How to Start a Wine Wholesale Business

Alcoholic beverages like wine take years before an entire batch is manufactured and brought to the market. Even with the years it takes to reach this stage, many owners are still thankful that they operate one.

It offers a big opportunity out there that you have full access to and will turn into something big as long as you have a strong starting foundation and it is kept up.

The Basics

The first thing you need to do is to create a business plan. The plan will show you vital information, including your business's viability. In doing the business plan, you will have to identify your market. Look for certified and reputable dealers, store owners, and other customers interested in procuring your products.

The location of the warehouse and your office must also be identified. Consider the factors relating to this aspect, like the necessary space, cost, transportation needs, and distance to your market. Suppliers need to be identified and shown in the business plan. These should be reliable and willing to consider you as the wholesaler for their products.

Competition and Overall Viability

You will always find competition, so you need to identify yours. Of course, less competition means more profit that can be generated. However, you need also to consider that suppliers do not allow many wholesalers within a territory since it can only lead to a price war leading to commercial suicide for the involved businesses. You need an edge over your competitors to start marking your territory. You must consider the price, profit margin, and price competitors charge and use these to your advantage.

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You will need to check whether the business is genuinely feasible to be started based on the business plan you made. Once it is, you can finally begin building your foundation.

Operation and Funds

These two aspects are already included in the business plan. Where would you obtain the funds you need to start the business? You can begin with the actual wholesale operation by beginning with advertising. Effort and excellent advertisements are not the only ones needed here. Applying what you have learned while creating the business plan should be used here, eventually serving as your edge in the wine wholesale industry. You want to make money, so you need to spread the word about your business’s presence. That way, your target liquor suppliers will know about your business.
 

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5 Comments

  • Sheshadri said on November 27, 2014
    We are business consultants and we will guide and help you to set up the wholesale business centre. Our contact details; Mobile-09900862254 / email id: royalsheshadri@gmail.com
  • Nandkumar jaiswar said on December 29, 2014
    Hi, Want to Start Something.
  • shailesh Parulekar said on April 29, 2015
    I want to start wholesale wine business in Calangute Goa. let me know anyone would like to offer his /her shop on rental basis. Shailesh Parulekar 9049987473
  • Nathan said on September 19, 2015
    I would like to start a wine wholesale business so kindly advice me ... Please Give me all the related detailed information
  • Stewart said on May 24, 2021
    Currently am an importer and wholesaler of wine & spirits. I highly recommend that the above persons are interested in not starting without sitting down with an established founder or executive of a current wholesaler, touring their facilities, and having at least $1M in the capital (that's on the low end)... This is NOT like opening a retail store, getting a license, renting a store, and buying and selling inventory. NO, NO, NO, this is serious stuff. It takes 6-9 months to acquire all the licenses and documents needed to operate legally. Then there's so much more involved, like deciding whether you will outsource distribution, if not you need to buy trucks and vans, rent a warehouse, get a forklift, and contact a team for your warehouse plus a delivery team plus a sales team, not to mention you'll need to travel Europe and find suppliers and get all the legal doc to sell their wine in the US then you'll need to start hitting the road and approaching liquor stores and bars and pitching your wine. Keep in mind you'll be using a significant amount of inventory on samples for leads you're looking to sell to plus, if you get a sale, you never want to run out of stock, and I can go on and on and on. SO PLEASE do yourself a favor, and if you're going to go for it, not only meet with as many existing owners and executives who are already doing it but also make sure you have at least 2 or 3 people who have worked in the industry for years and have connections with retailers in the area. You will not be selling any name-brand products, so it's essential to have relationships because it's going to be nearly impossible to have a store replace the current pinot grigio they sell with you're pinot grigio without knowing anything about the wine, anything about you, or you're company plus it's not like any other stores sell that. Pinot grigio, which gives off a terrible impression if the potential buyer searches the web. It's a tricky business, and 99% of people who start their companies wersalesmenen for large wholesalers for several years before starting their operations.

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