One year ago, a brewery opened in our town. Inside a beautiful old historic brick landmark that the owners restored, they brew excellent beer and have created a charming setting that attracts tourists, locals, and, with the Presidential race underway, candidates. So far, I have shared a pint with Beto O’Rourke and hobnobbed with Tulsi Gabbard, as well as friends and family. This brewery is just a tremendous asset for the town.

But these young owners could teach other business folk a few lessons too. In particular, they’ve taught me some lessons about consistency. In the first several months, they made many significant changes. After financing some of their final building efforts with an IndieGoGo campaign that awarded growlers to donors, they decided not to sell growler refills. After posting beer prices, and then posting new prices, they posted new prices yet again. After announcing the availability of flights, they quit serving flights. Every day—of course I wasn’t actually in there every day!—they seemed to change the rules.

At first, these changes ruffled my feathers. While I abhor consistency for the sake of consistency, I do believe you need to deliver on your promises to customers. These owners seemingly tossed promises out the window. They seemed perfectly comfortable experimenting with prices and serving options. They also offered completely reasonable explanations in response to ruffled feathers. I was intrigued.

But they didn’t toss all promises out the window. When it came to the quality of their beer, they were totally consistent. That’s where they have never failed to deliver. They were smart. And I am now wiser.

Had they stuck to their original prices, they may have lost too much money to survive. Had they continued to sell growlers, they may have run out of beer too often. Either of those scenarios might have been a disaster for them – and a huge loss for their customers and the town. They were consistent where it counted and experimented freely on everything else to find solutions that would work best for all of us. That’s a great attitude. Business is a partnership between yourself, your employees, your suppliers, and your customers. Be clear about what matters most. Uphold your promises and be consistent where it counts. Beyond that, be flexible, innovative, and smart.