The Goal of Your Winery

I was talking with someone in the wine business about a new project yesterday (over a nice lunch at K&L Bistro in Sebastopol), and it was a great exchange, riffing back and forth on winery Web sites, online marketing, direct-to-consumer, blogging, social media, and what I might contribute to the project.

Eventually, I asked the question I always ask people I'm thinking of working with: "What are you trying to accomplish?"

In other words, what's your goal?  What does success look like?  Because without a pretty clear articulation of that answer, a lot of effort can be wasted.

And it strikes me, that for wineries, the (annual?) business goal is to sell everything you produce at a price that is as close to your suggested retail price as possible.  Unsold inventory is expensive, and you obviously need to cover the fully burdened cost that each bottle represents (otherwise, you're selling at a loss).

I'm asking my winery and industry readers: is that a fair and accurate statement?  If not, how would you describe the goal of your winery?  Please leave a comment.

Comments

[Jeremy Cote]

Interesting post Mike. You might find this study interesting as it relates specifically to your question:

Love or Money? The Effects of Owner Motivation in the California Wine Industry

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=133631

It is a little technical but insightful nonetheless. The bottom line conclusion, which is not earth shattering at all, is that people in it for love produce better wines, often to the detriment of profits.

Enjoy!