The Top Three Things to Consider When Opening a Second Business: Advice from Miles Greathouse of Beverage Holdings International LLC

There are many things to consider when you’re ready to start a second business. Today, I want to focus on what I think are the top three most important things to focus on before you decide to start your second business.

I’m Miles Greathouse, Co-founder at Maltitude, Nonic, and Jarfly. I’m a Columbus native, a resident of Uptown Columbus, and a proud Uptown business owner. When I’m not working, I enjoy riding my bike, drinking beer, and traveling with my girlfriend Becca and our two dogs, Boulder and Woodford. 

I have three business partners Chad Scrimpshire, Robert Battle, and Garrett Lawrence. We try and create businesses that fill gaps or needs in our community. Maltitude was the first beer-centric shop that had draft beer to-go, where you can also enjoy a pint. Nonic was the first gastropub with a large non-domestic beer selection and curated cocktail menu. Jarfly was the first outdoor and open-air-centric locally-owned restaurant in Midtown with Tiki-Inspired Cocktails. 

There are many things to consider when you’re ready to start a second business. Today, I want to focus on what I think are the top three most important things to focus on before you decide to start your second business. 

Do you have the correct people in place to manage your original location?

Having good people in place is the single most paramount concern every business owner should have, especially if they’re considering opening a second business. It’s really easy to fall into a routine of having the owner handle all of the important stuff themselves. Giving important tasks to key managers empowers them and gives them a sense of ownership in your business while taking time-consuming tasks off your hands. Having staff that you trust with important tasks and the keys to your business, and trusting them to execute those tasks, are key to your success (and your sanity.)

How will the new business affect your current business?

So this was one that my business partners and I didn’t expect. We have tried really hard to make our spots as different as possible. Still, the reality is with our names being attached to an establishment and Columbus being such a close-knit community, we attracted a lot of the same customers to any new spot we opened. Maltitude took a hit when Nonic opened; Nonic took a hit when Jarfly opened. We were definitely able to weather those particular storms and ride them out and grow from them, but it is definitely something to consider. Even when opening completely different concepts. 

How will you manage your time between multiple locations?

It’s really easy to want to spend all of your time at the shiny, new business, but you have to remember that your first location got you to where you are now. You also have to be realistic about your time. When Nonic first opened, I worked the opening shift at Maltitude and then closed Nonic on weekend nights. That was an unsustainable workload. So you have to be smart about when and where you work while still making sure you’re present during the most crucial moments.

There are definitely a lot of things to consider when opening a second business – be methodical in your preparation and research and follow the formula that made your first location successful (while learning from your missteps), and most importantly – have the right support staff in place to make the whole thing work. 

To learn more about our businesses, follow us on Instagram: @themaltidudes, @nonicbar, @jarflymidtown, @maltiTWOd. We’re working on a real restaurant or hospitality group name, but for now, our property ownership LLC is “Beverage Holdings International” so, we, at Beverage Holdings International Limited Liability Company would like to express our gratitude to all of the fantastic people of Columbus & our incredible staff that make our spots possible!