Online wine merchant with stored cellar

Wine lovers building a personal collection, gift buyers, small restaurants, bars and cafes looking for a personal supplier.

A margin on each bottle or case sold, plus storage fees charged to clients who keep their wine with you, usually per case per year.

• Good wine knowledge, or a willingness to study it
• Building relationships with clients
• Careful record keeping for stock and orders

• Selling alcohol in the UK normally needs a premises licence for the place where sales are made or stock is dispatched from, and a personal licence holder as designated premises supervisor. Whether your home address or the warehouse's licence applies depends on how you set things up, so check with your local council's licensing team before trading. Rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland
• If you sell to other businesses such as restaurants and bars, you will probably need to be approved under HMRC's Alcohol Wholesale Registration Scheme and only buy from registered suppliers. Check the current requirements with HMRC
• Alcohol duty and VAT rules are complicated, particularly for stored wine held under duty suspension, so consider an accountant
• Check age verification on online and delivery sales
• Tied-up cash in stock, and storage or breakage insurance for wine you own

Startup costs are typically around £3,000 to £15,000, depending on how much stock you buy, your website and your storage arrangements. These are estimates, and cash tied up in stock is worth planning for.

Monthly revenue is typically around £1,000 to £5,000, depending on your client base, the wines you sell and whether you supply restaurants. The estimates start from about 10 hours a week.

Check with your local council's licensing team about a premises licence and a personal licence holder, as rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Check HMRC's Alcohol Wholesale Registration Scheme for trade sales, plus duty, VAT and age verification.