Kegs!

Still working on my business plan!  Even though I do not plan on seeking bank financing, I am really happy that I decided to do a business plan.  It is making me be sure that I have considered all situations.  This should reduce surprises later on.  The drawback is I really want to get started, but I am forcing myself to finish the plan before I do anything else.   Currently I am down to all of the financial projections in the plan.  The start-up costs, revenue projections, P&L projections, etc. 

I had some fun looking at kegs, and was surprised to find that so many different options exist.  Both the new and used keg market appears to be pretty large.  I like the idea of new kegs better than used as they should have a longer life.   The big thing appears to be leasing programs.  Many place offer lease or rent to own offers on kegs.  At first I thought this was going to be a bad deal, where you pay so many times the cost of the keg over a couple of years.  However, as I looked into this I found I was wrong.  The leasing programs appear to be fair deal, and something I might consider. 

What really surprised me was the cost to buy new custom kegs.  It is not much more to have your logo stamped into the side of the keg than to just buy the plain kegs.  Of course it does add up as you buy more kegs, so the total expense is still more.  It is also an extra expense that might not be needed for a new company, but it was still surprising to me.  They do make the kegs look cool, so it is something to consider.  Lots of companies offer printing of the logo on the side of the keg.  That is nice too, but to have the logo stamped into the metal is pretty cool.  Given that, I am a start up I will probably go with the printing. 

I also really liked the plastic keg idea, especially in the 1/6 barrel size.  They are lighter and can come in some cool colors.  If you plan on buying new kegs, you can custom order the tops and sides in different colors.  I am seriously considering this option, but need to do a little more research on how well they hold up and the lifespan of a keg. 

 I need to find some reviews of different manufactures and use that to help me decide.  With so many different suppliers, I think it will make the most sense to get a number of bids and use those to help decide what options to go with.