These are two things I hear people working in wineries saying that annoy me and I feel just aren't true.
1. "If you start a winery to make money your crazy." This is typically followed by talk about how much start up capital is needed or how high the over head is and then talking about how wineries make great tax right offs and that is why you should start one. Sure, wineries can make great tax rights offs, heck they can be a veritable money incinerator if you want them to be, but that is just one model. There are people making money in wine, and this should be the goal of any winery. If you start a winery to be a tax right off you are just setting yourself up for a life of mediocrity. The goal of any business should be to reach profitability as quickly as possible because it is easier to grow profitable businesses then non-profitable businesses. I think a lot of wineries are experiencing this right now as the economy pulls back the outside sources of cash keeping the winery afloat begin to dry up and you don't need that huge tax credit anymore, wouldn't it be nice if instead of a money sink that winery have turned profitable and could see you through these turbulent times? So yes, I will start a winery to make money, and yes it can be done, it just requires a lot of hard work and smart business decisions instead of throwing money at problems until they go away.
2. "It takes money to make money in wine." This has been around a long time, and there is a point to this saying, but people preach it way to much. To a certain extent it takes money to make money at anything, the online space being a unique exception where with little more then A LOT of sweat equity you can build a nice business. Wine is also unique in that you have to do upfront production before sales due to the nature of the production of wine, no one will buy a wine they have never heard of that isn't made yet, and you can't make 15 bottles to see if people will buy it then a month later make the same wine again, it just doesn't work like that. So for these reasons it does take SOME money to make money in wine, but it's not like you have to be a millionaire to do it. I have worked out a business plan using around $500,000 that will produce a good quality wine at an affordable price point in a large enough quantity to be feasible, sure it would work better with more money but it can be done with that. In the world of start ups that can either seem like a ton of money or not very much depending on what your looking at, but the point is you can make wine and be profitable in the wine business without spending millions.
Friday, March 27, 2009
People that make me laugh at the gym
This is a list of people at the gym I go to that crack me up, as I have been going to the gym a lot lately I have seen these people a lot. Before you accuse me of selling out my little blog of rants here let me preface by saying that when I am in a bad mood, I go into angry rants about these people, but when I am in a good mood, they just make me laugh.
1. 14 year old kids who like to lift weights ALL THE TIME, I mean seriously, these kids are there every night. It's great that these kids want to work out I don't want to discourage it, but they should strongly consider changing routines unless they want to wind up at 5' 1" guys with huge biceps. I mean if that is your goal, have at it, but otherwise, lets leave the heavy weight lifting for later in life ok?
2. The women who are SO tan they appear to have actually seceded in joining another race and are so proud of their fake breasts they work out in nothing but a sports bra that is a cup size too small and tiny spandex shorts, AND who have gotten so muscled up I am actually afraid they might kick my ass. I mean really? REALLY? who are you? don't you have better things to do with your life? and are you that desperate for attention?
3. People who clearly only work out with a personal trainer so they can hang out with a cute fit person. I see both men and women doing this (usually older men and younger girls) These people do not really care about what kind of shape they are in, or they would be in better shape, they just want to appear to work out so they can have forced interaction with an attractive trainer.
4. Women who are so CLEARLY trying to get guys to look at them while they work out by moving their hips/ass way more then is necessary on the elliptical. Typically these people are not in that great of shape and you wouldn't even notice them in the gym except for the fact that they stick their ass out and move like 2 feet side to side when they use the elliptical. Now maybe this is some technique I am not aware of, but it just looks ridiculous and whatever it is... it isn't working.
5. The guy who has cut his sleeve wholes so large in his shirt, that when standing normally his shirt no longer covers either nipple. I get it... you are proud of your body and want to show it off, but this just looks contrived and ridiculous, yes you are in good shape, yes you would like more freedom when working out, but NO you do not need to make you shirt sleeve wholes (if you can call them that) that large, there is no reason for this and I refuse to take you seriously as a human being.
6. People are are so set on using the big weights that they use terrible technique. The most ripped/muscled people I have known used relatively light weights for their size, they just had impeccable form. So no... you don't need to be using the 55 lb. dumbbell for curls if you have to rock your whole bode a foot just to do one, you will see much better results with a 30 or 35 lb dumbbell and good form, but then again... you might look like a wee girly man if you use the little weights... ahh the dilemmas of a meet head!
1. 14 year old kids who like to lift weights ALL THE TIME, I mean seriously, these kids are there every night. It's great that these kids want to work out I don't want to discourage it, but they should strongly consider changing routines unless they want to wind up at 5' 1" guys with huge biceps. I mean if that is your goal, have at it, but otherwise, lets leave the heavy weight lifting for later in life ok?
2. The women who are SO tan they appear to have actually seceded in joining another race and are so proud of their fake breasts they work out in nothing but a sports bra that is a cup size too small and tiny spandex shorts, AND who have gotten so muscled up I am actually afraid they might kick my ass. I mean really? REALLY? who are you? don't you have better things to do with your life? and are you that desperate for attention?
