It’s hard not to think that maybe we’re on the right track with our beer franchise concept when legit franchise industry professionals want in! We’re absolutely stoked to announce that Voodoo Brewery has joined forces with two prominent heavy-hitters in the franchising world to help us bring our beer franchise to cities across the U.S. of A.!
Let’s start with the backstory. With our exceptional beer and unbelievable success at each of our Voodoo taprooms, we’ve known we had something special since Day One. In fact, we were confident that our model would be a huge success in any market we tried it in, and we made a decision to see what Voodoo could do as a beer franchise.
After an initial test period of opening franchise locations in Cleveland and New Kensington, we know we’ve got the magic formula- and we’re not just talking about our kickass beer!
In other words, Voodoo Brewery is now officially franchising on a national level and targeting new markets across the country where we think our beer franchise concept would really take off. (Since we’ve yet to find a city in America that doesn’t like beer, this should go really well.)
But, if you know us, you know this- we hate anything that’s got that “corporate machine” feel to it, and we weren’t about to hand over the Voodoo Brewery beer franchise concept to just any old rando. We knew we had to partner with the right people to bring our dream to life and allow us to keep everything that makes us special intact while we expand. Because believe us, there is no way in hell we’d be OK with turning a magical brewpub that has taken years of our blood, sweat, and tears into a boring, cookie-cutter beer franchise that you can find at the airport. So lame.
In order to see a future where Voodoo Brewery is one of the top taprooms in every major city, without losing the special sauce that makes us US, we wanted to partner with people who had successfully grown franchises across the country, not just quickly but with the RIGHT Franchise Owners at the helm of each location! And that’s where Brent Dowling and Mike Edwards come in.
We first met Brent and Mike when we started making plans to take this crazy beer franchise dream and give it wings. As the respective CEO and President of Raintree, a highly-successful franchise development and marketing firm in Denver, Brent and Mike know a thing or two about how to grow a franchise on a national level, having helped over 30 franchise brands, including Jamba, Cheba Hut, and Famous Dave’s BBQ, achieve franchise development goals. Best of all, Raintree specializes in growing brands with unique, left-of-center identities operating within niche industries, helping them to achieve their full potential without sacrificing their individuality. In other words, we knew the Raintree peeps would hook us up with the right people to take this beer franchise thing national.
From the first meeting, Brent and Mike were impressed with the Voodoo Brewery model and could see that our beer franchise concept had legs. In fact, they were SO impressed that they wanted to become part of the Voodoo Brewery family themselves!
That last part is kind of a big deal- after developing 30 brands with Mike in their combined 30 years of experience, Brent had only invested in one other brand besides Voodoo, so it’s not like he goes around buying into every franchise brand he works with at Raintree. He says, “I’ve personally developed close to 30 brands now and have never seen something as unique, both from a cultural standpoint and a product standpoint. This franchise truly has all the traits of brands we’ve truly seen go galactic. We’re not only going to the moon, but we’re going across the universe with this thing!”
Mike felt similarly about Voodoo Brewery and the beer franchise opportunity we’re offering, and also wanted in on the action, not only because he feels confident in our success as a beer franchise, but also because he loves our company culture. “What a very cool brand!” he says. “I love the feeling and the vibe of their locations. The name is cool, the look and the vibe are cool, and the beer is absolutely delicious!”
Mike also noted the value that the Voodoo Brewery corporate team brings to the table, both in terms of our product and the level of support our Franchise Owners can count on from Day One of partnering with our beer franchise. “Voodoo has an awesome team!” he says. “Jake and Mateo have not only brewed some fantastic award-winning beers but once you see the team in action it is very clear why Voodoo keeps on putting out great products. When you see all the awards that Voodoo brewery has garnered for their products and you see how they are revered by other brewers, being able to join this team is a no-brainer!”
Brent, an Aussie who loves drinking beer and having fun when he isn’t helping franchise brands achieve monumental success, also dug the idea of investing in a company that brings him fulfillment on a personal level- especially after getting a firsthand look at how much our Franchise Owners love operating their Voodoo Brewery locations! He explains, “More than anything, I’m looking to work with folks and business models that I can truly enjoy at this stage in my career. After seeing what drove the Franchise Owners I’m currently working with, I realized I was basically the same person as them and saw the opportunity to get involved with something I could have fun with.”
Timing was also a factor for Brent, who was encouraged by our ability to navigate the COVID-19 juggernaut that we’ve all had to deal with this year, not to mention the sweet funding and real estate deals our future Franchise Owners can cash in on for the foreseeable future. “The timing on the partnership couldn’t be better from our perspective,” he notes. “I’ve never seen the real estate and lending environment be so favorable to franchising investments.”
Mike agrees, noting that Franchise Owners can invest in a Voodoo beer franchise for a mere fraction of the cost of other concepts that don’t even come close to what we offer in quality, passion, and individuality. “Voodoo Brewery is not only a unique offering, as there are not a lot of opportunities to own a beer franchise, but they also made it extremely affordable as the Franchise Owners does not have to become a brewer of beer and spend a small fortune on the equipment,” he says, adding, “Voodoo does all the brewing for the Owners.”
As both a franchise development expert and a Voodoo Brewery partner, Brent is anticipating some massive growth opportunity for our beer franchise for the rest of 2020 into 2021, as people return in droves to their favorite American pastime- drinking beer! “We’re already seeing a new level of demand for people to congregate as communities, have fun, and have some of the world’s best beers,” he says, adding, “We’ve never seen this kind of demand and see it continuing next year.”
So, what we guess we’re saying here is, we now have two legit franchising gurus on our corporate team, which is a win for all of us, especially our Franchise Owners! We couldn’t be happier to welcome Brent Dowling and Mike Edwards to the Voodoo tribe, and look forward to creating some serious franchise “magick” with them as we take this beer franchise to cities across the country!
Imagine bringing a beer franchise that doesn’t behave like a beer franchise to your neck of the woods- Voodoo Brewery offers Franchise Owners the unique opportunity to fulfill their lifelong dream of operating an award-winning craft brewery with an eclectic vibe and a legion of fans…all without ever brewing a single beer themselves! Are you in? Visit our beer franchise website to learn more./i>
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