How to Start a Water Refilling Station Business

Business ideas are dime a dozen these days, and you can put up one that sells just about anything.

However, having a target market is a big part of the long-term game, so you have to choose. You can choose to sell something luxurious and sophisticated that may or may not have long-term value, or go with something a lot more basic that you are sure will still be valuable far in the future.

You can have a business selling essentials and a good example of this is selling water.

However, you can’t just sell whatever comes out of the faucet. What people really need is clean drinking water, and that takes equipment and know-how. If you wish to sell clean drinking water as a water refilling station, you need to go through a process to help you understand how to put up such a business.

The Process of Starting a Water Refilling Station

Upon deciding on opening a water refilling station business on your own, you should then go through the process that will allow you to do so. You must first decide on whether you are putting one up from scratch or acquiring a water refilling station franchise instead. The latter would be easier for you in terms of planning and execution since all you have to do is follow instructions. But if you are looking to have a go at it on your own, then here are the basic steps to doing so.

But if you are looking to have a go at it on your own, then here are the basic steps to doing so.

1. Business Plan

Explorers need maps and entrepreneurs need business plans. You need to be able to outline the vision behind your business, as well as your brand and its values and identity. You have to be able to come up with something that will make your business recognizable and memorable in some way. The plan also helps with keeping you on track with meeting your business goals, as well as ideas you have for attracting investors.

2. Location

It will always be one of the most important things in any new business. Being able to pick the best location for your target market is all about visibility, traffic, and proximity to customers. Your business has less value if it is in the middle of nowhere, but it may cost you more if you are in an area with a lot of foot traffic. In any case, getting a spot that is near residences and commercial establishments is best.

3. Supplier

You will have to find a reliable supplier who will provide you with the water purification and refilling equipment you need, as well as the jugs for storing and delivering that water. Getting equipment and supplies at low prices is a battle that is worth fighting since that has a lot to do with both how you get off the ground and how you sustain your business. If you have a supplier that rips you off, your overhead will be too big and you run the risk of going out of business in time due to hemorrhaging cash.

4. Paperwork

Before you can open a business, you have to make sure it is legal. If you are a single owner, you should go to DTI and get a Certificate of Registration of Business Name. List down around 5 to 10 preferred business names so that you get one that does not have a duplicate somewhere out there.

You then go to your local municipal office and get a Mayor’s Business Permit, which may take 2 to 3 weeks to process. Meanwhile, applying for a building permit as a water refilling business, you may have to submit a water analysis of potability with physical, chemical, and bacteriological tests to show your source is safe; engineering drawings of your building and electrical plans that are signed by a sanitary engineer; and all other legal requirements.

Then, you have to go to BIR and submit a filled-up Form 0506 and make your payment at the counter. You should then have your receipts made in the printing press, which can be made available by showing your approved BIR Form 0506.

After you have done all that, you can then proceed to buy all the other equipment and supplies you will need like seals, sanitizing soap, tools, and so on. You can also get your signage and labels made. You may also want to dry run your equipment so you know they will be working fine once you do open your business.

There are plenty of other stuff you will have to do like constantly testing your water, so you will have to learn the specific procedures from the nearest DOH office there, just to be sure that you are selling good clean water.

Conclusion

It is not just a business, but also a service to the community. Offering safe drinking water to the neighborhood for a fee seems like a task best suited to “professionals,” but you can be that professional and be a pillar of the community, especially in a location where tap water can’t be completely trusted.

There is a market for it, and you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing it for a good cause.