This week we speak to Mark Costello, Founder of the Horsforth Brewery. Mark tells us how he’s grown the business from a home brewing hobby in his kitchen to a fully-fledged brewery and tap room, the effect of launching the business on the first week of the first lockdown, his successful crowd-funding campaign and how a Christmas disaster turned into a success. Mark also teaches us how to run a crowd-funding campaign. INTRODUCING MARK COSTELLO Mark Costello is the founder of Horsforth Brewery. After a career in hedge accounting, risk management and secured funding he made the transition to full-time self-employed in March 2020 and has steered the brewery through COVID and a cost of living crisis, establishing an onsite taproom in the brewery that's open 6 days a week. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS [00:01:30] How did the launch of the brewery happen? [00:03:00] Launching part time with grant funding [00:06:10] Moving from a hobby to a business [00:09:30] Launching into lockdown [00:14:30] When the business ran out of cash [00:18:00] The addition of a tap room and the additional challenges it brings [00:21:00] The Euros effect [00:25:30] How do you sell beer into an outlet? [00:31:00] Raising funding for the business [00:36:00] How to run a crowdfunding campaign [00:42:00] The Christmas disaster and the solution that worked 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS • You may be eligible for 50% match funding from WY Combined Authority • You need to keep momentum going during a crowdfunding campaign • Own your mistakes and be honest to your customers 3 BEST MOMENTS • “Seeing people’s businesses fall apart during Covid was hard” • “Everyone started clapping (for carers) but I thought it was for me dropping off beer” • “In the early days we sold beer to outlets via Twitter” VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/ Phil Fraser - Business Sounding Board - www.philfraser.co.uk Website: www.horsforthbrewery.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-costello-68868619/ Visit the Tap Room at 143 New Roadd Side, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4JZ Shout out tags: https://swinethatdines.co.uk/ DON'T FORGET THE LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST ‘FAIR DEAL’ My half of the agreement; Every week I bring you inspiring Leeds Business people FOR FREE. Your half of the deal has two simple steps; 1) Share this episode with just ONE person who you think will get value from it 2) Post a review of the show or give this episode a ’thumbs up’ YOU MAY ALSO LIKE https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/colin-glass/ https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/phil-fraser/ https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/daniel-priestley/ ABOUT YOUR HOST Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s...