TEXAS, USA — Two North Texas friends started a business and for months they didn’t tell anyone. In fact, they shared with Daybreak Anchor Kara Sewell that keeping a low profile helped them focus and fast tracked their journey to launching Après Hours - a cocktail in a can.
"This isn’t just a product, it’s more of a lifestyle brand. Après is a celebratory word and life is worth celebrating," says Alexis Smith.
Alexis Smith and Nicole Craven have a reason to revel. The duo launched Après Hours (a ready-to drink espresso martini this month) - and are selling out!
"The most important thing was brand first. We launched our social media platform before we even had a product. We had merch before we had a product and that’s because we really want to be brand focused and community focused. Really have people feel like they’re growing with us; they’re apart of the journey," says Nicole Craven.
Their brand journey started two years ago during peak quarantine – no bars, no restaurants and no way to get their favorite cocktail.
"We went to every liquor store, every grocery store and we were like, 'Why is there no ready-to-drink espresso martini out there?'" says Smith.
By the time Texas reopened, Alexis and Nicole leveraged their relationships in the hospitality industry to network and connect with the right people.
"We’re not experts by any means, but we’ve had the right people guide us to where we want to get to. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your connections, to your relationships. You’ll be so surprised who is happy to help you," says Alexis.
But be confident in your idea, and maybe a little naïve. Alexis and Nicole’s martini mission forced them to develop a thick skin to break into the alcohol business.
"Proving that we had done our homework, proving that we had done our research and proving that we had a great product that we could sell," says Craven.
"Less than 10% in the ready-to-drink market are female founders, which is crazy to us," says Smith.
Crazier still -- the women kept their plan quiet, taking secret trips to visit packers and tasting formula samples on the sly.
"We didn’t tell people for about six months because we wanted to keep it between us. Sometimes, people’s opinions can alter your mission and goal. So, we really put our head down and worked for it," says Craven.
Like their slogan, Après Hours cans are a real-life reminder it really was time to shake things up.
Après Hours ready-to-drink Espresso Martinis are sweetened with agave and are dairy- and gluten-free.
One last piece of advice for entrepreneurs: invest in e-commerce! It increases your reach, broadens your brand, is more convenient for customers and allows you to scale your business more quickly.