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Grapes are a one of the most often consumed fruits. Consumers go out of their way to purchase fresh, home grown fruit; including grapes.
If you have a vineyard and are successful in producing large batches of grapes each season, then you may choose to go into business for yourself and start your own grape growing business.
How to Get into Grape Growing Business
Your first step in starting a grape growing business is to establish and eventually expand on your grape yard. The vineyard that you have now will continue to produce new grapes each year, but in order to increase your sales volume; you will want to increase your grape production.
Consider the size of your land, and your maximum capacity for your grape vineyard, as you organize your business plan and set goals for how many grapes you expect to sell each year.
Your next step is finding customers to purchase your grapes. Local food markets, fruit stands and grocery stores will be excellent regular customers. Also look into supplying grapes to wine makers in your area, (you may even give wine making a try yourself).
The many shops that offer ‘make your own wine' services also need a steady supply of fresh grapes and would be a great area for you to sell your grapes.
If you plan to deliver your grapes to your various customers then you will want to have reliable vehicle with ample space for delivering crates of grapes.
Cultivating a great harvest of grapes is the key to your successful grape growing business, but there will also be a certain amount of administrative work you will need to accomplish. Set up an office area in your home, equipped with computer, fax and phone. Keep organized files on your regular customers, your inventory, your pricing, your advertising and your revenue.
Skills Needed:
Skill in growing grapes is an absolute must in order to run a successful grape growing business.
Organizational skills and business management skills will also allow you to keep your operation running efficiently.
Experience Needed:
Experience in successfully growing a vineyard full of high quality grapes will be essential in your success at running your own grape growing business.
Cultivate a network of friends who are also experts in the grape growing field, so that if you come across a problem in your vineyard that you have never dealt with before, you will have somewhere to turn.
Consider joining grape growing organizations on the web. There will be a world of information regarding healthy grape growing, as well as tips on how best to sell your grapes.
Also consider taking a business management course if you lack experience in running a business.
Startup Requirements:
Your initial start up costs will be in maintaining and eventually expanding on your grape vineyard. Equipment and tools for growing and cultivating grapes will be your main cost.
Once you have a full season of grapes ready to be sold, you can launch a marketing campaign, and seek out regular customers. Fresh fruit is always a sell out, and soon you will not only be growing, but also selling your grapes for profit with your home based grape growing business.
Side Note: Wine sales in the United States reached $21.1 billion in 2002, up from $19.8 billion in 2001. That's a giant leap from $11.4 the United States reached $21.1 billion in
Resources:
Wine Institute Organization
Wine Growing Resources
Be Sure to visit our Business Start Up Guide for information on starting your business
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