Forward Craft & Coffee: Local Coffee & Craft Beer in a Neighborhood Setting
Dan Podell, co-founder of Forward Craft & Coffee, handled digital marketing for business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing agencies for years, always thinking at some point he’d start his own business.
“Many of the businesses I’ve worked for in my career were entrepreneurial, and my most recent full-time job was at a startup marketing agency,” he says. “I think it’s so interesting and appealing to try to start your own business and make it work. It’s exciting to pave the way and create processes as you build something from the ground up.”
Podell and his co-founders’ enjoyment of craft beer and coffee drove their desire to put their own spin on that concept. The result is a locally focused craft beer and coffee bar in the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood of Madison that hosts game nights, trivia nights, and a cribbage league. Forward Craft & Coffee opened in June 2022 and has continued to grow.
“We are grateful to be in the Atwood Avenue neighborhood, which has been so supportive and happy that we’re here,” he says. “Being part of that community has been awesome. Our staff knows everyone’s name and will have a regular’s drink ready to go before they walk in the door.” ~Dan Podell
Working with the SBDC
Co-founder Chad Walhood has a sales background, and a third, passive ownership partner, Melissa Moss, has a finance background. To open the business, Podell and Walhood secured funding from Summit Credit Union. Their loan officer gave them advice on securing a loan with a top-notch business plan and suggested they look into programs at the SBDC.
Podell and Walhood participated in the SBDC’s Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP), which walked them through the steps of starting a business, to make sure they were on the right track with every decision.
“It was reassuring because we had a lot of stuff already, so going through the class, I knew we were doing the right things,” Podell says. “The class material covered things that were already on our radar or that we’d been doing, putting them into a recognizable format.”
Podell and Walhood also worked with SBDC business consultant Amy Bruner Zimmerman on their business plan and financial projections.
“My biggest takeaway was sharpening our business goals,” Podell says. “A lot of what we had in forecasting, preparation, and data was there, and we refined it as we worked with the SBDC. Amy was able to help us with insights about which things were most important and why.”
Zimmerman still works with Podell and Walhood on growth strategies for Forward Craft & Coffee and other potential new ventures.
“She’s been a great resource and is an ongoing asset,” Podell says. “I can ask her questions about future planning and about things that pop up, when I need to be pointed in the right direction.”
Leveraging existing skills
Podell says his digital marketing expertise has come in handy as an entrepreneur.
“It was intimidating getting into a new industry, in which none of the three of us had leadership or operational experience,” he says. “We all had service industry experience, but it was bartending, waiting tables, and catering. For me, knowing the marketing side and understanding business strategy was beneficial.”
Podell’s team was able to leverage their own skills for much of their marketing and reached out to partners for help designing their logo and branding assets. Distillery, a Madison-based marketing agency, designed the physical space.
Balancing a small business and a “day job”
“When we started, all 3 of us worked full time,” Podell says. “I took a huge step back and reduced my hours at the local marketing agency where I worked, to dedicate my time to starting the business. Chad had some flexibility, too.”
Podell eventually left his agency, but now that the business is successful and self-sustaining, with the right people and processes in place, Podell has returned to full-time digital marketing work, handling web and marketing management at Focus on Energy.
Unexpected learnings
Podell says to “expect the unexpected” in entrepreneurship and that “a million things, day to day,” happen that are surprising.
“For me, it’s the cash flow dance to make sure we have the proper funds,” he says. “My role is at the back of the house, making sure everything’s running smoothly. Chad handles the front of the house and employee-facing responsibility. We handle bills, cash flow, legal, due diligence, paying people, taking money in, and keeping licenses up to date. Prior to being a business owner, I had five to ten personal bills a month. Now, it’s in the hundreds. I knew it would be a lot of work, everyone knows that, and sometimes what that work is can change.”
Podell and Walhood have updated their viewpoints and processes based on what they’ve learned as the business has grown.
“We can’t become complacent,” Podell says. “For example, when hiring employees, we always need people, but we say we want attitude over experience. We can teach you to make a coffee and pour a beer, but we need a forward-thinking attitude. It’s important to take a second to find better ways, and new ways, to do things–how can we keep growing and make ourselves and our processes better?”
Podell tries to keep his motivation about why the business exists and what they want it to be at the forefront of his management.
“What else can we do for this business?” he says. “What else can we do to make it successful and enjoy it? We’re in an industry where things move fast, so how do we tie in new things, keep ourselves relevant to consumers, keep people knowing we’re here, and keeping it fresh and moving forward?”
Sharing thoughts with other entrepreneurs
Podell’s advice for other entrepreneurs in his line of business is to stay focused on your goals for what you want to do and why you want to do it.
“Those goals mean you know where to start and finish, and your research, strategy, and development happen as you determine how to get there,” he says. “It’s also essential to enjoy what you’re about to do. You need to want to continue to be part of that business in two years.”
Podell touches base from time to time with Garth Beyer of Garth’s Brew Bar, another SBDC client.
“He reached out to us right away, and I was interested to see how his business was doing, because it opened right before Covid,” Podell says. “He’s been a great colleague through this. It’s a great asset to have another person in the industry to talk with, and we’re even doing a joint promotion event in August: speed friending at each space, in an East Side vs. West Side competition.”
Forward Craft & Coffee has grown to about 12 employees since its 2022 opening.
“Now, we have a GM, a lead barista, beer purchasers, marketing coordinators, and bartenders,” Podell says. “Everyone wears multiple hats, because in a small business, you’re never just doing one thing all the time.”
What’s next
As Forward Craft & Coffee’s quarterly owners’ meeting approaches, the owners have the option of applying for a second funding round from Summit.
“We’re going to sit down and think about our next move,” says Podell. “The three of us will bring all our ideas, including open another shop, get into production, or keep focusing on this.”
Podell says even coming into a new industry, their business plan was pretty spot on in terms of how things have progressed with the company.
“The foundations of marketing, strategy, sales, and finance, those core pieces, are solid, and I give a lot of credit to our staff for bringing a wealth of industry knowledge with them,” Podell says. “I’ve learned so much.”
