The Farm Credit East Winery Benchmarks program is a unique way to see how your business stacks up against your industry peers.
Along with an in-depth financial and operational analysis of your business, you can interact with other successful winery owners, take part in dialogue to better understand your industry and gain constructive feedback from an experienced Farm Credit consultant.
Who participates in this program?
Winery owners use our benchmarking to:
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of their businesses
- Find strategies to capture the full market value of their products
- Create marketing that matches the quality of their wine
- Find new ways to control costs and gain efficiencies
The total program
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Data collection. Your Farm Credit East benchmark specialist will work with you to compile data that profiles many aspects of your business, from profitability to transaction counts to employee compensation and benefits. |
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Data analysis. Farm Credit East will incorporate your results with data from winery operations in the program to illustrate how your business compares to others of similar size, style and region. |
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Winery Executive Round Tables customized to your unique group. This is your opportunity to learn from experienced consultants working in the program and network with other successful winery owners. You’ll hear presentations on targeted management topics and get answers to your questions. You’ll roll up your sleeves and get down to work discussing critical industry issues and applying benchmark highlights to your own situation. |
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Winery Benchmarks Report. The Winery Benchmarks offers two report options:
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Follow-up meeting. Following the seminar, a Farm Credit East consultant will visit your business to review your personal benchmark results in detail with you. This is your opportunity to work on your objectives and pick up a personalized action plan on how improvements will impact your bottom line. |
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Program extras. Networking opportunities; small group meetings on special interests; special studies; and access to members-only online community. |
How winery business owners use this program
Owners enter the program with lots of questions about improving their businesses and walk away with answers at the end. Questions include:
- How can I decrease labor expenses?
- How does my wine pricing and varieties compare with others in my region?
- How effective is my retail staff?
- How efficient is my production staff?
- Am I carrying too much inventory?
- How does my business measure up to other top wineries?
- How do I know when it’s time to expand my business?
- Is my compensation package competitive?
Interested in participating in the Winery Benchmarks program?
For more information on the Winery Benchmarks program contact your local Farm Credit East branch.
