People are becoming more health conscious and are now more careful than ever about what they eat and drink. With increasing awareness of the wide range of water-borne diseases, people are now turning towards bottled water due to its safety.
This explains why a water bottling company can be a very lucrative venture for those who have the required startup costs and know-how.
By starting a bottled water company, you will not only make huge profits, but you will also help people live healthier lives by offering them safe drinking water. Starting a bottling water company is one thing, running the business successfully after its launch is another thing—which is even more important.
You may have the capital required to get your bottling water company up and running, but if you don’t know how to run the business successfully, it will most likely fail. Here are 10 proven tips for successfully running a water bottling company.
10 Tips for Successfully Running a Water Bottling Company
1. Never compromise on quality
People will always appreciate and favor products of good quality. Even if excellent quality is the only selling point you can boast of, be consistent with that, and you will always win the trust of customers. Never fall for the temptation to offer lower quality products for cheaper prices in order to attract the competition. This strategy will most likely backfire at you.
2. Never stop marketing
Even after you have got more customers than you think you want, you should never stop marketing your business. Though there are certain known strategies for encouraging repeat business from customers, there’s no guarantee that a customer will be a long-term customer.
Running a non-stop marketing campaign will help you prevent running out of customers and sales when you are least expecting that.
3. Encourage repeat business
Even if you are always marketing your water bottling business aggressively to bring in new customers, you should try as much as possible to retain every single customer that patronizes your business. You can do this by offering discounts or gifts for repeat purchases.
4. Interact well with customers
How well and quickly you respond to customer complaints and enquiries speak volume about the reputation of your water bottling company. Have dedicated customer support staff that respond courteously and in a friendly manner to customers’ calls.
Also, you should encourage customers to leave feedback about your products and services. And ask them for suggestions on how you can serve them better.
5. Treat your staff well
You cannot run your water bottling company all alone. You need employees to help you steer the business to success. Hiring the most talented, skilled, and experienced employees is very important. But treating them well is even more important.
Pay their salaries promptly. Be lenient with them when they make mistakes. Be a friendly boss. And reward them whenever they achieve outstanding results. All these will motivate them to contribute even more to the growth and success of your business.
6. Keep abreast of market and industry trends
You need to be updated as regards changes in your market. Is technology coming up with water bottling machines or other equipment that are more effective? Are market indicators predicting a likely fall in market prices of your products?
Keeping abreast of latest trends in your market and industry will help you take necessary actions and precautions. And it helps you move with the market, so you won’t be left behind.
7. Always check your business plan
Your business plan is meant to serve two purposes: to help you through the steps involved in setting up your bottling water company and to help you run the business and achieve your ultimate goals. So, you shouldn’t abandon your business plan after launching your business.
Use it for its second role, which is to help you run your business effectively. Always check your business plan to ensure that your steps and strategies are in line with it. That’s the only way to ensure you’re on the right track.
8. Check and maintain your equipment frequently
Doing routine checkup on your equipment and facilities and fixing any minor faults they may have is a smart way to save huge maintenance costs. If you always wait until your equipment break down or come up with major faults before having them fixed, you will end up spending big on repairs and maintenance.
9. Always watch the competition
Keeping a tab on the competition at all times is very important. Are they introducing a new concept into the market? Are they faltering in some aspects? Are they improving on some aspects? Are they reducing their prices? Always finding answers to these questions will help you take necessary steps promptly.
10. Market online
Because people—including your target customers—now spend a large chunk of their time on the internet, a smart tactic for attracting customers is to adopt online marketing techniques. These include blogging, search engine optimization, paid advertising, and social media marketing.