Authored by Rodney Southern in Small Business 
Published on 02-26-2009

Creating a business plan for a winery is an essential step in setting up shop. A business plan is often necessary to get a business loan and to get investors for your winery. Once the business plan is complete and the funding is given, the winery owner will use their business plan to help them assess how much needs to be spent on necessities such as land, supplies, equipment and of course, grapes.

The first step in creating a business plan for a winery is writing a vision statement. The vision statement should be concise and should state the purpose and goals of your business. The vision statement should let potential lenders know exactly what they are investing in as a business.

When creating a business plan for a winery you should think about the people that will be involved in the business, including yourself. For example, what qualifications do you have that will make you successful as a winery owner? If you have others who will be going into business with you they will need to do this as well. You should think of this as a resume that will be read by everyone that you will do business with such as vendors, lenders and investors. If they don’t think that you have what it takes to succeed, they will most likely not want to do business with you.

Creating a business plan for a winery will require you to write a business profile. This profile should focus on what your intentions are for this business. You need to be very specific in defining and describing these intentions. For example, is your winery going to be open to the public, will it be a restaurant and wine bar as well or will you just make, bottle and sell your wine to retailers?

An economic assessment is essential when creating a business plan for a winery. This is the part of a business plan where you will need to do some research. You will need to provide information on how other wineries in your area are doing in terms of profits. If the other wineries aren’t doing well, then you will need to state how you plan to do things to still turn profits. If you cannot prove that you can make money, then lenders and investors are not likely to provide you with any money to help get your business started. You can contact your local planning department for much of this information.

A cash flow assessment will need to be included in your winery business plan. This is the part where you need to talk about what could go wrong and how you will fix things if they do go wrong. Investors and lenders want to know exactly how you will handle any financial obstacles. This section of your business plan should include your cash flow for one year and include your necessary capital requirements. You need to be very specific in this part of your business plan.

It is a good idea to include any expansion and marketing plans when creating a business plan for a winery. Even if you don’t plan on expanding in your first year you should still provide the details of your plans. Marketing plans are important and will help investors and lenders determine whether you are able to market well enough to get your winery off the ground and running.

Creating a business plan for a winery can be a long process and even a bit complicated, but it is absolutely necessary. You will need it whether you are seeking lenders and investors or not. A business plan allows you to determine your needs and goals. Without clear cut needs and goals you won’t be able to find any lenders or investors to help you get started.