Derek Sisson Of Famous Brands On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Self-care is immensely important. You must take time to step from your laptop, take a walk for an hour or so, and give yourself that time to be in the moment. Business is important, but your health and wellness are more important.
As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Derek Sisson.
Native Texan, former Force Recon Marine, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, Derek Sisson is the Founder and CEO of Famous Brands, a renowned creator of exceptional high-quality spirits and beverages that embody the American values of freedom, unity, and independence.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
Born in Houston, I’m a 7th generation Texan, and grew up in a typical middle-class family. I am a product of a conservative lifestyle, with church every Sunday, and most kids I grew up with were very involved in sports. The mentality was very much of the era, as there were no participation trophies, the “rub some dirt on it” approach was common, and if you wanted to excel, you really had to earn it. Unfortunately, a lot of that is missing for kids today, so when they leave the nest, they will find that the world is often a rough, cruel place. Despite how difficult it could be, I’m grateful that I grew up with the expectation of really earning what I wanted.
Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?
When I was a wine and spirits distributor five years ago, I had been driving with a friend from San Antonio to Houston. and staring out the window I saw a big ranch with a large bronze buffalo and horses all over the property. I turned to my business partner and said, “’merica, man.” And while we were laughing at what seemed so absurd, I realized this was that homeowner’s American dream, and that we all have our own version of the American dream. A question suddenly hit me: Is “Merica” trademarked? It was like a light bulb came on in my brain. We did some research and despite some challenges, we were able to get it trademarked, and “Merica Beer” was born.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
That would undoubtedly be my initial experience with Walmart. I had been filling out the paperwork to present Merica Bourbon to Walmart and flew to Bentonville, Arkansas to deliver a 15-minute presentation. The first thing the Walmart team did when they entered the conference room where my partner and I were waiting was to sit down and let us know that they weren’t interested in whiskeys at that time. It was disappointing but I hadn’t gone into the presentation with high expectations.
After the presentation, I began a conversation with the procurement director and she and I connected in that her father was also a veteran. At the close of our conversation, she said she was going to give me “license to hunt”. I wasn’t familiar with the phrase, and she let me know that essentially, she would put Merica Bourbon in the system and if any Walmart store managers wanted to pick it up, they could. It also meant that the product would be on the shelves of 750–1200 Walmart locations.
We were so excited — this was a significant movement in the company’s journey — but what I had not shared with her, or the rest of the Walmart team, was that we had no money and no whiskey! We had taken a fake bottle that was somebody else’s whiskey and put a Merica Bourbon sticker on it. We ended up utilizing an “accelerator” that allowed us to quicken the process of aging whiskey so we had product to sell, so in the end it worked out.
Moral of the story: Do not meet with the largest retailer in the world and not have product.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Naturally, being undercapitalized is a big mistake, and I recommend individuals have at least one year of savings to fall back on. When you jump into the entrepreneurial world, it’s like jumping out of a plane — you can jump out, but you can’t jump back in. Another mistake is not knowing enough about the industry you want to become involved in. For myself, I started as an importer, then a distributor, and then a brand owner. Over the course of a decade, I learned as much as I could and was involved in every aspect of the business, from presentations, to demos, to deliveries. It’s crucial to really immerse yourself in the business.
Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
Naturally, one of the first steps is to secure some capital, but before that you should reach out to others who have been successful in the business. Mentorship can make a huge difference as insights from individuals who have been there and done that know the industry in a unique and more authentic way. It’s through these individuals that you get the most powerful knowledge, and you’d be surprised how many people will want to help you along the way. You also need to keep an eye on the trends and what market share looks like in the space. Make sure there is a need for the product, because if there’s not, there’s no need to go through all the efforts of securing capital. A great way to test the waters is to get the product into the hands of objective parties (not friends and family) for an honest take.
Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?
It’s all about taking action. That doesn’t mean you have to be all in at the start — I think when you’re starting a project it’s about eating one piece of the pie at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself and have a clear plan for execution. Pretty soon, if you keep taking it one thing at a time, you’re going to build a successful business.
