'I’d rather regret something I’d done than something I hadn’t'

Starting a new business is always a risk – but if you love your product it’s one worth taking.

By Jennifer Nickerson Tipperary Boutique Distillery

STARTING A COMPANY is hard. Everyone tells you that, because it’s true.

People regale you with terrifying statistics about the failure rate of startups, horror stories about people losing their homes on the back of loan guarantees and tales of endless sleepless nights worrying over decisions.

What you don’t hear as much about are the good parts – how enthusiastic your friends and colleagues can be, the vast array of supports available and the sense of pride when you finally hold your finished product in your hands.

We are only seven months into the real work, but it’s been a blast so far and hopefully this will give a ray of hope to anyone else thinking about starting their own company.

Our company was incorporated in 2014. We had been talking about the possibility of starting a distillery for a long time: my father has worked in scotch whisky for over 35 years and it’s an industry I always loved – in fact I wrote my university thesis on it.

With my fiancé, Liam Ahearn, growing barley on his family farm, it seemed an ideal plan. The more we spoke about it, the more convinced I was that it was a good idea. We had a friend prepare some drawings for the distillery and applied for planning permission in 2015.

Taking a risk

At that point I was working for KPMG in Dublin, and I loved both my job and where I lived. It was a huge decision to move to Tipperary and take a risk on a new venture. For me, the thing that pushed me to take that step was thinking about what would happen if I didn’t try to make my own whiskey. To use a cliché, I’d rather regret something I’d done than something I hadn’t.

I went over our business plan carefully, reviewed our figures religiously, stress-tested everything and examined every assumption. Ultimately, I was convinced that there was an amazing opportunity if I had the courage to pursue it.

I didn’t know how my colleagues would react when I told them that I was leaving, but I needn’t have worried. I was genuinely blown away by the support I received. From invitations to conferences and events to offering personal and professional contacts, they were unanimously positive.

Our family and friends have also been incredibly helpful and have freely offered comments, advice and contacts. Through a lot of networking and not a small amount of persistence, we eventually got the right connections.

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Source: Nico Kaiser

The product

However we still had to put together a product. As it stands, we are still seeking financing to construct our distillery and even when it is finished it will be at least three years and a day before we can call the spirit we distil ‘Irish whiskey’.

In the meantime, we wanted to showcase a product that would give people an idea of what we are trying to do. We finally agreed on an 11-year-old, single-malt Irish whiskey which embodies everything we want. It is triple-distilled, so it is smooth. But at the same time, it has a greater complexity, depth of character and length of finish than a typical Irish whiskey, so it should also have something for the connoisseur.

Only six casks were mixed for our first batch to make 1,916 bottles, individually numbered. This is a nod to the centenary of the Easter Rising. As each batch is made up of only six casks, each batch will be broadly similar but still unique.

In order to do all this, we had to contact distilleries, order dry goods and find someone to bottle it for us. My dad was invaluable here. He was happy to approach his contacts in all these areas, and his experience and reputation in the industry opened a lot of doors that would have otherwise remained closed.

If possible, every new company should find people that know about the market, the product or the industry and work with them. It’s been utterly priceless to us and I don’t think we could have done this without him.

Along the same lines: if in doubt, ask. Whether it’s advice on how to send some cases to Austria, taking a sample to a show on our behalf or providing some other free good or service, I’ve lost any shame I might have had in asking for something for free. Be prepared to hear the word ‘no’, but it’s worth asking. You would be surprised how many people will be willing to help you.

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Sale time

So when we had whiskey in a bottle, it was time to sell it. We have been attending events, running tastings, answering questions; essentially living and breathing whiskey. I’m working on whiskey-related projects from when I wake up until I go to sleep. We had a wedding to attend recently, and we arranged a sales meeting on the way there and a visit to our tax warehouse on the way back.

However, the hard work is paying off and between these and my father’s distributor contacts, we sold nearly our entire first batch in six weeks. It’s stressful having a startup business and those closest to you can bear the brunt of that strain. I’m lucky to have the best friends and family you could wish for in this scenario.

So if you can love a product so much that you won’t mind when it takes up every hour of your waking life, then a startup could be for you. There are an abundance of supports out there and if you show that you’re serious about your product and business, then you are likely to be taken seriously in return.

We’re only seven months in, but it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. If you’ve done your due diligence and you’re sure of your product, consider taking the plunge. It’s worth it.

Jennifer Nickerson is the co-founder of the Tipperary Boutique Distillery.

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