How to open a wine bar – business plan of a wine bar business

October 29, 2010

Philippines Wine Shop Clark Wine Center is pleased to share with you articles, news and information about wine, wine events, wine tasting and other topics related to wine and the appreciation of wine.

Wine, wine everywhere. It seems that wine is all the rage. There are wine bars, wine cafes, wine restaurants, wine products, and wine paraphernalia ad nausea. Wine can be such a delicious beverage when it’s served in an environment of comfort and ease. That’s why now is such a good time to start a wine bar – I don’t think wine will ever lose its popularity.

If you’re like me, you often dream of opening a wine bar. I see myself behind the bar serving Chardonnays and Cabernets to “regulars” and discussing the delicacies of the grape like a historian would discuss history. I think this comes from how much fun my husband and I had organizing a wine tasting with our friends Ben and Natalie a few years ago.  The evening was delightful with conversation, tastings, appetizers, and opinions of the wines we each preferred flying around with humor and fun.

While doing what you love will always be fun, if you’re considering starting a wine bar, there are several steps you should take to ensure the success of your wine bar venture. The three most important issues are location, market research, and your Business Plan.

1. Location, location, location – I have a twenty year history of upscale retail business management and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s vitally important where you chose to open your wine bar. The location must be visible, upscale, and have plenty of parking. In a shopping center, forget any location that is not easily visible from the main points of entry.  To gauge foot traffic, sit in front of the location for one hour at several times during the week. If you are not seeing significant traffic passing by, the location is not for you. The price you pay for your location is also critical. If you pay too much, you’ll be “working for the landlord” and will have a tough time making a profit. If your negotiation skills are weak, find or hire someone to negotiate a favorable lease for you.

2. Market Research – Who lives within a five mile radius of your chosen location? What is the median household income? Is there a built in population that would support your wine bar? What does this population do in their spare time? What competition exists nearby? You don’t want to open within two square miles of an existing wine bar. The answers to these questions are crucial to the success of your wine bar, so the more work you do upfront, the better off you’ll be.

3. The Business Plan and your marketing efforts – To me the most enjoyable part of starting a wine bar is marketing the business.  I engaged in a Business Plan writing experiment to see what my wine bar would look like in regards to branding, sales, and marketing.  Since wine is such a beautiful visual concept, the branding for your wine bar is essential. Hire an expert illustrator to design your Business Identity, business cards, and Web site. I can visualize an exciting identity with large wine glasses, oversized grapes, wine bottles, and the like using bold colors in an artful illustration. I highly recommend Art Guy Creative for his artistic abilities and great Search Engine Optimization knowledge. You’ll want to hire someone who is not only an artistic web site designer, but has knowledge of SEO.    Next, your marketing plan must be creative and capture sign ups to your ezine (your online magazine) through your wine bar patrons. Offer them something free to get them on your list. Then, organize at least 3-5 special events or marketing activities to keep patrons coming in on a regular basis. See my example Business Plan for a Wine Bar that’s included in my Two Page Mini Business Plan package.

Conclusion
While you should love what you do, starting a wine bar is a business and the more planning you do the more successful you’ll be. The key to successful ventures is always revenue and maximizing the volume of customers coming in the door. This comes from intelligent, innovative marketing strategies. One thing’s for sure however, wine is here to stay. So as they say, “Where there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing.”  Start on the road today to opening your own wine business!

Source: http://www.twopageminibusinessplan.com/a_wine-bar-business-plan-how-to-start-a-wine-bar.html

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices.  Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world.  As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years.  Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com