Young Canadian Entrepreneurs: Success Story of Manjit Minhas

Company History, Products/services and Background

The story of Minhas Brewery and Distillery, which is now a group of companies with over 155 million dollars last year with even more income projected for this year, begins in 2006. In 2006, Manjit Minhas and her brother purchased what was at the time the second oldest brewery in the united states, originally named Joseph Huber for 10 000 dollars, scraped together by the siblings who refused to borrow money from their parents and were denied loans by all the banks they applied to. The Minhas siblings since then have grown the original brewery based in midwest america and cut international and national distribution deals with Costco’s signature brand “Kirkland” and Trader Joe’s in the US. While introducing new products and expanding their brand, Minhas Brewery has also become a leader in social and environmental aspects in their industry.

The Company Annual Revenues and Other Financials

Net worth: $200 million Manjit started off with taking advantage of $10, 000 with her brother to acquire one of the oldest Brewing companies named Minhas Craft Brewery which used to be called Joseph Huber. The beer company is currently one of the largest in Canada and more than 200 people are employed by Minhas Craft Brewery. The company’s sales are over $150 million. In June 2012 Manjit and her brother started their second company in Calgary, Alberta a brewery named Minhas Micro Brewery. The companies combined with the breweries and distilleries is worth $155 million. The company has sold over 6 million pints of beer. The company has over 90 brands of beers, spirits, liqueurs and wines. Her products are sold in 43 states throughout the US, they are also sold in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, as well as 15 other countries which are located in Europe, Asia, and South America.

Entrepreneur’s Educational and Business Background

Manjit Minhas was enrolled in an engineering programs at the University of Calgary and the University of Regina, she was also educated as a petroleum engineer; however, after a few years, her focus changed to entrepreneurship and she decided to concentrate on creating and marketing businesses. Manjit Minhas is the co-founder and co-owner of the Breweries, Distilleries, and Wineries under the Minhas brewery name. Currently, she has over 90 brands of beers, spirits, liqueurs, and wines. Her products are sold in 5 provinces (Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia), as well as 45 states throughout the USA and 16 other countries. Manjit Minhas takes Social Responsibility very seriously so she is the 1st brewer in Canada to voluntarily put a Management Warning on all her beer cans. The Management Warning on the cans reads " Managament warning: Please do not drink and drive - ever. Expectant mothers should avoid drinking alcoholic products. Enjoy this product responsibly - Respect yourself and others". She puts this on all her products because she believes as a responsible brewer and citizen of this country, it is important she does her part to educate Canadians. More recently, Manjit Minhas has been investing in a wide range of small private companies as part of her new role as a "dragon" on CBC TV's Dragons' Den. Furthermore, she created and manufactures a special 48 can pack of Kirkland Light beers for Costco sold around the world which has the least amount of packaging materials compared to any other product in Canada or USA. It uses no plastic hi-cone rings and needs the least amount of box material. This product alone will save millions of pounds of packaging materials ending up in the already overfilled landfills. Similarly, Manjit Minhas has sold millions of cases of other brands of her beers such as Boxer Lager with minimum packaging materials using sound engineering principles in protecting the environment. Additionally, she believes that effective use of science and engineering can do a lot of good in people's lives. She has used her engineering background in producing beer using least amount of cleaning and water treatment chemicals, gas, electricity and water.

What Prompted Them to Enter Into Her Business/industry

Appearing in Edmonton on Oct. 18 at a TD-sponsored conference, Minhas had an inspirational speech to small business audience how to succeed. The main words of her speech was:“I gravitate toward mentoring women because I like to get them to think outside the box, break that glass ceiling and get into a business they're passionate about” She was primarily ignored by every Canadian distiller she approached to co-pack the product. It was a struggle. For many reasons she attended a distillers conference in Texas. The main reason was searching of contacts.

“My plan was to meet as many people as I could and deliver my pitch as to who I was and what I was looking for to every person I met, ” Minhas says. The beginning of her way in the big industry started when she discovered that her target ran the largest family-owned distillery in the USA and was shipping to Canada. Her first supplier also became one of her first mentors. Minhas has a belief in the power of both giving and receiving mentorship.

“TD recognizes the undeniable value that mentorship can have on small business owners, ” says Sara Thomson, senior vice-president, Small Business Banking at TD. “That’s why sponsoring events that connect our small business customers with successful and inspirational entrepreneurs – and potential future mentors – like Manjit is so important to us. ”It is easy to find a mentor, one thing you need is a business plan and great ideas.

What Major Challenges to Establish and Make the Business a Success

The first challenge Manjit Minhas encountered was breaking into the industry. This was difficult since Manjit Minhas did not have a background in the brewery industry, instead she studied engineering at the University of Calgary and University of Regina. Another challenge incurred was When first starting of the banks would not give Minhas a loan without having her parents co-sign for her, because Minhas wanted to do this on her own she started the company by using $10, 000 of her own savings. By far her biggest challenge was due to her quick success, this gained the attention of the Ontario Provincial Police, who began “investigating the companies finances for mafia ties” this investigation set back the company as the company was barred from the Beer Store during this time and the money that was spent into advertising and campaigns was useless as no product could be sold and the beer went bad by the time they were able to sell again, during this period the company saw a loss of $1. 5 million.

Manjit Minhas started her business with $10000. Which she acquired by selling her car and scrapped all the money she and her brother had in their bank accounts. And she started putting money in her business that she earned by working in her father’s chain of liquor store. Manjit Minhas is an excellent example of the kind of character a successful entrepreneur should have. Her perseverance, responsibility, and courage are traits that her story highlights as keys to success. The first trait her story teaches us to have when running a successful business is perseverance, her perseverance was demonstrated in her willingness to keep the company running amid allegations of mob ties that caused the company losses of 1. 5 million dollars in the early stages of her company’s development. The second lesson Manjit taught us is the importance of being responsible. Minhas’ companies are recognized within the industry as a leader in both social and environmental responsibility. This responsibility is exemplified in the packaging that sets her company apart from the competition; Minhas brewery being the first company to have a management label showed the social responsibility, while the waste minimizing packaging showcased the environmental responsibility of her companies.

Finally the trait that made the inception of Minhas’ breweries possible was Manjit’s courage, which she displayed when she was creating her brewery, after many failed attempts to get a bank loan, Manjit realized that she was going to need use her own savings to start the brewery. Manjit’s courage is exemplified when she risked her own possible retirement comfort to make her goal possible. These 3 characteristics; perseverance, responsibility, and courage lessons that we can all learn from Manjit to further our own careers and objectives, because they can apply to many aspects of business as well as in our personal lives.