3. People who clearly only work out with a personal trainer so they can hang out with a cute fit person. I see both men and women doing this (usually older men and younger girls) These people do not really care about what kind of shape they are in, or they would be in better shape, they just want to appear to work out so they can have forced interaction with an attractive trainer.
4. Women who are so CLEARLY trying to get guys to look at them while they work out by moving their hips/ass way more then is necessary on the elliptical. Typically these people are not in that great of shape and you wouldn't even notice them in the gym except for the fact that they stick their ass out and move like 2 feet side to side when they use the elliptical. Now maybe this is some technique I am not aware of, but it just looks ridiculous and whatever it is... it isn't working.
5. The guy who has cut his sleeve wholes so large in his shirt, that when standing normally his shirt no longer covers either nipple. I get it... you are proud of your body and want to show it off, but this just looks contrived and ridiculous, yes you are in good shape, yes you would like more freedom when working out, but NO you do not need to make you shirt sleeve wholes (if you can call them that) that large, there is no reason for this and I refuse to take you seriously as a human being.
6. People are are so set on using the big weights that they use terrible technique. The most ripped/muscled people I have known used relatively light weights for their size, they just had impeccable form. So no... you don't need to be using the 55 lb. dumbbell for curls if you have to rock your whole bode a foot just to do one, you will see much better results with a 30 or 35 lb dumbbell and good form, but then again... you might look like a wee girly man if you use the little weights... ahh the dilemmas of a meet head!
Things I want/need to buy
This list is more for my own convenience then anyone who reads this, I just seem to forget what I want when I get money and waste it on silly things then when I don't have any money go OOOH YEAH! I've been meaning to buy....
1. Windows (64 bit vistas preferably, but would settle for 64 bit xp) The 30 day free trail I use on my desktop and reinstall every 30 days is getting kinda annoying, what with the reinstalling every 30 days and all.
2. A new laptop, my old one bit the dust and I do love my desktop, but sometimes you just need a little mobility
3. A second GPU for my Desk Top, there is no good reason for this other then I think it would be sweet and well... computers are just another way to say HAHA MINES BIGGER THEN YOURS!
4. A good surfing wetsuit, this will probably wait till next winter because it is getting warm enough to not need it now, but there is a portion of the year where its not terribly cold outside but the water temp is killer, for this part of the year I would like a wetsuit.
5. A massage, not really on par with everything else cost wise, but still one of those luxury things that if I would like to have.
I think that's it for now, I'm sure more will come to me
1. Windows (64 bit vistas preferably, but would settle for 64 bit xp) The 30 day free trail I use on my desktop and reinstall every 30 days is getting kinda annoying, what with the reinstalling every 30 days and all.
2. A new laptop, my old one bit the dust and I do love my desktop, but sometimes you just need a little mobility
3. A second GPU for my Desk Top, there is no good reason for this other then I think it would be sweet and well... computers are just another way to say HAHA MINES BIGGER THEN YOURS!
4. A good surfing wetsuit, this will probably wait till next winter because it is getting warm enough to not need it now, but there is a portion of the year where its not terribly cold outside but the water temp is killer, for this part of the year I would like a wetsuit.
5. A massage, not really on par with everything else cost wise, but still one of those luxury things that if I would like to have.
I think that's it for now, I'm sure more will come to me
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The internet hates me!
For some reason the internet has been out to get my lately. I do not know what I did to anger it, but it has not been functionally correctly. Everything has been running very slowly, videos take a year and a day to load, if they load at all, some videos I can't even watch. What gives oh great interwobz? Even my phone is out to get me, I found out I could get Pandora radio for my phone, awesome, except that it Fs up my phone and doesn't really work and makes everything else on the phone not work too! GRRRRRR! Why can't the internet just function properly all the time... I mean seriously.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
People come here?
So according to my google analytics, someone actually comes here other then my girlfriend. Whoever you are mystery person, thank you, you brightened my day.
On another note I installed this game Entropia Online the other day, its an MMORPG type thing with the caveat that it has a real cash economy. Every piece of coin in the game represents a dime basically. The cool thing, kind of, is that you can convert back your in game money to real coin, so you can potentially make money at this game. That's why I installed it, however, it turns out you can't really make money at it. There are winners in this game that make money, but they either started a long time ago, when the economy was still sorting itself and there for acquired assets at a cheap price because people really didn't know what it was worth, or they spend a lot of money upfront to get commodities in the game then recoup their money over time. So I guess I could still make money, but it would take a relatively large investment on my part, and I don't know that I want to dump that much money into a game. Plus, in the end, the game HAS to be a net sum loss for players. There is no subscription fee, and no cost to get the game, so somewhere the studio is making money out of the in game economy, meaning they won't give out more money then they take in. These factors combined, along with a somewhat clunky game interface, lack of storyline, and basic like of gameness to this "game, made me decide to stop playing it after a very short time.
