Aquapeya gets funded through Shark-Tank India

Aqua Peya Beverages: From Local Distributor to 12 Crore Turnover Empire

Humble Beginnings, Ambitious Growth

Aqua Peya Beverages, a company born from the vision of local distributors in Sangli, Maharashtra, has made a remarkable journey. With a 40,000 sq ft factory, a network spanning 9,700 retail outlets, and 90+ channel partners, they've reached 50,000 consumers. Their pitch on Shark Tank India, seeking 70 Lakh for 2% equity, revealed a story of resilience and strategic growth.

The Genesis: From Local Distribution to Manufacturing

• 2003: The journey began as a local FMCG distributor in Sangli, Maharashtra.
• 2008-09: They became C&F agents for Manpasand Beverages, gaining valuable industry experience.
• 2017: A pivotal moment arrived when the elder brother suggested establishing a small water plant, marking their entry into manufacturing.

Taking the Plunge: Overcoming Initial Hurdles

To understand the industry, the owners visited Bisleri Manufacturing facility in Pune and machinery manufacturers. They quickly realized that a small plant was not viable. Instead, they took a bold step:

• Initiated a 3 Crore plant, securing a 1.5 Crore loan against their property.
• Faced objections from shark tank panelists like Namita regarding potential brand duplication, which they countered by emphasizing that water, like milk, is a service industry, not just a commodity. Hence just "Brand" doesn't matter much.

Expanding Horizons: Entering the Carbonated Beverage Market

While not their primary focus, Aqua Peya ventured into carbonated beverages, driven by the concept of "basket selling." This strategic move aimed to broaden their product offerings and cater to diverse consumer preferences.

Financial Performance: A Story of Profitability

• Sales for FY 2023-24 reached 9 Crore, with the company claiming profitability from day one.
• FY 2024-25 projections: 4.5 Crore by September 2024, and an expected 12 Crore by March.
• EBITDA: Increased from 7.8% to 16% in the last year, and 18% in the current year.
• DSO (Days Sales Outstanding): Maintained at a maximum of 15 days.
• 1 Ltr Bottle: Operating level profit of 1.25 Rs on a 6.5 Rs sale price.
• PBT(Profit Before Tax) : 5% of 9CR sale, which is 45 Lakhs.

Key Financial Insights:

• The operating level profit, including expenses, demonstrates efficient management.
• The PBT, at 5%, is a crucial metric, considering their loan obligations and machinery investments.
• Their margins are approximately 20% on the 1 Ltr bottle.
• They sell to distrubutors at 6.5 Rs, and to retailers at 8 Rs. Bisleri sells to distributors at 12 Rs and to retailers at 13 Rs.

Shark Tank Offers: Two Investors combine

• Namita Thapar (Emcure) & Ritesh Agarwal (Oyo): 
  • Valued the company at 24 Crore (2 times the projected 12 Crore sales).
  • Offered 70 Lakh for 3% equity.
  • Proposed a 2% royalty until investment is recovered.
  • Emphasized the potential of each retailer selling one box at 100 Rs.
  • Offered mentorship, and guidance.
  • Proposed Co-branding with 10,000 OYO Branded Hotels. This was the major "Flip".
  • Referenced the Paperboat story, and their distribution through Indigo.

Conclusion: A Promising Future

Aqua Peya Beverages' journey from a local distributor to a growing beverage manufacturer is a testament to their entrepreneurial spirit. The offers from Namita Thapar and Ritesh Agarwal highlight the company's potential. Whether they choose strategic investment or expansive distribution, Aqua Peya is poised for continued growth in the competitive beverage market.

The Original Video

Truth : We only learn by committing mistakes

A little background is necessary to understand what & why I am saying this 👇

I conduct trainings for the bottled water entrepreneurs. ( no-no, this post is not to promote that😐 ). Point is something else. My trainings are for the business "owners". In trainings, I do talk about machines, however, I am strictly keeping myself away from suggesting suppliers, however, I do guide on what to look into appointing one. I also don't train on procedural part, focus on quality aspects rather than this. 

My focus is more towards the ROI aspect. I do train people on designing their plant capacity propely, so that they choose right machines, at the right stages of their business venture.

For years togther ( before Covid ) I used to conduct physical trainings at PUNE, and other cities. These trainings, due to cost limitations, were for 1-2 days. However, post covid, I started offering the same training in half the price through internet, I settled on a 4-day training course through 90 min session each day.

