For the Love of Beer — Chad Brodsky

This week on The EnTRUEpreneurship Podcast, Wes interviews Chad Brodsky, Founder and Owner of City Brew Tours — a beer tourism company that offers daily all-inclusive behind-the-scenes brewery tours complete with round-trip transportation. City Brew Tours is currently featured in 9 metropolitan areas, showcasing over 85 breweries nationwide, and is in the process of deploying a franchise model. Last year, Brodsky’s company entertained and educated over 20,000 beer connoisseurs, which landed his company on the Inc. 5000 list.

Being willing to put up with the grind of entrepreneurship starts with a passion for your product. And no one is more passionate about beer than Chad Brodsky. On the podcast, Chad explains where that love of quality craft beer started and how this love intersected with his existing passion for entrepreneurship. Chad also speaks to what’s necessary for a company to scale, the importance of finding a partner that counterbalances your weaknesses, and much more — all for the love of beer.

THE ENTRUEPRENEURSHIP TAKEAWAY:

“I can’t tell another entrepreneur enough times — even if they think they don’t have the money, I’m sure they have the work to delegate. This will allow you to, then, get your head out of the business and think about working on the business.”

“Finding those people that balance out what you’re not good at or that you struggle with… Finding those partners that will compliment you. This really will grow your business significantly.”

“When you see a person that’s putting in more effort than they need to be, and they’re sharp. And they’re looking for ways to grow your business. Those are the people you want to keep around. Those are those A-players that are going to make differences in your business.”

“I learned that you’re in a relationship when you have partners and teams. If that’s not a healthy relationship, it doesn’t matter how good your product is. You’re not going to succeed.”

“I was able to teach others how to give a great tour experience. And that allowed me to start focusing on building the business and not be in the business, which I think is one of the most important things to be aware of as an entrepreneur. You’ve got to get out of the business in order to grow the business.”

“I’m not content. I’m always trying to figure out the next opportunity or the next way to grow the business.”

“The thrill of entrepreneurship is that I can choose my own destination. I can dictate what I want to do. If there’s an obstacle, same situation — I’m going to find the way to overcome it. So if there’s an opportunity, I’m going to find a way to benefit from that opportunity.”

BULLET POINTS (W/ TIMESTAMPS) – HIGHLIGHTING KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED:

2:48: Chad describes how his entrepreneurial hustle started from a young age and explains why he finds entrepreneurship thrilling.

5:45: Chad explains how studying abroad led to the inception of City Brew Tours.

9:47: Brodsky reflects on his first brew tour ever and how he honestly never intended the business to grow and scale like it has.

13:00: Brodsky looks back at the decision to eventually start working on the business full-time, after four years of City Brew Tours being a side hustle.

14:45: Chad shares about his first year, which included lots of guerilla marketing tactics.

17:33: Chad reflects on his expansion from Burlington, VA to Boston and shares about the importance of building out a team to delegate responsibility and more easily scale.

23:25: Brodsky speaks to the importance of his beer guides and lays out what he looks for when hiring one of those.

25:46: Chad explains how a key hire freed him up to scale the business much more quickly.

29:24: Chad speaks to his differentiation from other beer tourism companies.

31:37: Chad highlights the importance of having a solid business partner to counter your weaknesses and explains what is currently keeping him up at night.