Mark Sikes was selling $700,000 a year in stick-on labels to manufacturers all over the
country. But one day it hit him that he could turn his label-brokering expertise into a whole new business: selling bottled water with a custom label plastered on the front.Sikes promptly set up Personalized Bottle Water in a warehouse in Little Rock. A friendly and energetic man whose twang comes from living all his 37 years in Arkansas, Sikes kept running his label- brokering business. But he started traveling around the state to hustle up business for his custom-label bottled water.
Sikes is a self-confessed worrier, and an ambitious one too. “I want to take the business to the next level, but I’m not sure I can see far enough down the road to put it all together,” he says. He’s concerned that competitors with cheaper water will enter his markets and squeeze his margins.
Should he bottle his own water instead of buying it from suppliers? He wants to tackle markets in a couple of big Southern cities but worries that freight costs will kill him. Can he sell water on the Internet, or streamline the design and ordering process? Can he create a network of franchises or distributorships in a dozen cities?
Image via queensjournal.ca
Josh on April 18th, 2008 at 8:00 am
It seems to me that managing the bottled water is the limiting factor for his business. This is a great idea, and Mark should be selling his expertise in this business as opposed to dealing with the water. Teach others. Establish franchise opportunities for other businesses and grow the business that way. This removes all of the limiting factors mentioned your post.