Where do I start? How about at the beginning. I had left Andersen Consulting to work at a large software company, Computer Associates, in the Chicago suburbs. As I mentioned, Mary Rae and I had begun dating in October 1993 and gotten engaged in March 1994 and began planning our wedding. Well, a very close friend, Jeff, walks up to my desk one day in about June and gives me this little article he had cut out of Fortune magazine. It said that two guys had left Andersen Consulting to start a company, Beer Across America, that shipped micro-brewed beers to people’s homes each month. In only their third year in business, they had $12 million in revenue and $4 million in profits. We were two guys; we had left Andersen Consulting. Jeff said “we should do that”. I said “it doesn’t sound that difficult; ok”. It was all downhill from there.
Before I go any further, let’s think about this. Here’s the business model: Mom buys Dad a six month membership to this micro-brew club. Dad gets a box delivered to his door once a month with “Beer In A Box” written across it. Does this evoke any questions in your mind? Maybe, what if Dad has a 17 year old who gets home first? What if the postman likes beer? The next door neighbor? Is this even legal in most states? Of course, two budding entrepreneurs couldn’t be bothered with little details like that – we were on our way to $4 million in profits. Let’s just say it was more difficult than it seemed. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how we found ourselves running a failing liquor store and how my new bride always seemed to be behind the counter when the “crazies” came in.
introspective, now tell us a little more about that brown bubbly yer hawkin!
http://www.GreenerMilwaukee.blogspot.com