At the height of summer, a gin and tonic is a quintessential thirst quencher. With gin more popular with the British public than ever, and the London Distillery Company’s Dodd’s Gin a favorite of discerning gin drinkers across the nation, it may come as a surprise to learn that gin was simply a happy accident for them as London’s first whiskey distillery.

Opening a distillery had been a dream of co-founder Darren Rook for years before the London Distillery Company was born. With a decade’s worth of experience in the drinks industry behind him, he realized London had no whiskey to call its own. Thus, London’s first active whiskey distillery since 1903 was founded.

However, as whiskey can take years to mature into its final product, the team decided to focus their efforts on a side project: gin. Dodd’s Gin is named after Ralph Dodd, the man who, two centuries prior, also looked to open a distillery in the capital. Although Dodd failed, his legacy lives on in TLDC’s most famous product today.

Success isn’t all a bed of roses (…and juniper berries)

Success was quick to follow TLDC’s initial launch of Dodd’s Gin. Despite their initial projections of producing 180 bottles a month, the team found themselves selling 200 bottles a week with Fortnum and Mason also tapping them to produce their in-house gin.

TLDC’s fast-paced rise to success in the spirits world wasn’t without its issues. With bottles flying out of the door, Darren knew they had to stay on top of their financial planning and inventory more than ever. Keeping an eye on their finances would be the lynchpin of their success, much like any other business.

The sky’s the limit – with cloud services at your back

Darren explains, “We knew we couldn’t let the enthusiasm for the product and initial success go to our heads. It was a balancing act between our excitement and cool, clear-headed practicality to keep our business in order. As a startup, the main challenge we faced was the incomings and outgoings as we raced to meet our targets. We needed a robust inventory system to help us to keep an eye on stock, invoices and manage our cash flow.”

Read More at source: London loves business