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In The Winery
partners;
● Improved marketing efficiency and effective-
ness;
● A better understanding of the competitive land-
scape, and;
● Faster responses to the changing needs of your
customers
Once you have the facts of these segments gath-
ered, the next set of facts you need to acquire are
those acquired through consumer market research.
Image Credit: Harvard Business Review By gathering information and trends on your wine
business’s target market — including who they are,
For the past 20 years, I have managed, consulted their likes and dislikes, and whether those markets
for, and invested in dozens of wineries and other are growing, declining, or remaining steady — you
businesses in the wine industry. Each one of those can better understand their wine consumption sta-
businesses, regardless of size, location, or consum- tistics, trends by price points, as well as the various
er market all share one commonality: the most demographic and geographic trends of that market.
successful ones were those that possessed the
foresight to plan for both the best and worst-case After these facts have been answered and gath-
scenarios. In order to help you create a solid plan ered, you will have a far clearer picture of your
for your winery or wine business, I want to help winery’s competitive niche, be it through a specific
offer some key steps to get you started. product (or set of products) or as a brand. From
there, begin researching competitors with simi-
Step #1: Gather the Facts lar niche offerings. Who are they? What are their
price points and pricing strategies? Is their business
Whatever your business plan will look like, you growing, declining, or remaining steady? What are
need to have a clear picture of what your aspira- their strengths and weaknesses, and how will your
tions and goals are for it. The obvious caveat here business compare to theirs?
is that, to do this successfully, you will need to
envision what you want your business to look like Lastly, you will need to gather facts about your
in the future. Do you simply want to be your own market’s current conditions. For example, take a
boss or create an environment that is a fun and look at your distribution channels to see which
enjoyable place to work? Do you want to grow your ones are consolidating or undergoing management
winery into one boasting 1,000,000 cases with wine changes. Another example of this is to find out
sold throughout retail chains, or do you want to whether your target consumer market is purchasing
grow it into one with 5,000 cases with a focus on more wine at restaurants, retail stores, or online.
direct-to-consumer sales? Along with external conditions such as changes in
shipping laws or current economic fluctuations,
Whatever your specific case may be, the first thing each of these fact sets will play a heavy role in
you need to do when forming your business’s plan determining what your winery’s business plan will
is to gather the facts. This starts by analyzing your look like.
business’s segmentation, targeting, and positioning
in the marketplace. Segmentation, or the process Step #2: Analyze, Synthesize,
of grouping customers within a market according to and Develop Strategic Initiatives
similar needs, characteristics, or behaviors, will pro-
vide four key benefits to your business: After you have accumulated the different sets of
factual data affecting your winery or wine business,
● Opportunities for building and strengthening the next step in formulating your business plan is to
long-term relationships with key customers and synthesize these facts with the strategic initiatives
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