On another note I installed this game Entropia Online the other day, its an MMORPG type thing with the caveat that it has a real cash economy. Every piece of coin in the game represents a dime basically. The cool thing, kind of, is that you can convert back your in game money to real coin, so you can potentially make money at this game. That's why I installed it, however, it turns out you can't really make money at it. There are winners in this game that make money, but they either started a long time ago, when the economy was still sorting itself and there for acquired assets at a cheap price because people really didn't know what it was worth, or they spend a lot of money upfront to get commodities in the game then recoup their money over time. So I guess I could still make money, but it would take a relatively large investment on my part, and I don't know that I want to dump that much money into a game. Plus, in the end, the game HAS to be a net sum loss for players. There is no subscription fee, and no cost to get the game, so somewhere the studio is making money out of the in game economy, meaning they won't give out more money then they take in. These factors combined, along with a somewhat clunky game interface, lack of storyline, and basic like of gameness to this "game, made me decide to stop playing it after a very short time.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Google Analytics
Just got google analytics on here so I can kepp track of all the hits I'm not getting! WOOT!
Changing the wine pricing game
DISCLAIMER: The following is based on my experiences in the wine wholesaling world and research I have put together for my company.
You may or may not be aware of this, but when you buy a glass of wine at a restaurant you are usually paying for 3/4 or more of the business cost of buying the bottle. This is why wine is always so much more expensive then beer at restaurants and the like. Why is this you might ask? You certainly aren't drinking enough of the bottle to justify it, assuming they get 4 glasses out of each bottle then they are taking a 300% mark-up, which is huge. The problem though, is they can't necessarily count on selling all 4 glasses in a bottle, and wine doesn't really keep over-night that well unless you invest in expensive preservation systems like argon canisters and even then that just extends the life. What is really happening is that a restaurant is assuming it well sell on average two glasses of wine out of every bottle they open giving them a 150% mark-up over cost, which is about what retailers ask on bottles anyways.
The other problem with wine pricing making it overly inflated as compared to beer is that everyone that makes wine knows that this is what restaurants do, and so they sell at less of a discount to restaurants then they do to retailers. Producers think if the restaurant is going to charge $9/glass anyways, I might as well make a little more money as well in this situation and charge them a higher price per bottle because they command a higher price per glass.
Does it have to be this way though? Your average middle market wines, the wines typically available at $9 or so per glass probably cost roughly $4-$6/bottle to make (This is based solely on my experiences and the research I have done for my own company). So that equates to lest say $1.50/glass average cost of production. So isn't it conceivable that producers could sell at $2.50/glass to restaurants who could then turn around and sell to consumers at $3.50 or $4.00? Of course it is, but this only works if we price by the glass from the start, which we cant do because everyone produces bottles and you run into the loss do to spoilage problem.
I am planning to get rid of this crazy pricing structure and hopefully you will see Glossophilia wines at bars where they wouldn't otherwise serve wines and a glass will only cost as much as your favorite pint. Until we get rid of this insane per-glass pricing the US wine market will never catch up to other parts of the world in terms of Avg. gallons/person
You may or may not be aware of this, but when you buy a glass of wine at a restaurant you are usually paying for 3/4 or more of the business cost of buying the bottle. This is why wine is always so much more expensive then beer at restaurants and the like. Why is this you might ask? You certainly aren't drinking enough of the bottle to justify it, assuming they get 4 glasses out of each bottle then they are taking a 300% mark-up, which is huge. The problem though, is they can't necessarily count on selling all 4 glasses in a bottle, and wine doesn't really keep over-night that well unless you invest in expensive preservation systems like argon canisters and even then that just extends the life. What is really happening is that a restaurant is assuming it well sell on average two glasses of wine out of every bottle they open giving them a 150% mark-up over cost, which is about what retailers ask on bottles anyways.
The other problem with wine pricing making it overly inflated as compared to beer is that everyone that makes wine knows that this is what restaurants do, and so they sell at less of a discount to restaurants then they do to retailers. Producers think if the restaurant is going to charge $9/glass anyways, I might as well make a little more money as well in this situation and charge them a higher price per bottle because they command a higher price per glass.
Does it have to be this way though? Your average middle market wines, the wines typically available at $9 or so per glass probably cost roughly $4-$6/bottle to make (This is based solely on my experiences and the research I have done for my own company). So that equates to lest say $1.50/glass average cost of production. So isn't it conceivable that producers could sell at $2.50/glass to restaurants who could then turn around and sell to consumers at $3.50 or $4.00? Of course it is, but this only works if we price by the glass from the start, which we cant do because everyone produces bottles and you run into the loss do to spoilage problem.
I am planning to get rid of this crazy pricing structure and hopefully you will see Glossophilia wines at bars where they wouldn't otherwise serve wines and a glass will only cost as much as your favorite pint. Until we get rid of this insane per-glass pricing the US wine market will never catch up to other parts of the world in terms of Avg. gallons/person
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