Nick Wendowski bought Stone's Beer & Beverage Market right before Covid hit. Hard enough, but get this: he'd never been in the industry before.
The man had to figure out a ton of crap on the fly, including a total shift in business model when he went all-in on delivery. And he's found success.
Throughout, he's displayed a knack for figuring out new revenue streams. So we picked his brain about exactly that, and two strategies came out of the woodwork:
1. Think about the systems and assets you've already got.
Extrapolate from there—are there any things you've got that you could repurpose for other customers?
Example: Nick distributes for a local ice cream maker. He didn't wake up one morning and think "man, I love Rocky Road. I want to get involved in the ice cream industry." Instead, he considered one thing he already had—a delivery fleet with refrigerated trucks—and realized it was an obvious match.
2. ID places in your business where you're getting some interest or "pull," and you're not necessarily proactively trying to grow.
Where are you getting revenue where you're not trying too hard? What could happen if you did start trying?
Example: Nick is a distribution partner for local universities. Again, he didn't proactively go after this segment. But when one reached out he thought "you know what, there are other universities, and they probably need beer too." And thus a small but meaningful university-servicing business opened up to him.
Check out the interview clip for more from Nick:
Watch interview clip