For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool's voice has many words. Ecclesiastes 5:3
The story of Alcofree began one winter evening in 2012. Trev and I (Sandy) were into our 2nd year of marriage and our jobs were depleting both of us of our energy. Trev was commuting on the train 5 hours per day and I was in a job that I felt no passion for.
That evening we were sitting on the couch, snuggling into each other when out of the blue Trev said “I want us to start our own business but I don’t know what”. I said (after turning my back to him, crossing my legs & folding my arms) correction 'I snapped back' saying “well it will have to be something that we are passionate about!” Trev said “What are we passionate about?” I said (correction again .. 'snapped') “well we’re passionate about drinks, aren't we?” I wasn't angry at Trev. I had co-owned a business before (still operating) and so I was very much aware how stressful owning a business is and so it felt like a recurring nightmare. The next day Trev, unfazed by my reaction, came home and wrote down on a piece of paper “Alcofree”. Damn, all those hours on the train had given him time to think.
Trev enthusiastically started researching alcohol-free drinks and putting together a business plan. I gave him advice however remained detached. Until a few months later. My two daughters and I were on a cruise ship touring the Mediterranean. It was a sea day and I was alone on the deck. I asked myself the question “When I wake up on Monday morning, do I feel passionate about going to work”. The answer was “no”. I then asked myself “what am I passionate about?” It took a couple of minutes of thinking and then it came “it’s Alcofree!” All of a sudden I felt alive. It felt like someone had plugged me into a wall socket! Until that moment I had no idea I was a walking a corpse.
Fast forward to Monday morning, 3 June 2013. Trev and I had left our jobs and this was our first day working on Alcofree. We sat in our little office at home, looking at our almost 14% completed website. We felt daunted, however the ideas for our website soon began flowing. The plan was for us to work from home, using our garage as a warehouse, however a few weeks later we came across drinks from Spain that we felt our potential customers would enjoy but the catch was that we had to order a significant amount to make it feasible to import. We halted. We were at a crossroad. Either we forget about the Spanish drinks, remain working from home selling a restricted range or spend the big bucks by ordering these drinks and move into a warehouse. We chose the latter. We decided that Alcofree deserved to be given our best shot.
On 2 September 2013 we moved into our warehouse, with a shop and office at Unit 1 / 15-17 Ace Crescent Tuggerah, NSW (on the Central Coast).
When the curtain begins to close on our life's drama, Trev & I do not want to be left with a boring script about a monotonous journey filled with carefully planned, riskless days that we have exchanged for the great adventure. Waiting for life to start. I wonder how many people laying on their death beds say to themselves, "I wish I hadn't led such an adventurous life." We were created for adventure! I had to conquer my fear of going into a self-employed business or else it would have stolen my destiny and robbed me of God-given exploits. Creating Alcofree & being on this adventure has been costly to ourselves and to our families. It has cost us all of our money & our personal dreams (& Trev's beloved Ducati 900 motorbike), however the costs have been worth it. Alcofree has given Trev & I the gifts of adventure, happiness, passion and purpose.
One of our purposes is to help change the culture by introducing young people to drinks that are alcohol-free & cool to drink.
You are welcome to visit us & enjoy a drink or two at our ‘bar’.
This is the beginning of the story of Alcofree.
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. AUTHOR UNKNOWN