Over the next couple of months we’ll be bringing you the personal thoughts and tips from Irish entrepreneur James Winans, founder & CEO of Vanguard Beer Collective. James is currently taking part in The AIB Start-Up Academy in association with The Irish Times as Her.ie and JOE.ie's wild card winner. Enjoy!  Vanguard Beer Collective is a marketing and distribution agency to the burgeoning Irish craft beer industry. The company was set up in mid 2013 by myself, James Winans, in order to address the many issues publicans were experiencing when sourcing beer from independent Irish craft breweries. VBC gives publicans and restaurateurs easy access to many different independent microbreweries across the country through a single contact, order, delivery and invoice. VBC also gives pubs and restaurants the opportunity to have rotation taps and access to many limited and seasonal beers. The Vanguard Story VBC, like most new businesses, started with blind optimism and enthusiasm. It quickly became both the most exciting and most terrifying adventure I had ever pursued. If there is one thing I learned as a first time entrepreneur, it was exactly how much I didn't know. The opportunity to spend one day a week, with other like minded people in similar start up positions is fantastic, as it creates a different perspective on the many issues we all seem to be tackling. That alone would make this course invaluable, but in addition we are getting great advice from professionals, at the top of their industries, who are willing to share with us how they got from initial start ups to where they are today. So far so good, I think the hair loss and sleepless nights are improving already!

The Entrepreneur

Before founding VBC, I was the Executive Chef for Kirsten Bosch Ltd., in addition to running the food operations at the Purty Kitchen (Dun Laoghaire) and The Step Inn (Stepaside, Dublin 18). I also played a key role in the development of the beer selection at both locations. It soon became apparent that dealing with small independent brewers was significantly more difficult than dealing with the more established, mainstream breweries. For instance, with a single call to Diageo or Heineken, as many as a dozen products would be delivered to the pubs straight away. In comparison, each craft beer would have to be ordered from the individual brewery, and then take as long as two weeks before someone from the brewery had time to make a delivery. These issues with supply, compounded with the added time it took to accept multiple small deliveries and process multiple invoices, made it very difficult to convince the pub's owners to take on more craft beer. What started as an exercise in streamlining purchasing from craft breweries ended up becoming the start of Vanguard Beer Collective. What's next for VBC? Today, VBC services over 150 accounts with craft beer and ciders from 13 different craft breweries. VBC handles all aspects of craft beer dispense from identifying and opening new accounts, logistics and distribution, dispense equipment installation, beer line maintenance, bespoke marketing and staff education. This new consolidated structure not only benefits pubs and restaurants, it is also becoming a cornerstone of many of the newly operating Irish craft breweries. VBC & The AIB Start-Up Academy We are really looking forward to the networking opportunities that The AIB Start-Up Academy has to offer. Not only will we be exposed to insider knowledge and real life experience from all the presenters, we will also be among some of the best start-ups this country has to offer. As a start up business there is always something to learn, whether it be via the easy way or the hard. The AIB Start-Up Academy will give us the tools we need to thrive as a new company and we plan to take full advantage of those tools. We hope to use what we learn to help our business grow. So far the experience has been invaluable and we are keen to put what we have learned into practice. Until next time, James For more about Vanguard Beer Collective check out their website, Twitter and Facebook pages.