I used to be involved in a business that imported liquor (not wine) from the US to where I live. A few things to think about:
- What's your market? On-trade or off-trade?
- Bonded warehouses help you manage cash flow... you can land product onshore without having to immediately pay duty. You can pull product (and pay duty) on a need-basis from the warehouse. Duty is a MAJOR expense where I live.
- Ideally, you should get some kind of support for marketing from the vineyard, distillery, brand owner, particularly if you're dealing with an unknown brand. This support could come in the form of cash for marketing, product to hand out for samples/freebies, visits from the vineyard, signs, schwag, etc. We were turned away from some bars and restaurant, not because they didn't like our product, but because we were not able to provide the level of freebies that other brands offered. We also wound up spending a lot of our money for marketing the product locally, which was really annoying but necessary.
- Like any distribution business, getting favorable credit terms helps you grow the business. If you don't have credit, you're going to have to plow (more) cash into the business in order to fund inventory. When we started, we were not eligible for working capital loans so everything was funded through equity (which was painful).
- Be careful when offering credit to your customers. Manage and limit your risk in case some decides they don't want to (or can't) pay their bills anymore.
