Location, Regulation, Location
Adam Quirk
Location is important, but not for the reasons I thought. We have had to fight tooth and nail to get this distillery up and running. The town where we live, although a lovely place to live, makes it very difficult to start small businesses. This is not the case everywhere of course - many communities incentivize businesses with tax abatements and other programs. Here, they make you jump through a hundred hoops, and pay a hundred fees. It has been one of the biggest unforeseen hurdles in starting this business. Check with your utilities and planning departments before you sign any leases or buy any property. You may be in for a surprise. If we had it to do over again, we would seriously consider building the distillery outside of city limits to avoid the oppressive departments we had to deal with here. Look at surrounding communities, even if you happen to live somewhere great.