Wines and spirits shop is considered by many as one of the best businesses in Kenya because its products are addictive as customers try as much as they could to satisfy their thirst .However, the process of starting one is not a walk in the park but once all requirements are met, the entrepreneur would consider it the most lucrative business in the country.

Some of the steps you should consider when you aspire to start a wine and spirits shop include:

• LOCATION – You need to consider an ideal location for the business whereby clients would find it easy to access preferably from the main road. A good location would be on a busy business premises or by the road side with a high traffic or rather near hotels or restaurants.
• CAPITAL – You must have enough capital to start this business. The capital would compromise the needs like license which would cost Kshs.70,000, rent,stocks, furniture( shelves ,display area etc). you need between Kshs.200,000 and Kshs.400,000 in capital for an average store and up-to 2m for wholesale and retail store.
• BUSINESS PERMIT – Every business in Kenya, one is required to have a business permit. Therefore to conduct or start a wine a wine and spirits business, you need an annual business permit from the city council. Once you have it, the government can followup on your tax compliance and it is used to verify that you are running a legitimate enterprise.
• COMPETITION – We live in a competitive world whereby everything is achieved best through competition. For a start, one should consider a less competitive environment for your business to grow by obtaining customers and in so doing, you are able to keep tracks of changes in market trends , scan the market conditions and set a realistic price . to stay competitive, learn from the strength and weaknesses of your competitors i.e the prices and services they offer .You would then set the best prices at your shop and offer the most quality services than that of your competitors .
• CUSTOMERS – They play a major role in your business they are the ones whom will determine how far your business can go. Hence you should know the type of customers you are targeting by checking their status background because you would not want to sell expensive alcohol to locals who can only afford to buy cheap alcohol such as blue ice, Kibao, chrome or those who can afford “nusu” also check buying behavior on how best the customers need to be served , some need their products packaged well, others need to listen to good music while others may consider a lively attendant . treat customers well and they will come back over and over again.
• HAVE A SUPPLIER Always important to have a supplier whom you can rely on . you can visit a wholesalers shop that deals with alcohol and make and agreement with them or alternatively visit other wine and spirits shop and ask them where they obtain their products.
• STOCK YOUR BUSINESS Make sure you have variety of products in your shop from whisky, brandy, spirits,gin, wines to beers so that when your customers come they do not miss alcohol of their choice. You would not want them to have second thoughts or alternatives right? Arrange your stock in the shop in a well organized manner with each shelf with different brands. Make your shop attractive to your clients with full shelves.