We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Spengeman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I believe that Success in a small business is multifaceted and evolving. The Oxford Languages deffiniton of success is, “the accomplishments of an aim or purpose” and while this is a truthful definition I believe in small business today the definition more to be, “Yes, we are still opened and employing.” This has been a hard realization for me as I am very “success” driven. Where I once focused on my revenue increasing, my losses decreasing, reaching a new demographic, being on target with current trends, working 50 hours a week and the store being perfect at all times, but I have realized through the last seven years of business– I just need to SURVIVE! Covid hurt and inflation feels worse, because now we have all our current debts, past debts and increased expenses along with all of our customers who feel the same woes, so sales are down. I cannot compete with the box stores or even try, but I can provide a place in our community that is inclusive, comfortable and knowledgable in our arena of expertise. Success for me looks different then it did when I first started my business, but I feel more accomplished “surviving” then I did when I was loosing myself trying to be focused on everything.

Jennifer, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My background is in education and after completing five years in a fifth grade classroom and finishing my MAEd I decided that returning to the classroom would provide me with no flexibility or opportunity for heightening my career path. I began to think about opening my own business and I enjoyed visiting bottle shops in the Raleigh area, but Greenville did not have a single one! With lots of support, sweat and tears, Tapped was created where we have 40 beers, wines, seltzers and ciders on tap along with hundreds of cans and bottles on the shelves. We focus on supporting local business and provide an opportunity for musicians, artisans and craft beer lovers to come and relax while enjoying a delicious brew! We love our large community tables where people come together that may have never spoken if it hadn’t been for Tapped- we want to get to know you, your beverage choice and host all of your life events in our semi-private event space. Our staff is small, but our family and together we keep the lights on!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

COVID— ahh!– We began to pour beer in 16oz “to go” containers made of plastic, but they helped keep our draft beer moving. We delivered beer to our curb, began posting “tasting” videos, created beer education slides and cut down our staff to two– myself and my only three-fourths time employee. We used our downtime to move our inventory and store to the internet through social media outlets- it was the only way we could get through!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

The use of untappd and social media outlets have been most successful for us- as well as listening to what our customers want! Run Clubs, Music Bingo, Food Trucks, loyalty club- all happened b/c our customers asked for it. I always work to remember this is not “my” business it is “our” business so everyones thoughts and opinions should be considered- of course some more than others (wink wink).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tapped650.com
• Instagram: tappedgreenvillenc
• Facebook: tapped650
• Twitter: tapped650
• Other: untappd- Tapped 650 Greenville NC

Image Credits
La Flecha Film Co