I would say I learned from my mom. From an early age, my mum used to be someone who sold stuff. We always sold something in our house. She would sew uniforms for schools in the rural areas, take them there, sell them, or exchange them for grains, foodstuffs or other things that are found in the rural areas. Come with them to the city, sell them and then we would get money that way. 

I'm self-trained. It's not the academic way. I reversed the process, I start at the end. I start with the beer, the gas in my mind and imagine a beer that tastes like an orange and then work it backwards until I can achieve it. I learned that from my cocktail days.

For someone who never had that bit of academic knowledge, I had to start researching. Lucky enough, I got access to some books - I love reading and also YouTube. I would go on the internet and research a few things. 

I came into the industry when it was growing, but there were a few guys, a few breweries that had been in the game for a few years, the likes of your Devil's Peak, your Riot Beer and other guys. They've been there for a while and everyone is there to support you and give you advice here and there. Some of them have gone through the same journey as me. And literally, they'll be telling you about their experiences, and now and then, you know, you listen to this person and they are talking about exactly something that relates to you.

Right at the beginning, I think I was lucky enough to have worked in a bar that sold a lot of beer. I've seen how just a mere label on the bottle can sell more products. Someone with better branding will sell more than someone with a better product, you know? So I experienced that first hand, selling these products because at that time I was living beer. I knew which was the best beer that I had. I also knew it was the best selling beer and mostly this was through branding. I became conscious of that. So when I started from day one, I knew that I had to have a certain look.

When you start having a small following of people that consume your content, some of them call you and ask you for advice. Some are going into the same industry and you've always been the guy who's there to share information. But what also happens is that those same people that you are giving something, they become the fans of the brand.

When I got an opportunity to open a brewery and I needed a bit of money, I had to go to people and say, "Look, I've got a product. So and so is buying it. So and so is buying it. A few people are even willing to sign commitments that if we make more then they will buy more". So I went to a few guys and asked them to sign those things. I went to a few investors and luckily after some time I got one guy who put in a bit of money and then he joined the business.

You look for people, firstly, who are in this for a long time, in it to build. Secondly, they have to have the necessary skills. I personally prefer someone who is less skilled but more committed than the one who has skills and is not committed. Building a team is a huge challenge for a small business. Many a time you start something and think it'll be exciting and anyone wants to jump in. And some people want to jump in for the wrong reasons.

Things do go south, actually. I remember, in 2017, we opened the brewery. We did an amazing launch  and lot of people came. It was amazing. You know, getting a lot of attention from everywhere you go, from media, it was great. Then time goes on. Now the reality starts sinking in. We have problems with shelf life. We send the beer out in the markets. You are happy that you made a sale, you've got a new guy but two weeks later, or three weeks later, a month later, that guy calls you. Your beer has gone bad, you now have to take fresh stock, go replace the old stock. You're losing money and you're losing out on opportunity costs and you're trying to protect the reputation of the business. 

it's very important to have that support structure and have everyone that matters to you knowing exactly what you want and knowing exactly the sacrifices that you're making and helping you along the journey.