Name: JVS Sales
Location: Ocoee, Tenn.
Products/services: Owner Jim Smith creates custom bottled water labels for businesses of any size in the tri-state area. His customers typically use water bottles with their own custom label to promote their company. He offers labels for eight-ounce, 16-ounce and three-dimensional containers.
Age: Smith founded the company in 1995.
Startup investment: There was almost no investment to get started, Smith said, except the cost of business cards and sample bottles.
Annual sales: Though sales are down about 40 percent from 2008 because of corporate cost-cutting, Smith said he still makes $40,000 to $60,000 profit per year.
Target market: Smith said he will sell to any size business, from a car washing company all the way up to Fortune 500 companies. He recently has gone through an advertising certification program that should help him network with more potential customers, he said.
Biggest hurdle: The country’s economic decline in the past two years has been difficult, Smith said, because companies have cut back on advertising and marketing expenses in an effort to stay afloat.
Biggest reward: “Everyone loves a cold bottle of water,” Smith said, and advertisers love it when people drink from bottles affixed with the company logo, in effect putting advertising directly into the palm of consumers’ hands.
Challenges in the future: Smith said he thinks that there has been more competition recently, and he’s struggled to find a niche and retain loyal customers.
Lesson learned: He wishes he’d known 20 years ago that bottled water would become a multibillion-dollar industry because he would have entered the market much sooner.
Five-year goal: Smith would like to grow the business “a little,” but not so much that he doesn’t have time to meet customers. “I enjoy selling, and I enjoy meeting people,” he said.
Contact: 596-4652
— Compiled by Staff Writer Ellis Smith, 423-757-6315, esmith@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/ellisthered.