The Beverage Industry is hot, sizzling, and it's all because of the New Age Beverage Category that's lead by the Energy Drinks. Energy Drinks are the greatest thing happening right now in Retail and Wholesale Businesses. Everyone is getting into it, the beverage distributors, wholesalers, cash and carry's, beverage manufacturers, supermarkets, convenient stores, everyone.

Energy Drinks are so hot you even start to see them at specialty stores. I've seen Energy Drinks at Home Depot, The Gap clothing store, Best Buy and Sports Authority.

I get more calls about Energy Drinks than anything else put together. I get calls form distributors looking for them from manufacturers trying to sell them and from people looking to start their own brand.

It's a great business to get into; more than 300 new Energy Drinks hit the US market last year. If you plan on going into this business do your research first.

Don't even think of launching or carrying new energy drinks until you know more about the industry. Here are some questions you Must answer before launching, distributing or retailing Energy Drinks:

===Find out:===

- How much is the Energy Drink and New Age Beverage category growing per year?

- What are the best segments to be in?

- How much does a store and distributor sell per month of an energy drink?

- What are the best sizes for energy drinks?

- Who is the best customer for energy drinks?

- Where should you spend your promotions?

- Should you sell at events, schools and bars?

- How to sell to Retail Chains? -What you need to sell to Distributors

- The Industry Standard Pricing for Energy Drinks in the USA

- What is the best pricing for your product? Price to beverage distributors, wholesale distributors, exporters, food service, cash and carry and wagon jobbers

- How much will you put back into marketing using the Energy Drink marketing formula?

Now that you know the questions to ask and answer before you decide on your product it's time to sell. How will you start selling? Do you have a contact with a retail store or a distributor? Please pay the most attention to this part of the business. You need sales to survive. Get a seasoned salesperson or a good broker to help you if you are not a great salesperson.

Promotions are a large part of Energy Drinks and it makes them very exciting. You have parties, club events, games, sponsorships, fun fun and more fun. Now, the real question here is How much will you get for your promotions? Notice I don't ask how much you'll spend in promotions but how much you'll get back. Please, please don't spend a dime without a plan to get it back in sales.

Once everyone in your town finds out you have an Energy Drink you'll be the most popular game in town. You'll get calls from newspapers, magazines, and especially radio stations, all looking for advertising. Not to mention all the requests for sponsorship you'll get. What to do? Nothing, don't do a thing until you know how much you'll get for your investment in promotions. Don't spend anything without distribution; don't spend a dime without knowing your Return On Investment.

Copyright 2006 Jorge Olson