Entrepreneurs did use to join, however, somehow I was never satisfied, feeling it's incomplete, I took a whole 1 year gap ( 2023 ). And restarted from April 2024, with a 2- Week, 10 session course, same cost course, in evening. Now this is having a good response & good satisfaction to me too.

Main reason : The subject lingers in the participant's mind for more time. In turn he/she has more queries. Further to this, I also offer them a 1:1 assesment in which they can ask me their very personal queries too.

Still, in each of my batches, I find at least 1-2 participants who join after ordering the plant & machinery. Most of them find that they have bought some machines under their emotional influence.

Why do we commit certain mistakes & how can we avoid them ?

• Many a times entrepreneurs prefer listening to the suppliers. I have found they even decide their plant capcities also on the basis of suggestions passed by the supplier. It's really important to know that the supplier's business is selling Machinery & NOT water.
• Entrepreneurs work on a Dead-line based approach. Deadlines are necessary, but after you properly appoint suppliers. No compromise on that.
• Entrepreneurs start over day-dreaming the project & loose sight of the logical steps, like financial projections, getting hands-on experience, doing a proper market survey, starting a distributor business first etc. Somehow they don't love this "distributor" idea & they want that production unit only, though it sounds expensive. They do not see much happening in that.
• Entrepreneurs don't love selling much, as well as accounting. They worry too much about marketing, after starting the plant process. Instead they should create their market in advance.
• We do cover many of these aspects in our course & we charge fees ( Rs. 5,900 presently ). Instead of taking this course, they go on buying machinery worth 50-70 lakhs.

Question is : Why it happens ?

• Over popularity of phrases like "I don't waste time thinking, I just do it"
• The deadline based approach as I mentioned above
• Push by intermediary institutions who distribute loans, funds
• Getting caught by Govt's special schemes who offer incentives to entrepreneurs without being trained for business
• Govt too has trainings, however, these trainings have not been observed to be upto the mark.
• Getting trapped in the FREE trainings, the suppliers offer. However, they are mainly created to sell their stuff.

How can this be avoided ?

1. Believing firmly that, until my idea is not justified, validated through a Financial Document, I won't take a single step further. 
2. Once it's validated, I will try to get a hands-on experience if possible, may-be by payment or by working for free. ( I am trying to find a mid-way by creating a digital course for this purpose )
3. Get an idea as to who will be buying your stuff actually. Do some marketing through distribution.
4. Now, have a fresh look at your financials once more, make project plan. Check funding etc.

Alternate method :-

Learn through mistakes 😅 ( This is what the world is doing ). Expensive way.

10 Low Investment Water Business Ideas

Water Business in Low Investment

Water business is an evergreen business opportunity. However, everyone does not have that huge capital with him or may wish to start small. Through this specially written blogpost, we are presenting 10 useful low investment water business ideas for you.

You can watch this video or can refer to the Ideas from the text form given below. If you read the tips below, you can pick up the one which suits your purpose & follow the Timeline on the Video which corresponds to that.

Here are 10 Useful Ideas to do Water Business in Low Investment :-

Idea No.1 :- Start a Jar Plant , then go for Bottles

If someone is starting a Bottle + Jar Plant, the investment is more, as it involves the Bottle Blowing & Filling Machinery. However, if someone is starting with a 20 Ltr Jar Plant, it doesn't need that much investment.

(Video Timestamp :- 00: 50)

Idea No.2 :- Get Bottles from Outside

If you want to start a Bottle + Jar Plant, you can reduce the investment if you get Bottles from an outside source. This is possible if you are located inside an industrial area where there are a couple of Bottle Making (PET Blowing) Machinery Manufacturers.

(Video Timestamp :- 01: 20)

Idea No.3 :- Buy/ Lease an existing plant

This can also bring your investment to a considerable limit as the machinery might be old. Leasing out cuts down the investment just towards rent.

(Video Timestamp :- 01: 40)

Idea No.4 :- Partnering with an existing unit

You can also invest a little amount in an existing unit. This will again be a low investment option. However, again the ROI needs to be worked out properly.

(Video Timestamp :- 01: 57)

Idea No.5 :- Become Distributor for Existing Brand

This is not only a Low investment option, but also offers you great learning opportunity before you finally setup your plant

(Video Timestamp :- 02: 08)

Idea No.6 :- Establish Your Brand, Get it done from Others

This is official.You can cut down your investment considerably as you are not investing in a Plant. You may just establish your brand & contract with an existing ISI holding unit. This needs just the fssai.

