We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kris Graham a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kris, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Being on the packaging side of the beverage/alcohol industry there is not a lot of experience coming from the sales side that most of our clients success relies upon. It is one thing to look at packaging/marketing as this essential tool to selling your goods to distributors, retailers, and consumers and another to really understand what moves the needle.

We have over 15 years of experience working with distributors, retailers, and consumers on our target client’s side of the business. This allows us to have a unique expertise when it comes to looking at different types of packaging and how it relates to their business. To us, it is not just about selling this packaging and making money, but how can we help our clients manage their cash flow and use their resources wisely. There are certain items that sound good but come with large up front investments and don’t move the needle like you want them to.

Because of this, we tend to work very well with small to medium sized producers who are starting up or growing. We can help them by giving them an extra perspective and sometimes even talking them out of buying unnecessary items through us. If we can help them grow more we hope to also grow with them over time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We work mostly in the alcoholic beverage industry provide our clients with any type of packaging, deco, POS/POP items, custom glassware, etc. Pretty much anything but raw materials and the liquid.

After working on the liquid side of the business for over 15 years I decided it was time for a break. Initially, I left the alcohol industry completely and soon realized that was a mistake as I had cut my teeth in this industry and built a reputation and gained a lot of experience. After meeting with an old colleague I received an opportunity to contact with a small deco facility to sell their services. Over time I gathered more contracts and soon became a one stop shop for our clients. It didn’t take too long to realize that my experience on their side of the business gave us a unique opportunity to help with a variety of obstacles and problems our clients face.

To us, it is a very proud moment when we can help a client make a tough decision to either move forward with a new project or put the breaks on it. As much as we want to sell more it is important for us to remember that cash flow means so much to small to medium size businesses (we have the same issues) and if its allocated improperly then it can not be used to help grow the business. Because we have worked with distributors as well, we can help them understand the process and ask the right questions to make sure they are not getting stuck with 100% of the bill.

We believe that no matter the industry or business it is extremely important to ask difficult questions and make sure that you are being treated fairly before jumping head first into a new situation. Especially when working with your brand!

How’d you meet your business partner?

I LOVE CONVENTIONS/TRADE SHOWS/CONFERENCES!!!

Not only are these an amazing place to meet new clients but also vendors, potential partners, investors, and even competitors. The first year I started my business I attended this great trade show in Minneapolis, MN that was specifically for the Distillery Industry. February in MN may not have been the best decision and a snow storm rolling in cancelled many flights. This prevented a lot of attendees from making it to the event as it hit the day before it started. Most of the vendors were already there so we could set up.

Because of the limited amount of attendees the conference was very slow and we ended up talking to the booths around us more than potential clients. The organizers had also put together a vendor hockey game (of course because we were in the State of Hockey) and bused us to the rink. It was here that I played on a line with my future business partner and also met many future friends in the industry.

My business partner and I kept in touch and he eventually ended up leaving his company to start his own business as well. From there we started working on projects together as I working mostly in the US market and he worked mostly in Canada. After months of winning project together we decided to work exclusively with each other and continued to grow in both markets. Fast forward a little over a year and we are now launching a brand new company together that will kick off in January of 2023!

All this from a slow trade show that we didn’t win any business from. But in life, it isn’t always the instant result that ends up being the most important!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started this business with about $2,500 in 2018. With that meager amount of start up capital I had very little ability to purchase inventory, rent storage space, and travel. This just made things a little more complicated and meant I wasn’t going to be able to jump all in. I kept my day job at the time and continued to work there 40-50 hours per week. All my spare time was dedicated to learning more about the new side of the industry, meeting potential clients (I visited a lot of distilleries), and picking up contracts.

After getting my first contract in November 2018 I quickly picked up another 4 in the next few months and got to a point where I could now service a variety of clients. This was built mostly by client acquisition and I didn’t have to buy and sell any goods. The issue with this is your profitability is very low. After struggling this way for several months and not making much headway I picked up a part time service contract that changed everything! This eventually turned into a full time contract working over 60 hours a week but came with a lucrative rate. Pair that with COVID hitting and my drop in spending and all of a sudden I had enough capital to break off on my own and start buying and selling inventory, which also quadrupled my profitability.

Once there was a significant increase in capital moving through the company I was able to negotiate lines of credit with my bank and loans from outside sources. This was done with no investors so I could keep my business as my own. In the time since I have paid back all the LOCs and currently owe no balance as well as I was able to pay back several loans in less than half the time and then apply for larger amounts. This was a very unusual way to fund the business but came with a lot less risk (although with more headaches and hours maybe) and thanks to the amazing people that have come through (vendors, partners, and clients) we have shown year over year growth and are hoping to continue this with the new company!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twopeakspackaging.com