How to Start a Craft Distillation Business

Starting a craft distillation business requires navigating complex regulatory and legal frameworks as well as significant financial investment. While stills may dominate initial startup costs, infrastructure expenses, goods/ingredients/bottles costs and marketing all play significant roles.

Selecting a legal structure for your business is an integral first step, and Growthink recommends consulting an attorney when choosing one that will suit your company best. Common forms of incorporation are S Corporations and C Corporations – S Corp owners have limited liability protection while passing business income directly onto personal tax returns to avoid double taxation while C corporations offer more formality and separation between assets and liabilities. Once your legal structure has been decided upon, Growthink’s intuitive online business planning software can assist with creating an actionable business plan.

Finding funding can be one of the greatest obstacles to opening a distillery. Banks tend to shy away from lending money to startups without established track records and tangible plans for growth; alternatives include personal savings, loans from family and friends, credit card financing, crowdfunding platforms or angel investors; however a solid business plan will play an essential role in drawing these sources of capital in.