One of the most crippling things in the entrepreneurial space is fear. A lot of great ideas sit on the table because people are crippled with fear or self-doubt. And even when you make it, not everyone is going to be your cheerleader. Sometimes people actually want to watch you fall. Believing in yourself is a key ingredient to building a successful business, as well as surrounding yourself with friends and family who can be a strong support system.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
Definitely strike out on your own. There are a lot of charlatans out there who will promise you the world. This is a recent experience I had, where someone promised they could deliver on needs that would strengthen the business, and after payment they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. I learned a valuable lesson. Believe it or not, there are quite a few people who are willing to help you for free, especially those how are retired — they have so much knowledge to impart and would love to see it translated into someone else’s success. Also, be sure to tap into LinkedIn. It takes five seconds to reach out and make a connection.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
You should turn to bootstrapping until you get an actual purchase order. Once that’s done, you can begin engaging venture capitalists for support. You don’t want to jump the gun, put yourself in debt and add stress to your life! Wait for that first purchase to come in and then you can start looking into VC.
Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?
When it comes to filing a patent it’s quite simple, costs about $350 (depending) and can easily be done by a platform like LegalZoom. It can be helpful to have a patent attorney on hand should there be some kind of challenge or opposition. In terms of sourcing raw ingredients, it’s important to do your research to find vendors within the space who are aligned with your approach, values and morals, as they will basically serve as a partner in the overall success of the business. A great way to do this is to visit their facility, and this approach is the same when it comes to sourcing a good manufacturer. Networking is a huge part of the process in finding a retailer or distributor. It can be challenging to get your foot in the door, so establishing relationships can make a huge difference — they are often the key to engaging with additional retailers and distributors.
What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why?
1. Passion: As an entrepreneur, it’s important to be passionate about your business. If you don’t have that passion, you will undoubtedly fail. In the past, as I eventually made my way to creating Merica Beer, I had my moments where I was less than passionate about my work, and it affected the business.
2. Faith: Whatever it is that you believe in, have faith because you’ll need that faith on your entrepreneurial journey. Along the way you will lose friends and family because they weren’t as supportive of your journey. I had my own share of friends and family fall by the wayside due to their lack of support.
3. Self-care: Self-care is immensely important. You must take time to step from your laptop, take a walk for an hour or so, and give yourself that time to be in the moment. Business is important, but your health and wellness are more important.
4. Capital: Of course, having backing, or at least savings of some kind, is crucial to creating a successful food or beverage brand. In my own excitement to start Merica Beer, there were times when I just wanted to jump in but had to take a step back and remind myself there was a process that needed to be followed.
5. Education: One of the most important things is learning everything you can about the industry you are embarking on. Make a concerted effort to meet as many people as you can, to ask those burning questions, and you’ll be setting yourself up for success. I regularly monitored the market to check out trends to better inform my business-related decisions.
Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?
One of the key elements is, even if you don’t have a multimillion-dollar budget, you better create something that people can have an emotional connection to. This applies to all industries, including in the spirits space, and you have to really think about who your target audience and what their personal reactions might be. Ultimately, the approach will create that organic emotional following that will generate product success. Of course, I believe in our beer, but our hope is that when people initially look at the product in stores and reach for it it’s because they’re passionate about this country and the statement that we’re trying to make.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I’m not nearly as grouchy as I used to be once I started paying myself! In all seriousness, Merica Beer gives back to quite a few nonprofits, including those for veterans (including those with PTSD), first responders and law enforcement. We also look for opportunities to get wheelchairs for people in need, help Gold Star Families and give their children a gentle window into how their loved one(s) supported our country. As we continue to grow, we will seek out more opportunities to give back — it’s important we support one another and make real efforts to make a difference.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would say hope. If I could inspire people to really believe in themselves and try to create a better life — not necessarily materialistic — and be happy and in a safe space, that would be so meaningful for me. I hope whatever I’m doing while I’m on this earth, when they see a knucklehead like me, they will think: “If he can do it, so can I.” With this younger generation there is a lot of reason for hope as they are really dedicated to unity and to making this world a better place.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.