Starting an alcoholic drinks company can be an extremely rewarding process, and it’s a lot of fun, too. From the initial product ideas to the production, this is a career where you’ll have to think on your feet, and there will never be a dull moment.
You’re likely enthusiastic and ready to go, but there are a few important aspects to consider before you begin. There’s a lot that goes into running a business like this, and you want to have all your ducks in a row before launching into it.
In this article, you’ll learn about 10 key elements involved in making your company a success.
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1. Understanding Licensing
One of the most important things to get to grips with early on is licensing, as these frameworks govern what you can and cannot sell in your specific area.
You’ll need to apply for specific licensing certificates that certify your production of beer, wine, cider, or spirits, and your product design and the manufacturing facilities you intend to use will need to meet strict standards to ensure your drinks are safe for consumption. Jump on this early, because the approval process can take a while.
2. Knowing Your Tax Obligations
Tax is an important element of running any business, but you’ll have to pay specific taxes when you’re dealing with alcohol.
Your requirements will usually go by how much alcohol you’re producing by the litre, and also the strength of each product (the overall alcohol content per can or bottle). This can take a while to sort out, and you’d be advised to contact a legal professional to make sure everything’s ironed out before you start.
3. The Importance of Having a Clear Business Plan
Having a great idea for a new line of drinks isn’t enough – you’ll also need to have a well-defined business model if you hope to succeed.
Define what category you’re hoping to capitalise on, and what sort of scale you’ll be working on. The alcohol production process can be extremely complex and involves many moving parts, so make sure you’ve secured the means to bring your products to fruition. It’s also worthwhile to get advice from others in the trade, as a lot can go wrong in your first year that you’d do well to try and avoid.
4. Securing the Right Premises
The premises you choose are one of the most important aspects of this whole operation, as they govern how much and what type of alcohol you can produce.
Getting the size right is the most critical element, as you must have adequate space to store what are usually very large pieces of equipment and make certain they all have enough room to maintain safe operations. You’ll also need a premises license for selling and manufacturing alcoholic products.
If the expense of setting up your own premises is too much, you can always outsource your needs to a separate company.
5. On Regulatory Compliance
Once you’ve gotten a little deeper into refining your product, you’ll need to think about regulatory compliance.
This topic involves ensuring your manufacturing facility (or that of the firm you’ve decided to partner with) has adequate ventilation and hygiene practices in place to ensure proper health and safety.
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6. Choosing the Right Packaging
Choosing the right packaging can be more difficult than you might think, but naturally, it all depends on the types of drinks you’re selling.
While you can go with cans, glass bottles are usually best, as they’re generally the cleanest in terms of contaminants. Make sure you choose ISO 9001-certified bottles, as this guarantees the glass is up to the regulatory standards for supplying alcohol.
You’ll also want to consider what you’d like printed on your packaging, making this the perfect opportunity to evaluate your brand image and consult with a graphic designer about how you should showcase your product to your target audience.
7. Branding and Marketing
Branding and marketing will comprise a major part of your day-to-day operations in the beginning, and you’ll need to think about whether or not you want to develop a team in-house or outsource.
There’s a lot to it, from visual design to advertisements, and you and your marketing partners need to put yourselves in the shoes of your target audience to come up with a campaign that fires on all cylinders.
8. Nailing Down Your Distribution Strategy
Distribution can be a tough logistical challenge to crack, and given how important it is to the overall framework of your business, you need to make sure you get it right the first time.
Your target market factors in considerably here. Are you selling direct to consumers (D2C), supplying bars and restaurants, or exporting abroad? Each other these routes requires its own strategy, and you’ll need to spend plenty of time building strong relationships with distributors and sellers to ensure your operation runs smoothly.
9. Prioritizing Sustainability
Today, all manufacturers are expected to prioritize sustainability, and with good reason. Your packaging should be produced in an environmentally friendly way (glass products already do a lot of the heavy lifting there), and you’ll need a robust waste management process (for dealing with used grain and wastewater, for example).
The fact that you adhere to ethically sound procedures is also something you can advertise to your customers, which makes your brand more appealing.
10. Focusing on Proper Financial Planning
And finally, there’s your financial planning to consider. Running an alcoholic drinks company is a costly endevour, so you’ll need to make sure you budget effectively and go through the right channels with your funding.
Always open a business bank account to separate your personal funds from those associated with the business, enlist the help of an accountant, and routinely reassess your figures to see what’s working and what isn’t.
Wrapping Up
There’s a lot to learn for sure, but providing you take things one step at a time and keep moving forward, you’ll get there soon enough. Stay vigilant, and enjoy the process.
