David Sheets and Larry Greenstein are no strangers to the craft beer industry. As owners of the Blind Murphy Craft Beer Market, for almost a decade they set out to create unique and delicious beverages for their customers. And what started as a one-off batch of a hard pumpkin-pie soda would eventually lead to the creation of Naughty Soda.
In 2013, the pair sold their craft beer shop and began brewing from a small industrial location. Not long after, their non-alcoholic versions of the soda gained national attention and they realized that they would need to find a bigger space to maintain growth.
With several inventive varieties of hard soda in the pipeline and the desire to open a tasting room alongside a larger production facility—David and Larry realized they needed a plan. One that would help them manage all of these ideas as well as bring in additional funding. And the best solution they found to fit their needs was LivePlan.
Planning, managing, and funding made easy
For David, “having a plan lets me know that I've accomplished what I've needed to accomplish.” Using LivePlan's pitch and integrated accounting solutions, he's able to dive in regularly with the confidence that his plan and financials are up to date. It means that he can spend less time messing with calculations and reworking milestones, and more time actually keeping the business healthy. “We're very active users of LivePlan, the ability to bring information from QuickBooks into LivePlan automatically is absolutely amazing.”
Aside from day-to-day management and monthly performance reviews, they also leverage LivePlan when pitching to potential investors. By sharing the plan, David is able to give immediate access to the plan, performance metrics, and financial forecasts that showcase the value of Naughty Soda. “We're constantly looking for more investments. All of my board members fly around the country and if we have a conference call, they can just pull it up.”
Brewing up a tasty future
Nine years later, Naughty Soda is still thriving and continues to expand both its hard-cider and craft beer offerings with Ironmonger Brewing. They've stuck with the creative experimentation that made them so successful and seem to find more and more ways to invent new and tasty concoctions. With bright and bold ideas, a plan in place, and the desire to actively manage the business David and Larry are poised to keep growing and building more opportunities for their business.
