SBS Blog > A business plan distilled through the MBA by Patrick Colquhoun

A business plan distilled through the MBA

By Patrick Colquhoun - Posted on 17 April 2020

After meeting during the full time MBA programme, a trio of graduates are now working on a new business project together - here, one of the trio Patrick Colquhoun talks about the MBA and their progress in a new distillery venture.

Daniel, Trystan and I all met in 2016 while studying an MBA at Strathclyde Business School and have remained friends ever since. We have very different backgrounds and had opportunities to work together on different modules and projects throughout the MBA. Since graduating we remained in touch and met regularly for social and networking events.

Immediately after graduation I continued to work with Luss Estates in various roles such as Head of Retail & Leisure and most recently Assistant CEO while Daniel and Trystan started a business consultancy supporting SMEs across a range of sectors. Over the last three years we have been discussing business opportunities, including establishing a distillery in various forms and locations.

The MBA provided us with a wide range of skills and techniques that worked to complement our existing experience and supported our ambitions to explore business opportunities beyond the 9-5. It took a holistic approach to business; breaking it down into its constituent parts to evaluate the core elements of business but also demonstrating how the business machine was a sum of its parts and its surroundings. In understanding how these elements worked individually - and collectively - we were better informed to analyse all aspects of organisations in the modern business world. We all took the learnings of the MBA and implemented them into our respective business ventures.

More recently, we have challenged ourselves to build on our current business knowledge and experience by applying the full suite of MBA learnings in starting our latest entrepreneurial venture; Glen Luss Distillery - the three of us have embarked on this new business venture together, building a micro distillery and brewery in the village of Luss on the shores of Loch Lomond, nestled in the heart of the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park.

The business school, and the MBA team in particular, have been a great support, putting us in touch with people in their network who can provide mentorship, expert advice or help us refine our business plan and shape our ideas for the future. We are also working with students of Strathclyde, providing distillery related projects that project real-world problems for the students to work on and offer us great resources to collaborate with to develop our business. We also plan to work with the university to provide opportunities to visit the distillery as we progress through the various project stages, which we feel will benefit both the students and lecturers as well as our team.

Business Gateway had also been very responsive to us prior to the lockdown and provided excellent resources to support the early stages of the venture. We have engaged with Scottish Enterprise for further support, but this has been delayed due to COVID-19 and we are progressing that in the background while we are in lockdown. It’s worth providing a special mention to the small businesses that are working with us currently, who have been fantastic in helping us progress the project during these trying times – which is amazing, given the financial pressures faced by small businesses currently.

Our plan for a distillery in Luss aligned with the need to provide a solution to tourism seasonality in the area that would create a year-round, indoor visitor experience, to cater for the existing 1 million+ tourists who visit annually. Another big focus for us is providing benefit to the local community and we have committed to donating 5% of our profits annually for a period of ten years to a Community Development Fund, to assist in the development of Community-Benefit Projects in the Luss and Arden area. We also felt strongly about supporting the creation of local employment opportunities. As such, we plan to provide 26 jobs, and are aiming to fill 30% of these roles from within the Luss & Arden area, including offering modern apprenticeships to develop local skills.

The distillery will produce a range of premium drinks, including a single malt Scotch whisky, a locally sourced botanical gin, aged and new make rums, small batch vodka and craft beers. We have launched a crowdfunding campaign providing an opportunity for individuals to join our exclusive Founders Club at the beginning of our journey. As a thank you and to show our appreciation for their support, individuals will receive a range of benefits including early access to new products, inaugural first releases of whisky, gin, vodka or rum, branded merchandise, an exclusive members portal and an invitation to an annual private members event.

We’ve only just launched the Founders Club to the public - at the start of April - and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Our first founding member joined within minutes of launch, signing up for the top tier Clan Chief package, which is a great response to see and we’re thankful for the contributions from all members that have supported us on our journey. We are continuing to share our progress with our followers, encouraging them to share with their wider networks and invite new members to join our clan on our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).

Obviously, Covid-19 and the ensuring disruption to business has had some effects – thankfully, small effects in our case. Business Gateway had been very responsive to us prior to the lockdown and provided excellent resources to support the early stages of the venture. We have engaged with Scottish Enterprise for further support - this has been delayed due to COVID-19 but we are progressing that in the background while we are in lockdown. It’s worth providing a special mention to the small businesses that are working with us currently, who have been fantastic in helping us progress the project during these trying times – which is amazing, given the financial pressures faced by small businesses currently.

As we are still in the early stages of our business, COVID-19 has not affected our plans too much. Like everyone, we are working remotely and having virtual meetings, but in some ways, this has improved efficiency by removing travel times, helping with logistics and is better suiting people’s availability.

Undoubtedly It has changed the way we would have normally proceeded; and meant that some of the discussions we are having now are focussed on the elements of work that can be performed remotely, such as the progression of planning permits and fundraising, and how we minimise the disruption to our plans. However, it also provides us with an opportunity to engage with businesses on activities that can be progressed in the current business climate, which helps support them through this challenging time. We are hopeful that the lockdown conditions and COVID-19 situation will improve sooner rather than later, so we can continue with the next phase of our venture in the coming months, but we are happy with the progress we are making currently and are on target with our scheduled milestones.

Our current plans have construction activities commencing towards the end of 2020, so we haven’t started production at this stage. If our project schedule remains on track, the distillery will be operational and open to the public in May 2021. In the meantime, we have been discussing our plans with key stakeholders including local politicians, tourism bodies, local businesses, community groups and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park who have all been incredibly positive and lent their verbal support to the project. Beyond that, we are raising awareness and growing support with the wider public.

People can still get involved and support us now by sharing this opportunity with friends and family to let as many people know about it as possible. And our message to everyone is 'come join our Clan!'

The Founder’s Club crowdfunding drive is open until May 4, 2020. Find out more about the distillery and the Club at www.glenluss.co.uk.