How Aged & Infused banks for the future with Bluevine

After a tough week of work, there’s no better way to blow off steam than hitting a happy hour with the team. Half-priced drinks and appetizers are a great excuse to gather outside of the workplace and talk about anything that’s not business.

But, with so many hybrid and fully remote teams distributed across the country, how can everyone enjoy a happy hour together? The answer: Aged & Infused.

Meet John and Jess

Several years before the Covid-19 pandemic, Jess was Christmas shopping for her then-boyfriend John. She was tired of just buying a nice bottle of bourbon for him, so she got creative to make his gift extra special. Jess experimented and came up with a few infusions that made John’s favorite spirits even more enjoyable.

And so, in 2017, Aged & Infused was born. Jess and John Feller are now a husband and wife duo proudly self-taught in the field of mixology—who loves sharing their home bar infusion kits with fellow happy hour enthusiasts. Since starting their business, the couple has grown Aged & Infused from local Chicago markets and festivals to national grocery stores and gift shops.

They’ve also opened up a brick-and-mortar store in Chicago called The Happy Hour Shop, so they can connect with customers in person.

The problem

As you can imagine, the pandemic was a big growth opportunity for an at-home alcohol infusion kit business like Aged & Infused. However, orders were coming in so fast that the volume was almost unsustainable because of supply chain difficulties. It also didn’t help that Jess and John’s traditional bank made them want a stiff drink every time they logged in to their account.

“We had cash flow issues slowly building up, so I searched for bank accounts that were profit-first friendly,” says John.

Then, through a quick Google search, John found the modern banking platform he was looking for.

“When I first came across Bluevine, I loved how the user interface (UI) was organized. It’s nice to see everything laid out in a way that makes sense for a business.”

John adds, “We also loved the high APY^BVSUP-00118 and free standard ACH.”

Bluevine changes the way you think about banking.”

– John F., Co-founder of Aged & Infused

The solution

When John first started using the Bluevine platform, he set up several sub-accounts and automatic transfer rules to account for his business’s supply chain issues and cash flow fluctuations. The ability to organize his sub-accounts the way he wants has given him a clear, big-picture view of Aged & Infused’s finances.

“I’m not afraid to log in to our bank account anymore,” John says. “Bluevine has helped us understand the capital we have and how much we can invest in our future. For example, in the past year we’ve opened a retail store, which was always a goal of ours.”

Not only has Bluevine Business Checking helped John and Jess achieve their long-term goal of opening The Happy Hour Shop—our platform has also simplified their outgoing payments.

“It’s been refreshing to have a bank account that’s very well laid out and modern. Vendor payments are so much easier with Bluevine,” John explains. “We can upload an invoice and it pulls all the information for me, then we can pay it from one of our sub-accounts instead of viewing our finances as one big pot.”

Did you know?

You can create up to 5 sub-accounts with the Bluevine Business Checking Standard plan, or you can add even more with an upgraded plan—up to 10 with Plus, or up to 20 with Premier. See plans

Switching your business bank account is easy

John told us the horror story that was his previous bank account… a traditional business checking account with little to no interest, too many transaction fees, and no easy way of separating money for different purposes.

One thing that many business owners find even scarier is the thought of switching bank accounts. And we’ll admit, it can seem daunting. But, like John will tell you, change can be good—and seamless.

“I was able to do everything on my own,” he says. “We didn’t have any issues getting started up or transferring funds. I got the whole thing set up in a couple of weeks.”

Now, with Bluevine as his primary business bank account, John knows he’s earning high annual percentage yield (APY) on checking,^BVSUP-00118 doesn’t worry about getting nickeled-and-dimed, and can optimize his sub-accounts for the profit-first method.

“Bluevine is a modern take on the business banking experience—and makes it much easier to understand how much is coming in, where the money is going out, and get a clear overall financial picture of your business.”

John Feller is the co-founder of Aged & Infused, which makes delicious, all-natural alcohol infusion kits for the home bar. John started and now runs the business with his wife Jess, both of whom consider themselves happy hour enthusiasts. They’ve also opened a retail store in Chicago called The Happy Hour Shop.