(Video Timestamp :- 02: 24)

Idea No.7 :- Glass Bottling, Premium Market

You target an upmarket, and start with Glass Bottles. Here, the quantities reduce; and the machinery is low cost. You tie up with an existing ISI unit & re-brand your water.

(Video Timestamp :- 02: 41)

Idea No.8 :- Water ATM Business

Water ATM is the Water Vending Machine Business. You can establish a standalone Water ATM Machine and replicate the Idea at several points or can establish a Chain of such ATMs & offer franchise opportunities.

(Video Timestamp :- 03: 00)

Idea No.9 :- Start a CSD Business & Upsell Water

CSD means Carbonated Soft Drinks Business. This again needs just fssai license. You can start this plant at a much lower cost, establish your brand, and later can upsell Bottled water to the same market while getting it done like Idea No.6

(Video Timestamp :- 03: 10)

Idea No.10 :- Create a Water Delivery App

This will be quite in Demand after the Covid-19. You can create app, have a subscription for the same & enlist all the market players. You can also take ads from Google.

(Video Timestamp :- 03: 34)

Raise Capital :-

Once you develop an Idea, get it validated (We do help in this) from experts & raise capital from bank to start your business immediately.

Good Luck !

Water Plant on Your Piece of Land ...

So You have land & wish to setup a water plant

Well, looks like an obvious idea. There are many who have land & Groundwater available and think of putting up a Water Plant. Can they setup ?

To restrict my answer to just THIS question ...

Yes, they can. However, it's not straight away, go & do it. There are certain permissions you will require as it is a commercial activity. Which are those ?

1. Gram Panchayat NOC if you are not in Municipal area
2. Industrial NA or suitable permission in city limits
3. Should not be very near to any Water Source like River, Lake etc. Should be 1 Km away.

For other Land & Building related answers, Please read this post 

You can find correct information at the DIC, districts Industries Centre, or can even approach some NGOs like the De-Asra Foundation, who help in startups.

Regards.

Challenges faced by Packaged Drinking Water Producers

The Challenges in major 2 areas :-

Drop in Sales :-

No Institutional sales like sales to commercial establishments

Usually Packaged Drinking Water is sold to domestic & commercial establishments like corporates, institutions, Shopping Malls etc. That being totally closed, the sales are affected. 

Household Sale also down 

This sale is down too, as people , out of insecurity, not keeping a stock of water, consuming less, even if it's summer time.

Distributor Sales Very Low

It also depends upon distributors, who too are facing the same issue as discussed above.

Supplies not Available

Due to the Jar Production units not functioning, the distributors need to maintain the rotation of Jars, making it possible to give just 2 jars maximum per house. 

Challenges towards Manpower

Deliveries 

Due to the timing restrictions, the delivery of Water Jars is greatly affected. Limited amount of deliveries with limited people only can be made during the period. 

Production 

As the timing is restricted from 6 AM to 1 PM, it is challenging to run the unit in these times, as commuting from a distant place might take 30-45 minutes to reach for a workman/woman, and it's equally difficult to find a vehicle during this period. Results : Production affected.

Quality Control 

Every unit has to observe certain guidelines from the B.I.S. It needs to maintain certain daily, weekly reports at the facility & also has to submit certain monthly, quarterly and annual reports to the B.I.S. It's very crucial to maintain this quality. With less people, chances are there to neglect this.

Machinery Maintenance

Mechanics , if not available, will pose an issue to smooth functioning of the unit, if there is a breakdown. It might unethically inspire a unit owner to bypass the Q.C. in order to meet the demand in whichever way.

Solutions & Opportunities 

• Customer Touch Points

It's an opportunity to take your brand to more people , as the number of customers may increase, though not sales. Can build a database for future, when times are alright. This will also increase your profits substantially.

• Ideal Time to develop an App

Through developing a proper Customer Journey Map (CJM) you can visualize the existing process of your sales and develop newer. It needs time, and you have it now. In addition, you also need some phase, like beta to test it on certain number of applications, installations. Once ready, you can implement it in your business, which can be a great additional channel into your business.

• Think of Water ATM as another branding & Delivery Channel

Imagine, if there are your Water ATM's installed at locations. People could come there with their own Jars & get the Jars refilled, and these ATMs can be used with RFID cards & vending Coin Options too. The good news is : They can be maintained through mobile apps. Look at the Water ATM Machine Advantages