How to Start a Flavored Water Bottle Company

Part 1 - How to start a Flavored Water Bottle Company business - Background

Water is the healthiest beverage. It’s free of sugar and artificial ingredients, and it offers numerous health benefits without any negative effects. However, consumers still struggle to drink the daily recommended intake of water often because they dislike the taste.

Flavored water helps solve this problem. Unlike sodas, juices, and other bottled beverages, flavored water relies on natural flavors and sweeteners to make the water more palatable – even tasty. Many flavored water bottle companies add vitamins and minerals, and some businesses also blend the water with green tea and other nutritional beverages. These efforts ensure more people stay hydrated in a healthy way.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start a Flavored Water business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening a flavored water bottle company?

When you’re bottling flavored water, production equipment is by far the largest expense. If you’re purchasing your own equipment, you can expect to pay anywhere from $10,000 for the smallest setup to over $200,000 for a larger facility. However, there are ways to cut costs. You can rent equipment, share equipment costs with another company, or start with non-commercial equipment until your business starts generating a profit.

Distribution costs are also an ongoing expense to consider. You will need delivery equipment, such as trucks or vans, along with hand trucks, forklifts, and other tools necessary to move the product quickly and easily from the truck to the customer’s location and from the warehouse to the truck.

Of course, everyday business costs, such as office and warehouse rent, employee salaries and benefits, and marketing, are also considerations.

What are the ongoing expenses for a flavored water bottle company?

Production and distribution costs are the largest ongoing expenses to consider. You can also expect typical overhead costs, such as rent, office expenses, insurance premiums, payroll, and utilities.

Who is the target market?

Your target market will likely include consumers who want to make healthy choices but who also want to enjoy delicious flavors. You should also target businesses with patrons who value unique culinary experiences, such as gastropubs and health clubs.

Look for restaurant and store owners who show a genuine interest in your product and enjoy it themselves. They are much more likely to push the product to their own customers which mean more sales for you.

How does a flavored water bottle company make money?

There are two primary ways to make money with a flavored water bottle company. You can either sell your products directly to the general public or use a local distributor to sell the products to local restaurants and stores. The second option is by far the most popular, though it’s certainly possible to do both.

How much can you charge customers?

The pricing for flavored water usually varies depending on the client. When you’re selling to restaurants and stores, you may charge a wholesale price with volume discounts based on the order size. If you’re selling directly to a consumer, you may use retail or slightly discounted pricing, depending on your agreement. Retail price for flavored bottled water ranges from $2 to $5 or more depending on the venue, product size, and other factors.

How much profit can a flavored water bottle company make?

A flavored water bottle business is capable of generating a large profit. In fact, enhanced (or flavored) water generated a gross profit margin of 39.2% in 2017 which is much higher than many other food and beverage products.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Your initial expenses may be daunting when starting a flavored water bottle company. There are many startup costs to consider, and it may take a while before sales start rolling in.

However, you can cut costs by doing most of the work yourself and keeping operating small until growth is necessary. Creative thinking may also be your best ally. Don’t hesitate to consider all avenues when it comes to sourcing materials, creating your products, and distributing orders. You can also get creative with your sales techniques which will help generate cash flow so you can expand more quickly.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at a flavored water bottle company?

There are many tasks in the day-to-day operations of a flavored water bottle company. As the owner, you’ll need to wear many different hats throughout your day which can be exciting and challenging. Your workload may vary from one day to the next, but you can generally expect to oversee the following:

• Production – includes sourcing ingredients and creating recipes as well as creating and bottling the product.

• Marketing – includes finding new customers, designing product labels and sales materials, and creating advertisements.

• Distribution – includes delivering orders to customers in a timely manner, collecting payment, and setting up product displays in stores when necessary.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful flavored water bottle company?

A flavored water bottle company is an ambitious enterprise and requires a variety of skills. You will need to be somewhat creative because new ideas and flavors are necessary to make your business stand out amongst the competition. A charismatic personality and persuasive skills are helpful for securing investors and finding new customers. Since you’ll need to shift from one task to the next rather quickly, flexibility and organizational skills are also beneficial.

What is the growth potential for a flavored water bottle company?

Many flavored water bottle companies take an outside-the-box approach by generating partnerships with local events in their communities or offering subscription services to consumers who regularly drink their products.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a flavored water bottle company?

If cash flow is an initial concern, you can start small and invest more capital as you grow. Many flavored water bottle business owners start operating from their own garage, selling small quantities of product to friends and acquaintances. Once you see an interest in your product or land your first large customer, you can invest in commercial equipment and expand your business as needed.

How and when to build a team

Given that there are so many different tasks involved in your day-to-day business functions, you may need to hire a team quickly. Though it’s certainly possible to run a small flavored water bottle company on your own in the short-term,  you might feel overwhelmed once you land your first big sale and may need to hire additional support. A production team, distribution team, and office team are usually the bare minimum for a growing flavored water bottle company. However, these teams may consist of only one employee to start.

Part 2 - Is a Flavored Water Bottle Company business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Flavored Water Bottle Company business in 90 days