Escalation in the Mebers Club

Today is February 14th. Two weeks ago our Members Club went into the next round and we sent the packages to our members. A few days ago the members-only bottling was already sold out... 

I had originally planned 600 bottles for this year's Wagemut Members Edition. 

My assessment was that this would be enough for the year. 

By the end of 2024, however, we had so many new registrations that we increased the quantity to 677 bottles because I was starting to get nervous. 

That should really be enough… 

10 days after the opening of the new round of the Members Club, there we were: sold out. All the bottles were gone! 

Mixed feelings:
On the one hand, pure joy, which literally triggered a feeling of being overwhelmed by how great the response was. 

On the other hand: Oh, shit! 

What do we do now? The plan was to keep the club open as long as possible. 

We decided to offer new sign-ups an alternative. So we write to everyone after the sign-up to let them know that the bottling is unfortunately sold out, but that they can choose a bottle from the Aficionado Collection instead. After all, it is so important to us to get these great people into our club. 

Was well received in 9 out of 10 cases. 

But yesterday I was hit by a shock:
What about the summer festival?

I've realized that as I grow (the company and me as a person), there are certain rungs I have to climb. 

Moments when I realize that I can't go on like this. 

Yesterday was such a moment. 

So far we have managed our summer party well: 

In the first year (2023) there were 200 people on site. It worked well and we knew straight away: We'll do this every year from now on! 

By 2024, there will already be 300. 

As beautiful as it was, it was also exhausting. 

Even though everything worked out well, we learned a few things that we want to do differently next year. For example: 

- Make entry more efficient so that our guests do not have to wait as much as possible.
- Two food trucks instead of just one.
- Additional staff to clear away glasses etc. more quickly. 

Things like that are quite normal when numbers are rising. 

But now? Our membership numbers have changed significantly. More than doubled. As of now, there will be at least 700 people at the summer festival. 

700!

Uh? How are we supposed to do that? An embarrassed laugh breaks out... 

Kind of cool. I like challenges like that. 

But I also want to remain realistic: At some point it will simply not work anymore. We haven't moved yet and our current location only has limited capacity. 

We will therefore be closing the Members Club. This means we will not be accepting any new registrations this year. 

Sometime in the next few days – I can’t bring myself to do it yet. 

But I have to do it. 

That moment yesterday was important for me. I flipped the switch from "we're having a fun get-together" to "my gang is coming and we have to deliver." 

I will deliver. My team will deliver. After all, I have the best team in the world. 

We will get friends to support us and give everything we have. Prepare ourselves well. 

The main thing is that it doesn't rain. Then we're screwed. 

Oh well: Then we'll just dance in the rain.

Last chance to join the Webers Club:
To the Members Club