Who Decided This Price ?

Whenever anybody wants to start a new Bottling Plant, he/she has a pakka conviction in mind ... 

I have to sell at Rs.20 ( as of today 🙏 )

How have you arrived at this cost ?

If you ask this question, the answer is " Because whole market does that ". Unlike other products, the Packaged Drinking Water Price in Indian Market is Rs. 20.

It's NOT regulated 

But who says it's "the" price ? You can go below ( as Jio has done ) or you can surpass as well. It is not regulated that you SHOULD sell at Rs. 20. 

Then Why no-one dares to do that ?

Fear of Rejection :-

Everyone feels that he will be rejected. And yes, possibilities are very high. As all others : The Big 3 : Bisleri, Kinley, Aquafina charge Rs. 20. If Aquafina, Kinley couldn't dare changing it , how can I ? : That's the fear in the mind. 

Can I reverse the tradition ?

Why Not ? I remember referring to a case with Akio Morita, the SONY superman. In very initial days he reversed the tradition of increasing discounts with increased quantity. Rather he proposed different pricing for different sized lots. Some cases, more no. of lots attracted more price per lot. As it was NOT suitable to SONY. 

So, It can't be Market Driven Always

Who says, it should be 20, always ? If it can come to Rs. 15, It can also go to Rs. 25, or can also come to Rs. 12. So far the cost per bottle ( 1 Ltr ) remains at 6.25; you can always keep that as a base price, and decide your ultimate selling price.

Further Strategies can be Decided

Once this fear is removed from your mind; you can always go further and do some out of box thinking. The easiest will be not going the Distributor way, which eats up your major chunk. Anyways, this is not a place to decide the exact strategy, but to explore the possibility of deciding a different price altogether.

The Technical Solution is Not Everything

Recently, I was approached by a society who are now facing acute water shortage issues as this year 2026, the rainfall is expected to be little lower than usual, hampering the local municipal water supply to the society. They had an open well, and invited me to offer solution to this whole thing as to how they can make use of that.​

I did the reiki, got their water tested etc. During this process I also proposed them a solution, the technical solution, very broadly. Naturally we even discussed the likely ball park figure of how much will be the cost etc. As expected the said that the society would go for tenders before allotting the work. Perfectly Fine. Till this time there was no point to charge them any fees. 

Now it was the time that they need exact specifications of the equipment, as well as the cost components as these are the new elements which attract certain one time costs and certain recurring type. After listing and detailing, it will give them the cost to benefit in terms of money.

And this needed some time at my end to calculate and I also demanded certain consultation fees, which was rejected by them smartly. Over feeling bad, I truly felt little pity about 2-3 things ( contemplation ) :-

• My fees was not at all huge.
• They thought "we've got ball park figures, no need of such a report at the moment".
  
• We'll make the tender specs with AI and we have so many experts present in house, why pay an outsider ?

Whatever be it, but when I relate this to any project ( Ideas ), I sincerely suggest to get the idea's financial validity and impacts it would make. Establishment is just one aspect. What's going to get affected is the Cost in terms of Money which you're going to pay for years maybe. More so over if unfortunately it doesn't work out.

Face to Face Meeting :- The Differentiator

In the AI Era 

The AI Era seems to have changed everything upside down. As far as getting knowledge, or Know-how is concerned, it has also tilted upside down. The knowledge, which used to be available through Trainings, started to flow through AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini etc. Here, I do not want to debate on good/bad; but want to make a point that, consumption of information has definitely changed. All initial information is not available on AI. 

What is NOT available ?

The opinions of experts. For example, now searches about "Licenses" or "Procedures" required to start a Packaged Drinking Plant can be easily had through AI. I don't say 100% trusted to the finest level; but initial macro search is surely available. But, if you want to take certain final decision about something... say "Should I buy a Lab or not" can't be taken by referring to the AI alone. 

There may be confusions

Regarding Lab, there are many different opinions. By different concerned people. Here, you will need to ask an expert to talk to. He is not on Gemini.

You need Face to Face Meeting

These experts should be experienced, non-biased, able to solve problems, more specialized in the domain & field as well. It will always be good to source their opinions.

Where Are They Available

 

Either in conferences or stratign through their consulting platforms.But it is 100% better to take their opinion through "Paid" Service.

I Know All, or Everything is available on Internet can be a trap.

What stops us getting accurate details ?

An incedence at the Drinktek, Delhi

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Recently, I met an aspiring entrepreneur, who is willing to start Natural Mineral Water at his own place in the Uttarakhand. He does follow my YouTube channel. He was very prompt to even meet me at the Delhi Drink Technology Exhibition. In the very short time which was available, we discussed about his water source and next steps to follow. I suggested him the steps. He took the logical course of action correctly, however lacked the exact details about product and the standard details. Standard meaning, those set by the regulators.

Another one of those many incidences occurred when an existing plant owner asking me remedies about the water quality. Having started a plant, he should be having a properly graduated person who understands water quality. One more source is the Plant Supplier, from whom he procured machinery from. Most of the times, entrepreneurs overlook the technical aspects of the plant and hurriedly place orders with wrong set of suppliers. 

The importance of getting prior business knowledge

 
As a business owner, you are not expected to have detailed knowledge of the design details, but should know these basics like what are the standards to follow, who are the regulators, and how to appoint vendors, the key factors to look into. You can get this from the internet, or visiting places, exhibitions. Also look for trainings if available. This mindset is important.

 

Why entrepreneurs skip this major step

They don't skip. They think that they are doing the right thing. Majority of the "would be business owners" do their own DIY, and somehow are very excited to see the machines on floor, not just on the screen. And they love to visit places too ( including me ). Hence they start visiting existing plants, machinery suppliers from across the country. At each step their thinking space gets infected by foreign thoughts. Having met a supplier who has installed 100s of projects, they get impressed and unconsciously start following their advice. Similarly, they also follow the advices of existing plant owners. 

Take as opinions, not advices

No harm meeting and talking to people, however, beware that these are not the ones who will be responsible for your ROCE Return on Capital Employed. Profits in other words. 

Hence take information. Seperate advice from the core discussions. But don't make judgements, decisions from that.

Maximum Mistakes Occur Here

This is the most critical point, which can turn the game upside down. Hence as a business owner, you also need to develop this gene. Visiting and meeting people will help you to check ground realities. But keep them as reference material. 

What Should be the Logical Course of Action ?

Divide your Project Time into Phases, and allocate Milestones for each one. 

1. First will be the Do / Not to Do Phase. Allow yourself to completely abandon your Project Idea, if it doesn't suit you ( For any reason ). There is no shame in cancelling a course of action. Rather it's better if you look at your whole life.
2. Second will be ( if you decide to go ahead ) is stating your business idea & getting it validated, to allocate resources.
3. Third Phase is arranging resources.
4. Forth is the real Execution before Launch.
5. Fifth will be the gestation ( Intial runs of the new business )
6. Last will be to streamline the operations

Take Help of a Mentor

This is very important and necessary. The mentor ideally should be an experienced fellow, who has seen life as a whole. And having run a business, and a background of Mentoring.

My Thought process on my Mentoring Service

I also work as mentor ( only for bottled water business ). I personally think that every entrepreneur should take it for long term, at least for 3 years. I also don't share revenues with the suppliers/agencies to dedicate my attention to my client. Phase-wise, the mentoring 1-1 calls vary. For instance, Active, more frequent calls are necessary during the "Exection" & "Gestation" phase. Otherwise lesser are sufficient. You can contact by dropping a mail to mineralwaterpune@gmail.com.