YOUR KEY PARTNER IN COST EFFECTIVE KEG SOLUTION by Anita Flowers NORTH KEG M att Wowchuk was well into writing a business plan for opening a brewery when he discovered the costs and com - plications of buying a sufficient number of kegs upfront. He and his business partner shifted focus and soon North Keg, a keg leasing company, opened with the goal of providing brewers an alternative path to owning the best quality kegs in the industry.
could to prepare me as an entrepreneur. And I still learn every day on the fly.” While having a beer with a friend, the two began brainstorming the idea of opening a craft brewery. “Craft beer in Canada was really starting to take off and we both really enjoyed craft beer. We didn’t know the first thing about brewing beer. He had previously started a company and I had obviously had my experience in university starting businesses.” The two began exploring the possibility of opening their own craft brewery, creating a business plan and a potential profit and loss statement. “The last question that we had was how do you go about acquiring your kegs?” After talking to several experienced brewers about the challenges of starting a brewery, Wowchuk discovered a common problem – kegs. “We kept hearing this - kegs are difficult. So, we started looking at how you go about acquiring your keg float.”
orth n keg
Matt Wowchuk, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of North Keg chatted with Spotlight about entrepreneurship and the success of his lease to own keg business. While earning his business degree at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Wowchuk signed up for an entrepreneurship elective and found himself faced with a group challenge. “Essentially, you’re given $100 and you have to create a profitable business out of that. My group started a business. We had some struggles becoming profitable, but it was a great learning experience.” Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Wowchuk began the entrepreneurship program at SMU, taking courses about running a small business, understanding venture capital and more. “Throughout high school and my early university days, I was never so much an involved student. I just went to class and went home. But this really motivated me.” Wowchuk worked with the Business Development Centre, an incubator for entrepreneurship, and helped design a couple of entrepreneurship courses. “I wouldn’t say that you can really prepare anyone for life as an entrepreneur because every single day, new challenges are being thrown at you that really nobody can teach. The only way to learn is to fail in those challenges or find solutions on your own. SMU did absolutely everything that it
“I wouldn’t say that you can really prepare anyone for life as an entrepreneur because every single day, new chal- lenges are being thrown at you that really nobody can teach.”
“ We kept hearing this - kegs are diffi - cult. So, we started looking at how you go about acquiring your keg float. ”
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SEPTEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2020
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