Matt wonders what would happen if instead of a shed, he starts holding beer tastings on the internet. Thursday night at 9pm becomes #beerbods time. In a bid to get more people involved Matt puts up a one page website (which costs £0) explaining his idea for a beer club and subscription service. If 20 people sign up in the first week he will turn it in to a business. Over 250 people sign up in the first 24 hours. Good old Twitter.
We didn't have a business plan. Matt still had a full time job. The only money to get it off the ground was some measly savings and a couple of credit cards. But we asked a lot of favours of a lot of good people (you know who you are), threw up a website and somehow launched.
We reach 1,000 active subscribers. BeerBods is voted “one of the 100 most innovative, disruptive and resourceful small businesses” in the UK. Featured in the Guardian and Financial Times. Matt is still running BeerBods in his spare time.
We decide to get some investment and set crowd-funding records by raising £150,000 from 101 investors in 36 hours. The people who make BeerBods what it is now own a part of the business.
Suddenly we find ourselves with enough subscribers to get beer brewed just for them. So we go and brew our first batch of BeerBods beer at Teme Valley Brewery. Now we're not just selling beer. We're making it too.
BeerBods TV (our Youtube channel) is launched. BeerBods is now four people, two dogs and three thousand subscribers as a result of the good people at BBC Good Food, delicious, Jamie Oliver (and many others) all saying nice things about us.
We launch BeerBods Live, a series of events bringing our amazing community together in person at the greatest beer venues across the UK. Beer, food, brewers, more beer... and a lot of fun.
Our team grows to six people and two dogs. Matt, Gordon, Tom, Gemma, Lily, Joe, Bert (the spaniel) and Harold (the terrier). We're now shipping to Europe.
