Soooooooo it’s been a while since I last made an entry…

Whats fun about this one is exactly a year ago I did a Q&A from things people had asked me in the 2 months I had been publicly operating as Monon. I say publicly as there was a decent amount of behind the scenes things I did while still with my former employer, and my actual first sales day was 10/01/2016.

“What exactly are you?” I still get this question from time to time, or more interestingly people trying to convince me that I have my business name wrong and that I am really Monarch Beverage… I am pretty sure I know the name of my business, but oh well. To answer this in it’s most true form, I am a man. Bah-dum-tshhh. What people really are asking is “What is Monon Beverage?” The most simple answer that has changed slightly since the beginning is that “Monon Beverage provides sales, events, and distribution management” My focus is local, however, I have the incredible pleasure of working with an out of state producer (Moonlight Meadery) who is just doing some awesome stuff!

Sub question that comes from the above: “Would you represent someone who isn’t local?”: Well, there are 140 active Indiana breweries, 91 active Indiana wineries, and over 20 Indiana distilleries, so I have some pretty decent opportunity to represent people who are also local business owners such as myself. That being said, I have chatted with regional brands in the past, and there are a few regional brands I have talked with recently whom are of interest. At the end of the day, quality will answer this question.
“Where is your warehouse?” Im not a distributor, but a broker. My producers already have established distributors, Monon just helps them grow through existing channels, or helps find a channel that will best help them grow. This is a common one, but understandable since few are doing what Monon does, and I’d argue that no one does it on my level of customer service (yet).
“Why do you represent X producer?” Monon exists because there are awesome producers out there who just need a bit of love and legs to grow, but could allocate funds more efficiently than a solo sales rep. As mentioned in the post a year ago, the following question is still typically asked after this one.

“Didn’t X produce a bad product at one point in time?” Sure, but you weren’t good during your first day of work, or when you first played a sport. People learn and grow, it’s the nature of life. Let breweries get their sea legs then judge their beer. There have been breweries I tried when they are 6 months old, didn’t care for them too much, then tried their beer a year later and was blown away. Good things take time, don’t be a dick and hold a grudge.
“Would you ever represent X brand?” I stick with my original answer, but in addition, I am very picky about who I choose to work with now. I have always had a standard, but as I grow and Monon becomes better (with Scott’s help of course) we as a unit have deep talks about producers prior to even meeting with them. If either of us aren’t sure, typically the conversation ends there, or we explore their beer to see where they are at.

“Do you just do sales and events?” Monon is focused on our three core activities: sales, events, and distribution management. I could break it into sub-categories and say marketing and education as those are also daily tasks of Monon.

“You must drink so much!” Less a question, but still something I encounter weekly. My answer is the same. Rarely do I drink outside work based activities. Im around it so much, so its nice to drink water or tea opposed to beer, wine, or spirits. Nothing wrong with unwinding with a drink, just few and far between. I will unwind with Freya walks.
“Do you home brew beer or make wine?” Nope. I view it the same as an accountant who goes home from a busy day of crunching numbers to do his/her taxes for fun… Nothing wrong with it, just not my thing.

“Why did you start this business?” The answer is the same as the original, but in fewer words, I wanted to work for myself and provide a unique service that I felt was valuable for this industry.
“What next?” This one is fun since a year ago I touched on providing better customer service, as well as adding to my team. Ive done both! Adding Scott to my team helped with customer service, and keeps me on my toes. What will change in another year…? Im not sure, I am always working to better serve the bars, restaurants, and stores who support Monon. Between myself and Scott, the biggest task now is growing our footprint. The central 9 counties is our sweet spot, however there are several other markets we are growing into like Ft Wayne. Tons of opportunity, but taking care of those who already support us is most important.

So that is the long blog post to make up for a lack of posts recently. Also due to a poll on social media, it looks like live videos will be returning!

Get ready for those, follow Monon Beverage on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @mononbeverage
SPW