How to Start a Water Delivery Business

Part 1 - How to start a Water Delivery business - Background

Bottled water delivery businesses offer fresh, delicious options for hydration. Whether for residential or commercial use, water is a vital part of good health and will be a bonus for family and employees.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start a Water Delivery 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 water delivery business?

Costs will range, depending on the size and scope of the operation you are starting.


For most water delivery businesses, they start small as a subsidiary of a larger water bottling corporation. You will need to buy in to a water distributor, much like other franchised businesses.These costs can vary but are usually reasonable for entrepreneurs just starting out, as it is in the water company’s best interest to have as many smaller delivery businesses distributing their product. You will also need to:

• Purchase a business license and insurance

• Buy or lease a couple delivery trucks or vans

• rent a storage space for inventory

• initial advertisement and marketing blitz to build an name and, ultimately, a reputation

What are the ongoing expenses for a water delivery business?


Moving forward, your operational costs will include fleet maintenance, rental costs for business or storage space, employee salaries, and repair and replacement of water coolers.

Who is the target market?

Typically, the target market will split between commercial operations, such as retail businesses, restaurants and cafes, office buildings and complexes and businesses with laborers working in outside or hot conditions or residential customers who prefer bottled water to other residential options. All of these customers have the same needs in common though, as they want fresh, clean water to be available 24/7.

How does a water delivery business make money?


Customers buy monthly shipments of water, rent or buy water coolers and dispersion devices, and place special orders for water for one-off parties, large gatherings, and celebrations, such as weddings or corporate seminars.

How much can you charge customers?

Water is not incredibly expensive, so your earning comes from the contracts you’re able to agree upon with customers. Annual contracts for delivery ensure your business will garner revenue monthly. Typically, a business will want three to six 5 gallon bottles per month, depending on the size of their business. This will average around about $50 per monthly delivery. Larger businesses will want more accordingly and you may want to develop a sliding scale of employee/water ratios, with pricing in the favor of the customer, as the orders become larger. As mentioned previously, make sure you research what other delivery companies are charging and look to align with those figures.

How much profit can a water delivery business make?

Bottled water, as an industry, is more and more lucrative, especially considering the low overhead costs of extracting and bottling a natural resource. On average, the bottled water industry is making billions of dollars annually and is one of the fastest growing divisions of the beverage industry in the world. This is good news for water delivery businesses. A successful, medium sized delivery service will see annual profits in the $85,000 – 150,000 range.

How can you make your business more profitable?

When looking to expand your business, think outside the box, or jug, as it is. Promote the idea of a greener option; move away from the individual-sized water bottles and move customers towards the 5 gallon, refillable bottles. More and more customers are starting to realize the multitude of benefits from reducing plastic waste and reusing the larger containers. You may also want to promote the water cooler rental and purchase options more strongly. Water coolers aren’t just for office buildings anymore. Finally, consider offering the options of personalizing the labels on water bottles, large jugs and even water coolers. With today’s wrap services, virtually any logo or design can be placed on these products.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at a water delivery business?

As the name implies, most of the day to day activities focus on water deliveries. Whether residential or commercial, you will be meeting customers and re-stocking their water supplies.

In addition, you will:

• restock your own inventory

• repair or replace customer water coolers

• communicate and network with your water distribution parent company

• develop marketing and advertising strategies

• train new employees for working in the field or in the office

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful water delivery business?

Much of the business of water delivery revolves around interactions with the customers. If you are comfortable talking to different individuals on a day to day basis, often in person or over the phone, you will enjoy the business. One must also be able to manage a small or growing business and be able to physically load and deliver some of the water bottles, at least initially, while starting up your business.

What is the growth potential for a water delivery business?

Clean water is quickly becoming an increasingly valuable commodity, with need and availability always driving prices higher. Therefore, the growth potential is quite expansive. There is always a danger of over saturation in a market but, since water is vital to survival, this seems unlikely in the near future.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a water delivery business?


When just starting out, look to secure some annual contracts with some sizable businesses. The regular income will help to pad your investment. Look for residential customers, as well, although the larger parts of your business will usually be derived from commercial operations looking for clean, cold water for employees.

Consider these points, as well:

• Will you supply more than one kind of water? i.e. spring, purified, or distilled

• Do you service and/or sell water coolers?

• How large of a delivery range will you operate within?

• Will you deliver large and medium (1.5-5 gallon) bottles, small individual drinking bottles, or a mixture of all sizes?

• Make sure you research the market you’re trying to break into and look for areas which need greater attention or are underrepresented with current water delivery services.

How and when to build a team


Building a team will rely on how fast your business grows. To start out, you will only need a few employees to handle inventory and invoices, deliveries and maintenance. You will most likely be able to manage much of the work with a two or three person team, in the beginning. And, when you do add employees, maximize your money by choosing individuals with an array of skills and abilities, so you will all be able to help out wherever needed.

Part 2 - Is a Water Delivery business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Water Delivery business in 90 days