Built from scratch: How a family turned craft beer into a holiday tradition
When Kym and Joe Toner started GiveThemBeer in 2014, they didn't have investors, a large team or a detailed business plan.They had $10,000 from selling their boat, a 1,000-square-foot warehouse and an idea: Turn great craft beer into a memorable gift.Kym had experience in the gift industry, and both she and Joe had developed an appreciation for craft beer as the category grew across the country.
Joe came up with the name GiveThemBeer, and the couple got to work.Their first gifts featured six craft beers arranged in metal buckets.
Joe shrink-wrapped each order himself before shipping it.The company received its first order on Feb.
23, 2014.Kym and Joe wanted to make it easy to give someone a gift filled with products they really want.(GiveThemBeer.com)In its early years, GiveThemBeer was a family project built around busy schedules.
Kym stayed home with the couple's young children and worked on the business after they went to bed.She answered customer emails, printed orders and handled whatever needed attention the following day.
Joe continued working in corporate insurance while helping build the company.For several years, GiveThemBeer was not profitable."We didn’t have investors or a mentor telling us what to do," Kym said."We just kept trying things, figuring out what worked and paying attention to what people actually wanted."That process became the company's foundation.
At first, Kym and Joe assumed customers would gravitate toward clever beer names, colorful labels and themed gifts.But they quickly learned that customers cared less about novel packaging and more about the quality of the beer inside.GiveThemBeer shifted its focus to curated assortments of highly rated craft beers from breweries across the country.
The goal was simple: Make it easy to give someone a gift filled with products they would genuinely enjoy.GiveThemBeer’s Beer Briefcase received national television attention in late 2015, giving the young company some of its first major expo...