Turning a disaster into a profit - Mark Costello, Founder, Horsforth Brewery

This week we speak to Mark Costello, Founder of the Horsforth Brewery.

Mark tells us how he’s grown the business from a home brewing hobby in his kitchen to a fully-fledged brewery and tap room, the effect of launching the business on the first week of the first lockdown, his successful crowd-funding campaign and how a Christmas disaster turned into a success.

Mark also teaches us how to run a crowd-funding campaign.

INTRODUCING MARK COSTELLO

Mark Costello is the founder of Horsforth Brewery. After a career in hedge accounting, risk management and secured funding he made the transition to full-time self-employed in March 2020 and has steered the brewery through COVID and a cost of living crisis, establishing an onsite taproom in the brewery that's open 6 days a week.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:01:30] How did the launch of the brewery happen?

[00:03:00] Launching part time with grant funding

[00:06:10] Moving from a hobby to a business

[00:09:30] Launching into lockdown

[00:14:30] When the business ran out of cash

[00:18:00] The addition of a tap room and the additional challenges it brings

[00:21:00] The Euros effect

[00:25:30] How do you sell beer into an outlet?

[00:31:00] Raising funding for the business

[00:36:00] How to run a crowdfunding campaign

[00:42:00] The Christmas disaster and the solution that worked

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• You may be eligible for 50% match funding from WY Combined Authority

• You need to keep momentum going during a crowdfunding campaign

• Own your mistakes and be honest to your customers

3 BEST MOMENTS

• “Seeing people’s businesses fall apart during Covid was hard”

• “Everyone started clapping (for carers) but I thought it was for me dropping off beer”

• “In the early days we sold beer to outlets via Twitter”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Phil Fraser - Business Sounding Board - www.philfraser.co.uk

Website: www.horsforthbrewery.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-costello-68868619/

Visit the Tap Room at 143 New Roadd Side, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4JZ

Shout out tags: https://swinethatdines.co.uk/

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ABOUT YOUR HOST

Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the