I was thinking I’d do my first proper blog post on something I built using n8n and some sort of functional trial and error system. However, Bottle Bond is taking me a lot more time than I anticipated. Not in a bad way… it’s always been in the back of my mind from concept 4 years ago to front of mind obsession and determination in the delivery over the last 8 months.
Since deciding to leave full time employment my original goal was to build income through consultancy and sales from my previous full time employer whilst building Bottle Bond on the side as a standalone, self-sufficient business. Unsurprisingly, Bottle Bond has taken much more of my time, not just through sheer passion, drive and determination to make a success from it but because building a business takes a lot of time and effort. There are so many components it’s impossible not to be consumed by it.
As Paul Graham (co‑founder of Y Combinator) puts it:
“Startups are all consuming. If you start a startup, it will take over your life to a degree that you cannot imagine.” – Paul Graham
That’s exactly how Bottle Bond has taken hold far beyond one day a week or 2 weeks of focus to get going, it’s now the centre of my every waking thought.
I don’t want to take money away from Bottle Bond for my own living. I want the company to grow organically, not be reliant on external investment, suit its purpose and the reason I came up with the idea. To give Whisky and Rum bottles the best storage and care as possible for their owners for whatever they may choose to do with them in the future. Whether that be investing, simply collecting for loved ones, special occasions, saving for future events, amongst many other reasons. That is why I’ve tried to build Bottle Bond as lean as possible to give collectors the most reassurance when they place their bottles with the company. We’re here for the long run, this isn’t some flash in the pan, built on a whim, start up, we’re here all the way.
So that’s what this blog post is about. A little insight into a recent part of the journey from over the last couple of weeks (it’s taken 8+ months to get to being operational).
Building for the Customer, Not Myself
When I came up with the idea of Bottle Bond, I was trying to solve a problem I had. Like so many businesses in the past (and in the future) that is my founder story. However, one thing that really stood out for me from reading Noah Kagan’s “Million Dollar Weekend” was you’ve got to build the service for your customer, and I now I get it more than ever.
I’ve overcome many personal barriers building this company by putting myself out there. I’ve been umming and arrrring about price, worried about finding the right price point without scaring people off.
But actually, after numerous WhatsApp messages, Forum messages, Zoom calls with potential customers, the price isn’t the issue at all and people are happy with that.
The Real Barriers: Trust and Workload
Two key elements came out of my conversations: trust and what I’d call workload.
The Trust Challenge
The company is new, and people are thinking of storing their bottles for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. What’s to say we’ll still be around in that time?
Here’s the thing… Bottle Bond will be, because not only are my bottles in this company but due to the way it has been structured and put together.
The company is designed to be as lean as possible, running on a minimal number of bottles. It doesn’t matter what happens with my income or if I exit. The company can still function by using experienced, knowledgeable third-party storage experts and the processes I’ve put in place.
Let’s face it, when you store wine bottles with the majority of providers in the UK, they are simply rebranding a service by London City Bond (to name one of a few) and providing the wine expertise/knowledge and sales of bottles on top.
London City Bond (and competitors) have all the infrastructure. They’re storage experts, they can transport, they know how to handle wine, but they don’t necessarily know the difference between one Château and another. That’s where the merchant comes in.
Why would you trust a wine merchant more than Bottle Bond when the infrastructure and setup is the same model? You could argue Bottle Bond has more chance of long-term survival as it’s not reliant on selling bottles and additional services to exist. We don’t have the costs associated with operating physical premises, paying staff wages, and other things associated with running a traditional business. We’re built as a lean, low margin machine utilising technology to keep it this way.
When chatting to potential customers, I explain this to them. We don’t hide that we use Coterie Vaults infrastructure. Coterie Vaults were selected after a thorough vetting process because they provide the best infrastructure and storage expertise suited for whisky and rum bottles. Just as much as a wine merchant will choose Octavian or LCB or another bonded warehouse provider for their services.
The magic of Bottle Bond is we provide that sprinkle of spirits knowledge on top of the excellent storage infrastructure.
We won’t list your Springbank 30 as a Springbank 15. Your Macallan 18 in the old 1990s packaging will be listed as that. We’ll do due diligence and confirm everything with you, act as that middle person ensuring the 115 bottles you requested to be stored with us is 115 and not just 110 that appear in your online account. We will save our customers the hours often spent validating bottles against descriptions more accustomed to wine than spirits.
So how do I get customers to trust me with their prize possessions? That’s the million dollar question and something I’m working on.
I’ve tried sharing my LinkedIn, Facebook profiles, links to Coterie Vaults etc., but I’m still not quite there. Being a ‘start up’ and unknown seems to put people off.
I have big plans for the company, but in a safe and secure way. We will be here in 20 years, and whether you need your bottle(s) next week or in 10 years, we’ll be able to return them to you. This is something I need to prove to those hesitant about signing up to grow the business.
The Workload Problem
The second barrier is time and effort.
A number of people have said they love the service and the idea. However, they’ve had their bottles at home for years. They have new bottles being sent regularly.
These avid whisky fans, a mix of investors and collectors, individually have 50 to 80 bottles each, ranging in value from £100 to £5,000. They need to get these bottles out of the house, but that takes effort.
I’m asking them to provide me with a spreadsheet of the bottles, package everything up for collection, and arrange a time for collection. That involves getting the bottles out from the back of the cupboard, attic, under the bed…… Getting out the laptop and opening up a spreadsheet, typing it all out, buying some boxes and bubble wrap… and a load more things I don’t even want to spend time on typing.
This is a huge barrier to market for Bottle Bond. The bottles are okay until they become tomorrow’s problem of a burglary, fire, flood, or sale of bottle needs to happen.
To solve this, I’ve built a tool using AI and OCR. Customers just need to send me photos of their bottles, I’ll categorise them and send back for confirmation. “This sounds great and very clever, but I still need to take the photos then pack them,” replied one prospective customer.
So where next with this signup barrier? Pack on site service? If I turn up and do the packing (which I’m willing to do), does this also solve the trust issue? Or is letting a stranger into your house too much as well?
I don’t have the answer to this either at this stage.
So Where Are We At…
We’ve got the best storage provider, insurance, great interest, logistics, contracts, finance, and everything else in place with commitments from multiple people as well as my own bottles stored under Bottle Bond.
Time, practice, and learning will tell whether I can convince those hesitant few we are the right solution for their personal and cherished collections so we can grow.
Trying to solve these two problems will be where my focus lies. Based on the interest I’ve had so far, there is a strong market for this where Bottle Bond can help people.
And ultimately, that’s what Bottle Bond’s goal is… to help people.