Asking for money online may not be the traditional way to fund a business but, thanks to crowdfunding website Kickstarter, it鈥檚 a path more and more entrepreneurs are choosing.
Local entrepreneur Jesse Paine used the site to raise the final $15,000 needed to launch his Squamish-based craft brewery, One Duck Brewing Company.
Not that it was easy, he explains.
鈥淭here were a few days in the middle of the campaign when I thought it wasn鈥檛 going to happen 鈥� when I was stuck at around $6,000 and had zero dollars come in for three or four days straight. I was pretty down in the dumps.鈥�
But thanks to a little local publicity and friends of friends who helped spread the word on social media, his campaign received the boost it needed.
鈥淚 was very, very happy that everything took off in the last week. It just skyrocketed.鈥�
As with many fledgling businesses, this initial success required a personal sacrifice 鈥� his time.
鈥淚鈥檓 super stoked that I met the goal, but it was very time-consuming. It鈥檚 nice that it鈥檚 over because I鈥檓 not glued to my phone 24/7 now and can actually spend time with my family again.鈥�
Paine鈥檚 passion for brewing started about six years ago, when he purchased his first homebrew kit for $200. His first beer, a Mexican lager, wasn鈥檛 good, he admits, 鈥溾�檛hough it wasn鈥檛 so terrible you couldn鈥檛 drink it.鈥�
Since then he鈥檚 been improving his recipes and fulfilling his challenge of personally sampling a different beer every day.
鈥淚鈥檓 at about 960 different beers,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e tried some terrible beers. I鈥檝e tried some really good beers, and I鈥檝e had some of the best beers in the world.鈥�
During this quest he鈥檚 developed a passion for Belgian-style ales, which have inspired some of the beers he鈥檒l be brewing and serving in his tap room, including the Belgian wit (light and citrusy), and the Belgian tripel (a strong yet smooth, bright gold ale).
鈥淚 just like the tradition of that style of brewing. It鈥檚 got more of a hands-on approach to it,鈥� he says, explaining that some of his beers will benefit from aging in the bottle, just like wine.
His focus, he says, won鈥檛 be on producing masses of average beer. Instead he鈥檚 aiming to produce great beer in the Sea to Sky Corridor and hopes his brews will become popular among local residents.
Although the craft beer market is becoming increasingly crowded, he still feels there鈥檚 opportunity for newcomers.
鈥淐raft beer drinkers tend not to just buy one beer and stick to it, they try a bit of everything and they like to have a brewery that has different stuff coming out all the time鈥� so I think they鈥檙e going to share the love amongst all of us.鈥�
Paine hopes to open his tap room doors in time for Christmas.
