The Wine Evangelist

I started my own business in 1988. I didn’t plan on it but sometimes things just happen.

Starting your own business is a fantasy for many, just make sure that if you decide to dive in, you’re prepared for the twists and turns.

I had worked in the wine business most of my adult life. In ‘79-’88, I was working as the Midwest Regional Manager for Cannon Wine Ltd, a wine marketing company. I effectively managed a large and very successful territory. I sold a huge amount of wine and built strong relationships for all of the brands in the portfolio. After exceeding my sales budget by 164% in 1987 bringing in 140,000 cases over budget (that’s not a misprint or an overstatement), my very frugal boss, Arthur, gave me a whopping $300 bonus based on MBOs (Management by Objectives) established earlier that year. There was to be no raise either (don’t even go there!).

I had two kids to put through college in the near future and asked him how we could structure the bonus schedule going forward. His solution was to allow me to take the portfolio of brands that the company represented and start my own wine brokerage company, promising me that I could represent the brands as long as I continued to meet sales goals. It was a scary thought but I swallowed hard and WineLine was born. Arthur was true to his word. I spent 10 years building an incredibly successful wine brokerage business exceeding all goals for the 25 brands I represented in 15 states.

When my husband and I decided to move to Northern California because it was just too hard to grow Pinot Noir in Chicago, I sold my company at a profit, a rare occurrence for a wine brokerage.

I accepted a job as National Sales Manager for a California winery. After being on my own for so many years, reporting to a boss was a challenge. I lasted two years before deciding to go back into business for myself.

This time, I didn’t have a cushion. Nothing to help me out of the gate. I had a concept and determination. I started a new company, Affairs of the Vine. My goal was to bring my passion for wine and the tools I had used to educate wine sales folks all over the country to wine consumers. Originating out of love and passion for wine, Affairs of the Vine began in 1999, and is recognized today as one of the the top wine event companies in the world.

Being an entrepreneur is the dream of many and the nightmare of some. I’ve experienced both sides of this. There are some excellent advantages to being in business for yourself.
And for every positive, there’s the other side:

• You don’t have to punch a clock. You get to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  
• You can work in your PJs and bunny slippers. You sometimes go for days without combing your hair, hoping the Fedex guy won’t judge you too harshly.
• You don’t have to worry about being fired.
  There’s no guaranteed paycheck.
• You don’t have to deal with company gossip or politics.
  You don’t get to share or dish company gossip or politics.
• You can spend more time with your family if you work at home.
  You can do the laundry, cook dinner, wash the dishes, run the errands, pick up the kids, talk to your mother-in-law whenever she calls…you’re at home, right? You can spend lots of time with the family and friends when all of your chores are done and you’re not working 24/7 to make your new business successful.
• You can follow your passion.
  You can follow your passion…hopefully others will want to follow too.
• You can earn a lot of money…probably a REAL LOT, after all, you completed your
  education, unlike Richard Branson who dropped out of school at age 16.
  There’s no guaranteed paycheck. When the economy gets tough, you have to ride the waves on your own.

I’ve weathered the storm for years and have been a very successful serial entrepreneur. Wine brokerage (WineLine), wine events company (Affairs of the Vine), wine import company (Maverick Brands), and winery (Sonoma Coast Vineyards).

I’ve always been able to juggle successfully and keep all the balls in the air. That is…until a month ago.

I finished up the 8th Annual Pinot Noir Shootout and Summit. I posted the results on our website as promised by March 15th. I had numerous corporate wine events to conduct, proposals to complete, family events I needed and wanted to attend. All of this is business as usual for me but add a horrible upper respiratory infection and I was unable to multi-task. In fact, I was hardly able to single-task.

I was fuzzy headed and must have followed that little guy with a waistcoat and pocket watch. The joys of being an entrepreneur and having no one on staff who I have cloned to be me, I fell down the rabbit-hole. I tumbled head over feet and kept falling fast, trying to grasp onto the tasks that I needed to do. Everything was a challenge – I didn’t keep up with my blog, I didn’t keep up with twitter, I didn’t keep up with Facebook, I sure didn’t keep up with Linked In. Whew!

I did keep my head above water and continued to send out proposals, close deals, send our invoices, and pay bills. I’m back from my journey and hopefully have learned something. Like Carroll, I was not on illicit drugs, but certainly had quite a trip anyway.

I’m on the road back. This is my first blog post in quite awhile and I’m back tweeting, linking and facebooking. I am allocating my time carefully and hopefully will even have time to say “hello” to my husband tonight.

If you decide to start your own business, know that the joys are amazing but so are the demands.