Stephen Valand, 23, and Erica Shea, 25, quit their jobs earlier this year to start the Brooklyn Brew Shop, which makes gallon beer-brewing kits sized for New York City apartments. The couple starting selling the kits in early July at the Brooklyn Flea Market and online. But before deciding to jump into business together, they went on a seven-week backpacking trip to Europe to see if they were compatible.

Gathering the seed money: (Mr. Valand) We just worked, just quit our jobs and did it with our own money. I’ve always been good at saving money. It’s pretty much all my money. (Ms. Shea) He gets paid back first, and I am basically working for free. Because we are going through the flea market, the overhead isn’t that high. The stand itself is basically $100 a day. The major investment was the grain and the equipment and meeting wholesalers’ minimum buy-ins. Right now everything we make is reinvested.

Was it hard to quit? (Ms. Shea) No, that part was easy. (Mr. Valand) The hard part was saving the money, deciding not to eat out. My father was a truck driver, so he worked for himself. I never liked the idea of working for people or taking orders.

How did you get the idea? (Ms. Shea) I grew up in a record store, vinyl. My dad had done some home-brewing through the record store. I came across all my dad’s old equipment and decided it would be a fun thing to get into.