Page 55 of Just One Spark

I poured coffee into a mug that Clara had given us with the name Hart's Brewery and Bathhouse on it and carried it over to the table."How bad was it?"

A crease appeared between his brows."It wasn't awful.But we have to work on employee training.There were a lot of times when the servers were asking us what to do."

I pulled out a chair and sat down."You don't think they'll naturally get it with time?"

He stretched his neck."One bad experience is all someone needs to never come back."

Beck was more experienced with this side of the business.I hoped that we could work out the kinks as we went but apparently not.We needed to impress everyone with fully trained servers so that everything ran smoothly."What do we need to do?"

He outlined an ambitious training schedule for our employees, including more education on the brewing process and a few more soft opening opportunities to practice their skills.Then we moved onto the brewing schedule and what we needed to have in stock for the place to run smoothly night after night, but also how to adjust if we didn't have customers.

We wanted to be prepared, but at the same time, we didn't want to waste product.

"How are we doing on acquiring all the licensing we needed?"I sipped my coffee.

"We're registered with the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau, we got approval from the state liquor board, and we have all the necessary health, fire, and building permits."

I whistled."That's impressive."

"I hired someone who handled that for us.Speaking of hiring people.We need to talk about how to maintain production at the level necessary for a local brewery."

I frowned, shifting in my chair."I was planning on being the one who handled that."

"You can't do it alone anymore.We'll need a skilled commercial brewer, one who understands recipe scaling and equipment maintenance, and staff to package.From what I read, we're going to spend more time cleaning equipment than brewing anything."

I frowned."I've been increasing production so that we're ready."

"Once we open, we'll be constantly selling.It will be harder to keep up with demand."

"Malcolm likes to keep most things in-house."He hired wait staff but believed that production should be done by the family whenever possible.

"Malcolm hired a chef.He's not cooking himself."

I rolled my shoulders back."That's true."

"You have to think of brewing as something you can outsource, or you'll never be able to run the taproom and keep up with production.You need help."

"You don't think it's lazy to hire someone to brew for me?Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing?"

"Once you move to this level, you have to have help.You can't do it alone.Especially if you want to keep your fiancée happy."

"Keeping Hattie would be ideal," I joked, but Beck was in full business mode this morning.He wasn't his usual relaxed self.Something about this business opening had him tense and worried.Maybe because it was his first one.

He leaned back in his chair."I'm friends with Malcolm.But you need to do something about him.He's constantly questioning what we're doing, and it's distracting us from our purpose.We need to be focused on the brewery and not what he thinks."

"You want me to talk to him?"I asked for verification.

Beck leaned back in his chair."Yes."

"But you're the one who's friends with him," I said.

"He's your brother, and the brewery is part of the family business."He gestured around us."You have to set that boundary with him.If I do it, it won't be enough."

I sighed."Hattie was just talking about this very thing this morning."

"It's crucial to the success of the business.His interference could cause issues.I understand that your family gets a vote on certain things but not on this.We're running the brewery.We're in charge.Not him."

I hadn't realized it was that dire."I'll talk to him.But I'm not sure he'll listen to me."