex says that the Fort Hamilton Parkway stop is what gave him the inspiration for the whiskey brand. 

Jeremiah adds that one of his mentors and first bosses created a sizeable restaurant empire and said the name should indicate what you are.  

Think of your distribution channels, what do your sales look like when you're an entrepreneur. 

Alex jumps back to the challenges of brand naming. He admits that one of the challenges was finding a Trademarkable name; in the early stages of Fort Hamilton, they tried using Brooklyn in their name, and it was not possible. He says that geographical locations are tough to trademark. The name that you have is the value of your company; it's about your intellectual property. 

Segment 2

Jeremiah brings up that the distillery is not far from the Fort Hamilton base. They moved on to speak about the pitfalls in branding. 

Alex points out that they have only been open for a few weeks.

They would have opened up last year, but the pandemic stopped them. Luckily Alex still had his bartending job and was bringing in income through that gig. He advises that early business owners should not quit their job just because they are opening their business, but he acknowledges that might not be the case for some businesses. 

Fort Hamilton wanted to make sure they had a good relationship with local retailers instead of opening up many accounts everywhere.  Quality is essential and sustainable sales are essential, making sure their supply chain is consistent. Getting that consistency going has been tricky, especially since they didn't have their own space to work out of. 

Last March, they were supposed to move in, but all construction got shut down, and they couldn't get their license until August. They had thought about releasing a ready-to-drink cocktail, and he's glad that they didn't go down that route--he believes it would have taken them away from their mission of making whiskey. 

Looking at other places to market is a new avenue for sales, such as internet sales. His core mission was to get the bourbon out last year instead of competing in the ready-made cocktail market. And he was still doing wholesale to local retailers. He had great connections with the local retailers and restaurants, which helped them out a lot last year. Their sales in liquor stores rose when the pandemic was grave. They noticed that having two different price points worked very well, since people couldn't order their cocktails from restaurants, but they could make their cocktails at home. 

Segment 3

Why take over such a big space? Tasting rooms can generate income (for a lot of distilleries, that's where they get most of their profits); Fort Hamilton thinks they will be making more money. Alex thinks that the business will take off because they're not just focusing on Brooklyn; they are using their American rye whiskey identity to build a great product. They are starting to see that they are "making more money out there than with the tasting rooms."

 They are located in the "distillery conglomerate," Jeremiah jokes that someone can show up to that courtyard and have a really good time. One of the focuses on Rye whiskey is because it's the base for all the great cocktails. The farm license gives them the ability to operate a tasting room as long as the products in stock are made with 75% of NY-based products. They make NY rye, NY bourbon, and NY maple syrup; they are a premium brand, and the goal is to have a full-fledge cocktail menu highlighting NY spirits.  

Segment 4,

Fort Hamilton offers the following products: single barrel rye, double-barrel rye (small batch), double-barrel bourbon, high rye double-barrel bourbon, car strength rye whiskey, and bourbon-barrel-aged maple syrup.

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