5 Essential Tips to Get Your Winery and Wine Business Off the Ground

Many people still think of America as a beer drinking country. But, did you realize that over one-third of Americans have wine as their alcoholic drink of choice?

That’s why there is plenty of opportunities to make money from launching a wine business. However, if you’re trying to get your winery off the ground, it’s not always easy to get started.

Check out our tips for how to start a winery below. Let’s go!

1. Pick Your Wine Business Name 

Your wine business name is really important. This could make the difference in being successful or not.

You could think about inventing a name relevant to your winery. Maybe a play on words or a funny tagline.

Whatever you decide for your wine business name, make sure you find ways to grab people’s attention.

2. Be Patient and Allow Time 

You won’t be able to start making money from your wine business immediately. It could take you around four years before you have a commercially successful crop. Of course, even growing and making your wine could take around two years.

That’s why you need to have plenty of money behind your wine enterprise before you can even get started.

You don’t want to run out of money before you can put your wine bottles on the market. Thinking long-term is the only way you’re going to be successful wine business.

3. Get Ready to Market Your Wine

There are many great wines already on the market. You need to find ways to persuade customers and sellers to buy your product.

There are specialist winery marketing companies that can help you make your wine product stand out from the crowd.

Any way that you can find a niche to promote your wine is better. You may produce a vegan and sustainable wine or produce grapes from a specific region.

4. Watch Out for the Paper Work

The wine-growing business comes with lots of bureaucracy and paperwork. There is a lot of red tape around selling alcohol in America.

You’ll need to get a license to permit you to sell your product. There are also other permits and taxes to handle. Make sure you’re ready to deal with the paperwork.

You may even need to get someone in to deal with the admin. This can sometimes feel like a full-time job in itself.

5. Grow Your Business with Many Sellers

As a small wine business, you can start to make a profit if you have a large seller, such as a supermarket chain.

However, even when you think you’ve struck gold, make sure you continue to grow your business.

Many sellers like to mix up their wine products. You can’t depend on anyone to keep buying your wine just because they like it.

Starting Your Wine Business

Now you know about how to start your wine business. Launching your winery without any knowledge of the business is a fool’s game.

You need to be prepared for the paperwork and have the budget to last until your business can make a profit. Check out more business tips on our blog.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.