Lifelong Friends Team Up as Brass Tap Franchisees; Bring the Upscale Craft Beer Bar to Tampa Bay

Tim Dean and Kimberly Button have been friends for over 20 years and have kept each other motivated in their respective careers all the while. Now, they are joining forces as franchisees with The Brass Tap* and look forward to opening five locations surrounding the Tampa Bay area where they both grew up: Ruskin, Wimauma, Parrish, Lakewood Ranch and Sarasota, Florida.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Dean: I have mainly worked in retail management since I was 15 years old, managing several different places. I was always very successful but felt bound by corporate laws, so I started thinking about ways to branch out and actually own a business and have my own employees. My goals were to simply treat employees really well and build a community presence serving the people around me. 

After doing some research and looking at several other places, I found The Brass Tap. It was exactly what we were looking for as far as being local and smaller but still on the path towards growth.

Button: Most recently, I was administrative staff, and I have over 20 years of restaurant management experience. When I started with a pizza restaurant, I was allowed a pretty wide range of responsibility to implement improvements that I saw could be made. I was promoted pretty quickly because I was hired as an office assistant, and before I knew it, they had given me full control over the company. Over a three year period, we grew from seven locations to having 22 in the works. I figured that if I'm already doing all the work of a franchisee, I might as well do it and make the income for myself.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Button: We were originally deciding between going with an established franchisor or creating our own brand, but we really enjoyed the support from the corporate team and the hard work that everybody put into the foundation that was laid before us. We liked the proven model, and it seemed like the best option.

Dean: We also thought the brand recognition was something that would really help us find success. If there is a commercial or a coupon in a newspaper, people will notice and recognize the brand, which makes it a lot easier than starting something new. We also were really drawn to the support the brand provides as far as the systems they have in place, including an established menu, back office support and relationships with vendors.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Button: Most of all, we love that it's a local brand because we're from the Tampa Bay area. 

Dean: As kids when we would play sports, we would always go to Beef O Brady's afterwards, and then the Brass Tap came under the same umbrella. We've both been to the original Brass Tap. We watched as Beef O Brady's grew from one store up to hundreds. The community loves it; it's the community bar, but it's still large enough to be able to be marketed and have wide-spread recognition. 

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Dean: We signed up for five locations, but we don't really plan on stopping there. We want to be as hands-on as possible. Obviously, as you grow larger and larger, you have to enlist some people to help you out, but at the very beginning, when the first one opens, it'll be me and Kim and the general manager, meeting everybody and getting feedback.

We want to take that feedback to the table for the next location and also make adjustments as needed to that first location. Central Florida continues to develop. There's all different areas around here that have the kind of communities we would like to join. 

Button: We really are looking forward to being a part of the community. That’s the main reason we decided to go for it. Tim graduated from Gaither High School, I graduated from Manatee High School and we both went to USF together. We're very rooted in the area.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know? 

Button:  We've been friends for over 20 years. We actually worked in our very first jobs together. It's been a lifelong friendship. We've also both experienced different levels of management. As business partners, we are going to compliment each other very well.

Dean: We have always kept each other motivated. She has some really useful experience in the restaurant business, and I have management experience, so we compliment each other. We are always bouncing different ideas off each other, seeing ideas from different perspectives, creating a plan together, just executing it and finding success. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Button: I was raised by my dad who was an entrepreneur. He passed away when I was young but those values are still instilled in me, so I've worked my way up. I've been in every position from a server to bartender to manager to supervisor, and now I’m a franchise owner. Both of us have held multiple jobs at a time and worked hard to get promotions, and we were very frugal with our money. We did a lot of self-sacrificing. 

My advice is that you don’t need a lot of family money. You can do it yourself; it just takes hard work and dedication to achieve it. 

Dean: If you have a dream of being a franchisee, research the heck out of it and understand what you're getting into, but it's possible for anybody. 

ABOUT THE BRASS TAP 

Founded by Jeff Martin in Tampa, Florida in 2008, The Brass Tap is an upscale craft beer bar with 60 taps and 200 varieties of local, national and international beers. The restaurant also features craft cocktails, a premium selection of wines and a food menu designed around community and sharing. The Brass Tap has a unique vibe that is upbeat, high energy and casual all at the same time. You will also find live music, social events, high-definition televisions to view all the sporting action, as well as an open-air patio. With more than 35 locations currently open and 50 in development, The Brass Tap is positioned to quadruple in size in the Southeast and beyond. In June 2012, FSC Franchise Co. LLC acquired the rights to franchise The Brass Tap. For more info, visit www.thebrasstap.com.