Reasons for failure: It costs allot more than you think to get up and running. You make allot less than you thought you would. You cant get distributed. You get distributed and cant keep up or your quality falls, and your distributor dumps you. Even if you get into a bunch of local bars and restaurants, and the bartenders don't push your product your bottle sits on the shelf and doesn't move. You get into a few liquor stores local or chain, and you bottle become one of 800 different bottles of booze, so you move very little product. 50% of the places you market to turn you down. You get tired of paying thousands of dollars a month for the privilege of working 80 hours a week for free. you have a spouse that is not involved and does not understand why you are working 80 hours a week and losing money.
one of the biggest i feel is supply chain. getting your consumables at a decent price with decent shipping costs. you have to get your cost per bottle pretty low to make any profit.
These are some of the reasons I see distillery's fail. I'm sure there are many more. Don't take expansion as a sign of doing well. It may be just to try and move to a level of production that they feel may be profitable. it may work out or not. I have seen a few distillery's do a big expansion just to go under.
After being open for 1.75 years I push on. However, if I would have known how hard this business is I may not have put that application in the mail.
I am sure I missed many things.
Wish you the best of luck
Dave Tucker
Tucker Distilery