Business Advice for New Distillers

Creating an alcoholic beverage that tastes great is only half the work. It is important to have a strong marketing campaign and interesting story attached with your product to make sure as many people as possible familiarise themselves with your beverages.

Try your best to find your unique place in the market. Take a look at other spirits in your region or community. Think about where is there an opportunity for a new brand to flourish? How can you differentiate your product from everything else that is currently on the market? Does your product have a new rare ingredient? Does it have a unique taste profile? Does it have a legendary backstory or a unique and innovative distilling process?

Ask yourself what would you like to accomplished in the first six months or the first twelve months? Set goals which are realistic and serve a purpose to give your business direction and a destination to reach.

Not only does setting goals give you more control of the outcome of your business, they also give you motivation to keep moving forward so that you can reach your success.

Starting your own distillery sounds enticing and desirable but it does come with some huge financial risks. A decent craft distillery will cost a lot of money to run and on top of this you will have to take into consideration your local cities bylaws.

Co-packing might be a more financially realistic avenue to take when starting out and it could even be a good idea to collaborate with other individuals who are more experienced who are able to pass their knowledge down to you.

Get online and get in contact with other distillers who are more experienced than you. Reach out to these people for advice and ask them what some of their biggest challenges where when they first started their business? Ask them what they wish they knew before they started their distillery?

Start Local by Hosting Events and Giving Back to Your Community – Hosting your own event can provide you with an excellent opportunity to get to know your customers and build better relationships. It would be a great idea to invite some of your most loyal existing customers and encourage them to bring their friends. Building brand awareness within your local community is a great way for small businesses to attract to new customers. Consider sponsorship or participating in a community event is a great way to give your business more exposure. Utilising cross-promotion with another small business in your local community is another excellent strategy to help your business reach new customers whilst at the same time helping support another local business.

It is also a good idea for your business to keep a database with the email addresses of all your customers and send out a newsletter on a monthly, weekly or fortnightly basis depending on the nature of your business. Sending a personalised email to your customer especially on milestone dates such as their birthday and offering a discount on you service or product is a great way to maintain and re-attract customers via email.