For small business owners trying to get their company off the ground, it can often be quite daunting to cover all your bases. There’s so much that goes into starting a company, and the tools you need aren’t always widely accessible. Braeden Riley, a freshman at the University of Utah and a member of the Lassonde Founders program wants to help solve that problem with his company Homebrew.
Homebrew is a digital application designed for the small business owner of the 21st century. It comes equipped with the various tools that someone might need when running a small company.
Riley’s inspiration for creating Homebrew started from his own experience running a small electronic component repair shop. He realized that juggling all the online applications and tools needed to run a company on his own was too much and recognized a need to streamline the online business management process.
“It’s the same basic tools that we’ve been using since the dawn of business, just tuned towards a very user-friendly and modular system,” said Riley. “The main concern that I’ve noticed is issues with financial management. Homebrew has a bunch of fintech tools, so we have invoice makers, cost trackers, and profit calculators – essentially the tools that you would need a degree to figure out for finding the proper way to market and sell your product, done in a way that’s easily manageable for someone that doesn’t have much experience.”
Riley wants Homebrew to be accessible, easy to use, and, most importantly, customizable to every small business owner. Each startup has different needs, and Homebrew can help you with the things you personally require for your business.
“Most people who run a small business aren’t specialized in business administration or management. People have ultra-specialized skills for what they care about; if you’re a florist, you know a lot about flowers, you don’t know a lot about business,” said Riley. “If it’s a custom-made company built exactly for what you care about, you want your business management tools to be carefully made for you as well.”
As part of Homebrew, Riley also has a virtual business consultant tool under development using ChatGPT API. Most small business owners start off with a lot of uncertainty and having someone or something to go to for advice can be important in the opening stages of a business. It can help people find answers about small business management and reduce the uncertainty these small business owners face.
Riley is producing the app with the help of the Lassonde Founders program at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. Lassonde Founders is a residential program for active entrepreneurs who want to grow a company. Riley hopes that Homebrew can not only help him during his time at Lassonde but assist other students as well.
The tagline for Homebrew is “We’re in the business of building businesses.” As he grows the company, Riley hopes that Homebrew’s success can help blaze an easier trail for fellow startup owners.
