Creating Tastes Wine Bar & Bistro was as much an exercise in passion as it was in business model design. For those of you with a passion for wine, you will know what I am talking about. If you’re not a wine aficionado, think of your passion and imagine monetizing that in a business. The prospect is exciting, isn’t it?
Had I merely conjured the idea of opening a wine bar and said, “Okay, let’s go”, I would have been doing myself a great disservice. That is exactly what most small business owners do. Validating the idea and ensuring that this was the best use of my capital and time was mandatory. There were at least three other top contending business models on my drawing table. Not just other food and beverage concepts but, tech, retail and outsourced manufacturing marketing. Each of those ideas could have generated a return. Each of them were eliminated at various points along the way with no-go decisions. What remained was a limited service, small footprint, wine bar that was reproducible from a franchising perspective and met an identified market need.
At this point, the business case was established as a guide for further development including general menu, rough order of magnitude budgeting, conceptual design elements. It was too early for a full business plan but it had passed the first phase.
At this point in the development, I had the following elements in place.
- A general idea of the concept including menu guidelines: International vs country specific wines, small plate vs full plate.
- Number of shifts I wanted to be open. I chose evening and Saturday/Sunday brunch. (Please don’t try to open for three shifts/day. You’ll burn out faster than a supernova)
- The approximate number of tables required to make the concept work for the number of staff and the right sized space.
- General location, at least for the first operating unit. It had to be close to home to manage efficiently. I also determined that future expansion was going to be located in the metro area and not in secondary markets located too far to maintain quality control.
- Number of shifts I would work and days per week to be open.
- The amount of personal funds available to the venture.
- Amount of funds required to lease or buy property. Amount of funds required for the restaurant build. Contingency and emergency funds.
The business case also identified:
- Preferred business structure.
- High level risks to evaluate more extensively.
- Management experience and training gaps.
Personal considerations at this point include:
- Other job opportunities and opportunity cost
- Would this project progress my career in the direction I wanted it to go?
- How will this affect my family life?
Now it’s on to the next step Concept Validation
Go back to Daniel Kuhlman Tastes Project site
Daniel Kuhlman on creating a multi-unit wine bar 