A bottle of wine can be paid for two years before it is sold. This page looks at that slow cash cycle for Hill Country growers, makers and tasting rooms.
Apply Now →Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County, in the Texas Hill Country, with 17,850 residents at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1849 and is known for its German-Texan history. The Hill Country is the center of the Texas wine industry, with three American Viticultural Areas: Texas Hill Country, Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, and Bell Mountain.
Wine is unusual among small businesses because production and sale are separated by a long delay. Grapes are grown or bought, crushed and fermented, then aged, bottled and sold, sometimes after many months in barrel or bottle. Cash goes out at the start, and comes back at the end.
| Stage | Cash out | Cash in |
|---|---|---|
| Vineyard work | Labor, supplies, equipment upkeep | None yet |
| Harvest and crush | Seasonal labor, fuel, equipment | None yet |
| Aging | Barrels, tanks, cellar space, testing | None yet |
| Bottling | Bottles, corks, labels, packaging | Small, if early releases |
| Sale | Staff, tasting costs, shipping | Tasting room, club, wholesale |
A tasting room depends on visitors, and visitors come in waves. Weekends can be busy and weekdays slow, and some months bring more traffic than others. We do not list specific events or seasonal dates here, because we have not verified them. The planning principle holds anyway: fixed costs like staff and utilities continue on slow days, so the room's income must cover the average, not just the peaks.
For illustration only, a small winery spends $90,000 on a harvest, crush and bottling cycle. If it sells the wine over the following eighteen months, it recovers roughly $5,000 a month, so about $90,000 in total, but the cost is paid at the start. During that time it also buys $12,000 of new barrels and pays $24,000 in tasting room payroll. The business is sound but short of cash in the middle. These numbers are fabricated and are not our terms.
Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000, with funds possible in as little as 24 hours after approval. The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull, and sole proprietors can apply. Equipment purchases such as presses, tanks, a bottling line or a tractor are easiest to size because they have quotes. Working capital for the aging period is harder to size, so keep it tied to the specific costs you will pay before the next sales. For regional context see San Antonio and Hill Country funding, Kendall County and Boerne business funding. Ready to begin? Apply here.
Costs are paid at harvest and during aging, while sales come later, sometimes many months after.
Three AVAs are listed: Texas Hill Country, Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, and Bell Mountain.
Yes. Sole proprietors can apply, and the application takes about five minutes.
List the costs you will pay before the next significant sales, subtract cash on hand, and ask for that gap.
In as little as 24 hours after approval, from $25,000 to $5,000,000.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
