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Saturday, September 26, 2015

Expectation exceeding hopes

That's just a working title post until I can sort things out in my head. It may make it to the end when I hit the publish key, I dunno. There is an office down town for entrepreneurs and start up companies called Geekdom. Tonight they hosted a board game night where nerds of all flavors can get together and have a bit of fun. Make friends, learn a new game, and have a few laughs. A good time is had by all.
There's also a happy sort of serious going on. This is an excellent way to break the ice with techies and people from all walks of life. Fantastic networking possibilities. No one is going to blow your horn for you. (That came out bad... Let me try again.) The best way to promote your business is to give yourself some visibility in some way. 'Oh, I didn't know you did this!' and, 'Did you make this yourself?'
In the back of my mind, I thought they'd stop me from bringing my mead in and setting up an informal tasting. This was one of those times I was happy to be wrong.
Of the three bottles I brought, I didn't think I'd have many takers on the Serrano pepper mead. Another thing I was happy to be mistaken about. They nearly polished it off.
As they listened to my spiel about what mead was and all the talking points, the phrase, 'I'd buy this.', was heard more than once. More importantly, I heard, 'You have to talk to this guy...'
Yes, we exchanged cards and numbers. One girl asked me to pose for a picture with my mead bottles. I'll take that one at face value. More importantly we tried to set up a meeting between me and a few people who help others set up businesses. It looks legit and they seemed genuinely interested in helping me get started. The one question that comes to mind is this: Is this the best way to go about starting a business? I have friends who own businesses. One in particular owns two liquor stores, so you might say our interests might align in some respect. As loathe as I am to admit it, I most certainly qualify as disabled and there are ways for disabled business owners to get started. I'm going to have to look that one up. I've only heard rumors and I'd need some hard facts behind it before I cross that bridge.
Came across this article a week ago about the growth in the mead and craft brew business. Definitely worth a read.
Well, it's late and I have to get an early start tomorrow. I've three test batches to start. For those eagerly awaiting friends, these won't be ready until spring, March or April at least. After tonight I've moved two recipes up to the five gallon status. I've had to learn patience in order to do this, so can you guys who want to be beta testers. Wanna know the worst part? I had another idea for a recipe while I was networking with these folks.

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