Quentin Cantu On Creating A Lifestyle Brand, Hitting $3.6 Million In Sales, And Overcoming Nos (#17)

Since starting Ranch Rider Spirits at the end of 2019, Quentin Cantu and Brian Murphy have expanded operations from Texas to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee with plans to be in Louisiana, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, and Nevada soon.

Their idea for cocktails came while running their food truck Ranch Hand, which they started as University of Texas at Austin MBA students. They noticed a gap in the market for spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages, sold their food truck, and went all-in on Ranch Rider Spirits.

Offering four flavors, they hit $3.6 million in sales in 2020, which Quentin attributes to their sales and marketing team creating a brand that takes stances but also pokes fun at themselves as well as a production team that has nailed their recipes in a way that stands out in the market.

In this interview, we discuss:

How to create a brand following.Differentiating your brand in a saturated category.Maintaining a cohesive corporate culture when expanding rapidly, especially across geographies.

Quentin's entrepreneurial lessons include:

Start doing sales as soon as possible. The sooner you get your idea into something tangible and sellable, the more you will learn.Even if you can't quit your job, develop a side hustle which you can learn from and stay disciplined with.Get comfortable getting told no. In fact, try to get told no. The more nos you can get, the more you can appreciate the yeses.

Connect:

Check out ranchriderspirits.comFollow Ranch Rider Spirits on Instagram: @ranchriderspiritsLike Ranch Rider Spirits on Facebook: facebook.com/ranchriderspiritsEmail Quentin: [email protected]Subscribe to Aaron’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/aacaulfield24