Wonder, Wine, and Wisconsin:
Inside the journey of Vines & Rushes Winery
Location: Ripon, WI
Restaurant type: Contemporary casual
Business type: Winery, restaurant
Years open: 12
The start: Ryan Prellwitz has always had roots in agriculture. He’d grown up in Wisconsin on a strawberry farm. So when his family expressed interest in growing grapes, he purchased and planted 50 vines to see if they could thrive in the changing Midwest weather. But he also wanted to see if he had what it took to start a business. Because he had no prior experience with winemaking or with running a business, he left plenty of room for his plans to change in case things didn’t work out.
“Where a portrait artist has somebody they’re painting a portrait of, we work more like a sketch artist. We’re sketching the business from scratch without a picture that we’re mimicking,” said Prellwitz. He put up a building that, he notes, could have easily become a machine shed if things didn’t work out and simply decided to take each part of his business as it came. “We had a lot of flexibility in mind. We didn’t know what we were going to need or what would happen along the path,” he added.
The challenge: The going-as-you-grow approach gave Prellwitz his first challenge: staffing. Prellwitz was quick to do all of the hard work himself, but maintaining quality is paramount to the success of the business, and ultimately, that required more hands. “Any time we add something new, I’m heavily involved in it until I work myself out of that job and hire the right people to keep it going,” he explained. “Finding those key people who can handle things without me being involved is one of the most important things for building a strategy that works.”
When he approaches hiring, he searches for employees that he can rely on and those who essentially serve as an extension of himself. With high standards in staffing, he worries less about different aspects of the business and spends more time thinking about growth efforts. To make his relationship with staffing even easier, he invested in Square Payroll to manage time cards, payroll, and more.
The present: Today, Vines & Rushes Winery is a multihyphenate business that features a wine club, winery, restaurant, and an online shop, in addition to hosting private and public events such as live music. With more than four building expansions in over ten years and several revenue streams under its belt, Vines and Rushes Winery is still “painting the picture” of what’s next and positioning itself for continued growth.
The recommendation: Prellwitz’s biggest piece of advice is to be committed to the journey and the learnings along the way. “Success isn’t a point you reach. It’s a continual thing you’re pursuing,” he said.
Square products used: Square Payroll, Square Messaging, Square Online, and Square for Restaurants
