Starting a Commercial Bottling Business

Summary: The commercial bottling business is a good way to earn money. This article gives you an overview of the commercial bottling process.

One of the least explored start-up business ideas is the commercial bottling business.

There number small to medium sized food and beverage-manufacturing businesses have grown steadily over the years. Most of these businesses prefer to focus on manufacturing side leaving the bottling aspect for someone else to do.

Starting a commercial bottling business is easy once you get the hang of it. The task is simple and mostly routine. And don’t worry, you don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive industrial equipment. Yet, you can start by doing things manually.

To give you a clearer picture, here’s an overview of the bottling process.
• Select the appropriate bottle type and bottle cap. The most commonly used bottle cap is the metal crown cap which is perfect for plain bottles.
• Sterilize your bottles. Clean the interior and exterior of the bottle by scrubbing them with a bottlebrush and immersing them in boiling water mixed with bleach solution. Let the bottle stay in the solution for a minimum of thirty minutes. Then, remove and rinse thoroughly. Your bottles are now sterilized.
• Clean and sanitize the rest of the tools you will be using. Anything that touches the food or beverage product, no matter how briefly, must be cleaned thoroughly.
• With the help of a small funnel, fill your bottle with the product. Remember to leave about an inch of space from the bottle mouth. To make your job easier and faster, you may consider using a siphon.
• Now, cap your bottle. If you are using bail top bottles, simply place the stopper over the mouth of your bottle then firmly push the clamp down. If you are using plain bottles on the other hand, place the cap over the top of the bottle then place the clapper over the cap and press both levers firmly and evenly.
• The final step in the process is putting labels on your bottle. Include vital information such as product name, bottling date, and expiration date.

Before you dive into the commercial bottling business, it is important for you to acquaint yourself with the various business aspects. As a business owner, you will be expected to do a lot of everything from marketing, accounting, admin work, to human resources management and so on.

To make your job easier, the first thing you should focus on is creating a business plan. A business plan is vital because it keeps you from straying far from your goal. Spend time and research on the industry to ensure that your business plan is comprehensive.

• Study your target market’s profile. Try to find out what their expectations are. Once you know who your target market is, then you can proceed with strategizing a marketing approach that is tailor fitted to your market.
• Study the competition. Determine your competitive advantage (or disadvantage) over them.
• Study your finances. How much did you spend for the whole bottling operation? Using this as basis, how much should you charge for your service?

On a final note, to succeed in this business, you must have a winning attitude. Build on your strengths and improve on your weaknesses. When an opportunity presents itself, don’t hesitate to grab it.