Charting out my next adventure

The last 10 years have been the most transformative in my life to date. Professionally, I decided to leave the corporate world and become an entrepreneur as the Co-Founder of Beer Hawk. Personally, we’ve been blessed with 3 amazing children, and our new family have knitted together astonishingly well considering the upheavals of scaling a business and dealing with multiple lockdowns (and home-schooling!). Yet I’ve always believed that the best time to make a change is when you are feeling satisfied and grounded, and that’s why I’ve taken the difficult decision to step away from my executive role in running a fast-growth beer business so I can embark on my next adventure.

When I reflect on what I’ve learned across these last 10 years, the things that jump out as really mattering to me have taken me a little by surprise, and I’ve realised that I’m called to explore these further. I want to share these thoughts openly to spark a conversation and to explore the various ways that these might unfold to shape my next 10 years or so as an entrepreneur.

1) Entrepreneurs can shape industries for the better

Entrepreneurs can disrupt and shape entire industries in a way that’s often so difficult for incumbent market leaders. This isn’t a rant against big companies. Nor is it an attempt to exaggerate the (small) impact that my business was able to have on the beer industry. But the last 10 years have continued to show how entrepreneurs can drive change across industries. Think electric cars, home delivery, taxis, exercise bikes, music & film distribution… the list goes on. Now think of examples of a market-leading company innovating to change the shape of its own industry. Not impossible, but harder. Much harder.

At Beer Hawk, we provided a distribution platform for craft breweries to reach beer lovers, fully embracing E-Commerce and “Direct to Consumer” principles as the best route to do this. This doesn’t sound so radical now, but 10 years ago there really was no one else doing this. Why? Craft beer retailers existed – multiple shops and warehouses were offering a great range of beers – but unless you were prepared to travel to them, the customer experience was poor at best. There were also many established beer distributors, but the complexities of working with emerging craft breweries and the difficulties in dealing directly with individual consumers meant that the focus was on the high volume on-trade (pubs and restaurants). Selling craft beer direct to beer drinkers at home really was a small niche – arguably too small for the established players – so this gave our business some space to take seed and grow roots. Since being acquired by AB Inbev, the real legacy of Beer Hawk might actually be the way we helped nudge our multinational parent company into embracing E-Commerce, selling direct to consumers and offering a wider portfolio for beer-lovers to enjoy.

Entrepreneurs have an ability to see opportunities where others may not, the drive to take action on this insight, and often a passion to rip up the rule book and do things differently too. Whilst, of course, many ventures will fail, the ones which do take hold can operate with so much more agility than established companies and can benefit from a significantly lower cost base as well. So the ones that do make it really can shape things for the better. Personally, I want to spend my time working with and alongside these dreamers and the next generation of entrepreneurs. Here’s to the crazy ones, as the iconic Apple Mac advert put so well.

2) Fast-growth companies fuel the economy and our communities

Without straying into the realm of politics, societies need businesses to fuel the economy and create employment opportunities that can share the wealth throughout communities. In the UK, Corporation Tax is now the fourth-largest source of government revenue, after Income Tax (from employment), National Insurance Contributions (from employment) and VAT (from goods sold). So businesses contribute greatly to all the important infrastructure and services that we often take for granted, but also play a significant role in creating sustainable jobs and employment for people. I believe that fast-growth companies in particular have the opportunity to create a high number of employment opportunities for people right across our communities, which includes people who might otherwise be left on the sidelines.

I remember our first employment decision at Beer Hawk like it was yesterday. My Co-Founder, Chris, and I had done everything ourselves up to this point, and I mean absolutely everything! We both recognised that working as hard as we were doing – long hours spent doing everything from packing boxes to coding websites – was unsustainable, especially because we both had new babies at home and sleepless nights to endure! But we also felt that hiring someone was a significant responsibility and a decision that we should not take lightly.  We wanted to attract great people to join us on our beery adventure, and so we had to think carefully about how we could stand out from the many other businesses wanting to attract these talented people, whilst also ensuring that the ones who did join us were fully committed for the long-term.

Whilst we’d both previously hired many people on behalf of other companies, this was different.  For the first time in our careers, we found ourselves in the position where we could create our people policies and we could actually employ anyone we chose to. There were no existing employment policies, no salary bandings, and no one else to judge our hiring decisions. So, over time, we developed our own principles, starting with a decision to pay (at least) the real living wage, to only recruit people who shared our Beer Hawk values, and to start working with companies such as Tempus Novo to help offer sustainable employment to ex-offenders as well as other people who needed someone to take a chance on them. Looking back, I’m so proud of the number of sustainable jobs which we’ve been able to create, and also of the impact we’ve been able to have on the people who chose to place their trust in us as an employer.

Fast-growth businesses have a real opportunity to make a hugely positive difference to their communities – either local or industry-specific. I’m inspired by the many businesses which embrace this challenge to create meaningful employment, and by the leaders within these businesses who want to make a difference to their communities. Going forwards, I want to spend my time working with these leaders and their businesses to become a force for good.

3) E-commerce growth can have a positive impact on our planet

The swift rise of E-Commerce has created some serious environmental challenges which we need to address, specifically relating to packaging and delivery emissions. This is becoming a rapidly increasing issue with approximately 4.2 billion parcels being sent in the UK in the 2020/21 fiscal year (Statista).  The environmental impact is also becoming more widely recognised, with 63% of under 45s saying that they actively choose environmentally responsible companies (Wunderman Thompson). Whilst there is much evidence to suggest that e-commerce has a significantly lower carbon impact than physical retail (2.3x in fact, according to a study by Oliver Wyman)there is still much more than can and should be done to reduce the environmental impact.

As I look back on my own experience, it’s clear that huge opportunities remain to improve the environmental impact from E-Commerce packaging, and also to the CO2 emissions from the last mile of the delivery process. At Beer Hawk, we worked hard to reduce excess packaging when designing our shipments, to use recycled cardboard where possible, and to collect and recycle the packaging of our suppliers. We also worked with last-mile logistic companies who were committing to reducing and offsetting carbon emissions, especially given the impact that vehicular pollution can have in residential areas. But perhaps the most significant change we were able to make was the introduction of PerfectDraft. The PerfectDraft machine keeps a 6L Keg perfectly chilled and fresh for up to 30 days, so beer lovers can enjoy their favourite beers by the glass without any further packaging. This system enabled the beer to be transported in recyclable metal kegs and we created a circular return loop to help our customers return and re-order with as little hassle as possible. The success of PerfectDraft in the UK helped inspire the World’s largest brewer, ABInBev, to showcase this product as a global commercial & sustainability highlight in 2021 with plans to rapidly scale globally.

E-Commerce companies can be an environmental force for good, but they must start with a strong commitment to being a good corporate citizen, be transparent in measuring the various social and environmental impacts, and have a leadership team who are willing to be held accountable for their actions. That’s why I wholeheartedly support the B Corp movement, and I personally want to spend my time working with like-minded individuals who share these social and environmental commitments.

So what’s next?

Well, firstly, thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts, and I do hope that some will resonate. I genuinely want to spark a conversation about these topics and would be delighted to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or by reaching out to me directly.

Whilst I don’t know exactly where these reflections will take me yet, I feel called to be spending more of my time with disruptive entrepreneurs who can scale fast-growth companies that are pursuing a sustainable agenda. So, for now, let’s keep this conversation going…