geo

All great information. Thanks. And, as for asking questions in here, I would have but felt kind of overwhelmed by the number I had. For one, do any of you from Michigan have an insurance agent you could give me the name of? So far, I have not been able to find one. I do have another business, but my business insurance agent does not cover distilling operations, suggested some other possible agencies to talk to, but nothing has yet panned-out. As it happens, I went on a tour, yesterday. Our of sheer dumb luck, I stumbled into a tour where my business partner and I were the only attendees, as we just happened to pick on early tour on a weekday. We did pick that on-purpose, hoping to get to ask more questions, but it was just true luck that we were the only ones, on that tour. Also, the owner just by chance was around, realized by our questions that we were people he'd exchanged some e-mail with and, in yet another sheer stroke of luck, was a truly nice guy who gave us a bunch of time and let us ask a lot of questions. And, when he seemed to need to get back to work, we thanked him and went along our way, after admiring his products, his tasting room, and a variety of other things. In one of the responses, above, it does say to do that and we did. We didn't really do it on purpose, just happened to be really excited to be starting our journey, getting so much of his time, etc... Also, he was among the "we're all neighbors" crowd so that was yet one more stroke of luck. I did buy two tour tickets and two of the most expensive cocktails on the menu but I did forget to buy a bottle or two of their spirits on the way out. I'd meant to, but was so excited by my sheer luck at all the time he spent with us that I truly just forgot to do it. I'll remember the tip about volunteering to work at one. Maybe I can get us in to one of the local places. Jake, thanks for the invitation and if we come out your way we'll definitely come visit. And, if we ever get setup, here, extend the same welcome. As for having a successful business, well, I guess my partner and I are more in that category. He has a little distilling experience, but not enough that we don't need to get plenty more. I have a successful business only from the standpoint that I've made a good living off my business for almost 20 years. I've gotten a trademark and all that sort of thing. However, it's a services business, so I realize I don't have experience with inventory and those sorts of things. I see that as one more thing I truly need to learn about, as the fixed and variable costs will be totally different from my current business. I see my current business as kind of the "training wheels" for a future distillery.

I'm located in Michigan. Also, I have been to a two-day distilling course, as well as obtaining several books on the topic and my business partner has some distilling experience. I was thinking about attending the ADI conference, this Spring. However, I was not sure if that was an appropriate place for someone who is not yet distilling or if it was more intended for those who are already distilling. I need to look into it, more, and would also be glad for advice on it. Or, I'm also open to hearing about other conference opportunities. Thanks for the advice, Todd. Geo

I would like to open a distillery, have obtained various information, attended workshops, and am working on a business plan. However, while I think I can manage to distill something and to figure out what I want to distill, it's the business questions that are holding me back. I have gotten advice that I should visit as many distilleries as I can, being careful not to take too much of their busy time or to try to make them my personal consultant. I have contacted a number of distilleries with this in-mind, asking for a short tour, and assuring them I won't take up more of their time than they plan to allot to me. This isn't going that well, though, and that's why I need some advice. First of all, I realize that I'm basically their competition asking them for some help. Second of all, I do realize they're small business owners and super-busy. I also know that some have public tours and one of them suggested I take the public tour, instead. In a public tour, I feel I could make some amount of use of that, as I could, at the very least, see what brands of equipment they're using, for example. But I wonder if these will be useful to me. For those of you that visited a number of distilleries, do you have any advice to me? Currently, I am signed-up and paid for a tour at the end of this week, and I have been writing my top questions so that I can be quick and organized about asking one or two whenever the opportunity arises (not all of them, just one or two at a time). But, with regard to visiting distilleries to help me figure out what I want to do from the business standpoint, will welcome any advice and tips you can give me.

I am working on a business plan to open a distillery. I have a good understanding of the process and of what products I would make but I have a lot of questions regarding running the business, buying equipment, etc... I have received advice that I should visit other distilleries and that I should be careful not to take too much of their busy time nor try to turn them into my personal consultant. I would like to do this. I have been contacting currently open distilleries, and stating that I would be careful to limit the questions I ask them during a tour to not expand past the time they're willing to give me, but not having a lot of success and this is where I need your advice. I realize I would be yet another competitor to them AND that they're all busy. However, I would like to get some tours setup for myself. Some have public tours and one even suggested I just take their public tour (that I have already paid-for and will be taking at the end of this week), but I wonder if public tours will answer the types of questions that I have. For any of you who have done this, do you have any advice for me? Can you suggest things I can look for in the public tours that would be valuable to me? I realize that, even in a public tour, I can see what brands of equipment they have, and that give me places to look for my own equipment, for example. Do you have any other suggestions or tips for me and on how to get private and detailed tours? I have been compiling some questions so that I could quickly pick one or two to ask, so I'm ready to be organized with all this (so that I'm not just asking endless and time-consuming questions nor making them wait while I try to come up with questions, I mean).