Biodynamic Wines - Plonk Wine Club
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Etty Klein, owner of Plonk Wine Club, located in Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We curate natural wines that are grown using organic, biodynamic, and sustainable vineyard practices and deliver them to your doorstep monthly, bimonthly or quarterly. We feature clean, natural wines, which means no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or commercial additives such as colorants, acidifiers, artificial sugars, alcohol enhancements, or industrial chemicals of any kind. This also includes wines that contain minimal or no added sulfites, that are fermented with wild yeasts, and that are unfined and unfiltered, with minimal intervention in the winemaking process.
We scour the globe for artisanal, small-batch, boutique wines that are off the beaten path and not available in large commercial outlets. We select adventurous wines from lesser-known wine regions such as Austria, Croatia, Greece, and Slovenia. We home in on wines that are made of indigenous grape varieties that are native to their specific place of origin. We taste through hundreds of wines and only select real, authentic wines made by passionate farmers, not by industrial manufacturers or boardroom executives from large wine industry conglomerates.
Our customers are adventurous wine drinkers, both novices and connoisseurs, male and female in the 30-75 age range.
Tell us about yourself
My name is Etty Klein; I am a passionate wine expert who is certified by the esteemed Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and the American Sommelier Association. I was featured in Wine Enthusiast's Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers List, Wine & Spirits' 30 Under 30 List of Top Young Talent in the Wine World, and was named an Online Impresario by Food & Wine. I also appeared in Forbes, Vogue, Glamour, Real Simple, Marie Claire, Women's Health, Town & County, Esquire, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, NBC News and much other food, wine and lifestyle publications. I got my feet wet in the wine business by running the Wines of Chile national marketing campaign in the U.S. prior to launching Plonk Wine Club.
I never had a master plan for starting my own business, but after reaching a ceiling in my career being employed by someone else, I decided to go off on a limb and take a risk so that I could realize my full potential based on my experience level and my skill sets. I was very interested in the online wine space, and when I began my business in 2010, there were very few players in the field, and there was a niche for organic and biodynamic wines that hadn't yet been filled.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We follow a curation model in which we select the wines our members will receive in a sushi-bar "Trust-Me" style, and developing that type of trust in our customers has been so rewarding. While it hasn't been without its challenges, sticking to your values and beliefs as a business has really paid off, and the quality reflected in our products really demonstrates that.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Developing a start-up is never a smooth road! When I began, the wine club space was very small, with very few players occupying the space in any kind of significant way. That has changed drastically during the eleven years that I've been in business, with hundreds of wine clubs now crowding this very specific niche of online wine sales. Finding the right type of customer for your brand is a big challenge that many entrepreneurs face and one that I have experienced as well, but through persistence, constant reassessment, and evolution, you find your way through the challenges.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You must have an exceptional amount of resilience to compete in the business world today. Failure is part of success, so expect it.
- Authenticity sells, so find your inner voice.
- Personalize your business as much as you can because your customers will want to know that there is an actual human behind the brand.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.plonkwineclub.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plonkwineclub/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plonkwineclub/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlonkOnline
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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