How this entrepreneurial duo turned a craft beer idea into a successful business

11/01/2024 17:15
How this entrepreneurial duo turned a craft beer idea into a successful business

Talea Beer Company co-founders recalled how they carved out a niche for their craft beer brand in a crowded market.

How do you turn an idea for a business into a successful venture?

For New York City-based entrepreneurs LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson, it took a disciplined, research-driven approach to find opportunity in a crowded market.

With the US beer market projected to reach nearly $150 billion by 2032, Darland and Hankinson co-founded Talea Beer Co., a craft beer company that found its niche in a market dominated by industry giants like Anheuser-Busch (BUD), Constellation Brands (STZ), and Boston Beer Company (SAM).

It all started with a hypothesis that the experience and culture of beer — its pubs, packaging, and taste — were all focused on men and that “women were not being attended to by craft beer.”

Talea Beer Co. founders LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson found a niche for their small business in an otherwise saturated beer market. (Talea)

Talea Beer Co. founders LeAnn Darland and Tara Hankinson found a niche for their small business in an otherwise saturated beer market. (Talea)

The duo conducted market research to prove their hypothesis and found a significant gap in the craft beer market. Darland and Hankinson's research showed that despite women making up 30% of craft beer drinkers, many felt sidelined by brands that catered predominantly to male consumers.

That was when the concept behind Talea was born.

"We wanted to create a beer company that spoke to a broader audience beyond the typical 'beer bro,'" Darland said.

Darland and Hankinson didn’t just slap a different label on a beer bottle. They built an entire experience around craft beer for women, with brighter tap rooms, more colorful labeling and packaging, and more aromatic and fruity flavors.

When they first tested their beer on the market, "9 out of 10 times, we would convert women [into craft beer drinkers]," Darland said. "And it's the best feeling because they haven't been spoken to. No beer companies are trying to expand craft beer to this consumer."

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 28: Two women taste blonde beers in a crystal glass during the Gran Festival de la Cultura Cervecera de España, at the Feria de Madrid IFEMA, May 28, 2022, in Madrid, Spain. Cerveceros de España celebrates its centenary with a Gran Festival de la Cultura Cervecera de España from May 27-29, where 50 breweries from all sizes and regions of Spain present their creations directly to the consumer. For three days, visitors can enjoy a quality gastronomic offer in food-truck format and an activity room that offers a full program with talks, tastings and workshops, whose main objective is the dissemination of beer culture. (Photo By Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Two women taste blonde beers in crystal glasses during the Gran Festival de la Cultura Cervecera de España on May 28, 2022, in Madrid, Spain. (Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images) · Europa Press News via Getty Images

Like Talea, all small businesses start at the "concept stage," the first phase of establishing a company based on a thought or an idea.

Market research is a crucial step in determining a product’s viability. By conducting market research, you can answer questions about location, pricing, market size, and, most importantly, market demand and saturation.

Market research should be done “before you put your first dollar and your first brow of sweat into [the business],” said Steve Zagor, a professor at Columbia School of Business and food business consultant.

There are over 33 million small businesses in the United States, accounting for a whopping 99.9% of all US companies and 43% of US GDP, according to the US Chamber of Commerce. Yet 42% of small businesses fail due to a lack of market demand.

But the more you analyze your market and people's behaviors, "the more opportunity you have to beat all of these competitors in the marketplace," Zagor said.

Although market research can be expensive, Zagor recommends doing it “until you feel you have enough data, either pro or con, to justify or change the product idea that you have.”

When testing a product, it is essential “to find an independent testing opportunity where you're testing it on a broader market of people that don't know who you are and get real honest responses to the product,” said Zagor.

Currently, Talea is opening its fifth taproom, a temporary location in the Penn District in Manhattan, as a “trial run” to test the neighborhood before building out a permanent space.

"Don't let yourself wait until you have the absolute perfect thing and the perfect packaging and the perfect name," Hankinson advised potential entrepreneurs. "That's never going to happen. Sometimes, you just need to start and get going."

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