The cover story of the features three alumni-led startups, exploring how students' Dal experience has set them up for entrepreneurial success. We'll be publishing these stories here on Dal News throughout the week.
Before Peter Burbridge (BA鈥�06, MBA鈥�09) even started his MBA at H漫画 in 2007, he knew he wanted to launch his own coffee roastery business after graduating. But, as career paths often do during university, his focus changed 鈥� in his case, from brown beans to sustainable suds.
Burbridge can鈥檛 quite pinpoint when his transformation began, but a class on zero-emissions brewing in his Patterns for Sustainable Development course played a part. It was his first exposure to the idea of using a brewery鈥檚 waste streams to make new products. Burbridge, a homebrewer and supporter of sustainable business, was hooked. 鈥淎fter that class, it just stuck in mind,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 thought it would be really interesting to pull off in my own business or see how close I could come.鈥�
Four years later, in 2013, his goal came closer to reality when he opened North Brewing Company in the heart of Halifax鈥檚 burgeoning north end. Though the microbrewery is a long way from being zero emissions, Burbridge thinks they鈥檙e on the right track with initiatives like giving all of its spent grain to a farm for animal feed. In the meantime, he and partner Josh Herbin are focused on producing a range of preservative-free Belgian ales meant to satisfy even the most discerning beer buff. 聽
It was no easy feat getting the business to this point, however. After graduating, Burbridge continued mastering his own homebrews while working in wholesale at Java Blend, a popular roastery and caf茅. Owner Jim Dikaios鈥檚 mentorship was invaluable, but Burbridge always knew he鈥檇 have to move on. 鈥淒oing one repetitive job over and over again doesn鈥檛 really work for me,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ith your own business, it鈥檚 much more dynamic; you鈥檙e always doing something different and always being presented with new challenges.鈥�
The biggest challenge he faced in getting the taps flowing was money. By June 2012, he had raised enough funds through equity, friends and family to get in the doors of 2576 Agricola Street but barely enough to stay in business. 鈥淚 realized that I severely underestimated what we might need, which was about twice as much as we had.鈥�
He never stopped believing he鈥檇 get North Brewing open, however, and took the advice of people like H漫画 Assistant Professor David Roach, who taught the entrepreneurship portions of courses Burbridge took during his MBA. He eventually secured about $65,000 in loans and financing, mostly through the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development (CEED), a non-profit that supports entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia, and on January 23, 2013, he opened the bright red doors of North Brewing Company for the first time. There were lineups out to the sidewalk. 聽
A year later, customers are still lining up, asking for the newest brews or seeking out North Brewing鈥檚 concoctions at 10 bars and restaurants throughout the city. 鈥淎 lot of people thought that we couldn鈥檛 possibly break even at this tiny scale within one year, but we鈥檝e definitely proven that we can,鈥� says Burbridge. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice when people say that you鈥檙e probably going to fail, and then you don鈥檛.鈥�
So what鈥檚 the secret? 鈥淢y advice to any aspiring entrepreneur is pretty simple. First, don鈥檛 let anyone discourage you, and second, get an advisory team in place. The more people you can talk to and get involved that have some experience and wisdom 鈥� people like David Roach 鈥� the more hard lessons you鈥檒l save yourself from having.鈥澛�
