Inc.:
Zac Workman became a connoisseur of energy drinks at an early age.
At the end of each day, after five hours’ practice for his high school swim team, he would choke one down.
His drink of choice “tasted awful, but it gave me energy, so I just kept drinking it,” he says.
Today, the 21-year-old junior at Indiana University is the founder of ZW Enterprises, which sells its own energy drink, Punch.
After completing his freshman year, Workman threw himself into researching energy drinks.
He identified what he saw as an unfilled gap in the market — an energy drink that was made from natural ingredients and did not produce the crash effect common with sugary or highly caffeinated beverages.
Working with a fruit-punch recipe that has been in his family for years, Workman came up with a drink that tasted good and satisfied the necessary dietary requirements. He began to pitch it to potential manufacturing partners.
Since Workman launched Punch last year, three Anheuser-Busch distributors have picked up the product; they sell it in most of Indiana and Illinois.
To get the word out, ZW Enterprises is co-sponsoring a car that will race in the Indianapolis 500 in May. Sales are on track to reach $1 million in 2009. The black-and-red can is his design.
Photo by ZW Enterprises.