Guidelines To Setting Up A Water Filling Station Business In Kenya

Have you ever wanted to start a water filling station business in Kenya? Today we want to share with you some guidelines to setting up a water filling station business in Kenya. The following guidelines will help you know what you need and how to go about it before you commit your money and time.

Guidelines to setting up a water filling station business in Kenya- preparation stage

There are a number of things that you must take care of before you begin operating this or any other business. These processes help you to be able to have a clear roadmap and projections of how the business is going to operate. The preparation stage also helps you to know whether it’s a viable business option to venture into or not. It also helps you know which is the best location to set up the business.

Let us now look at some of the processes you need to undertake beforehand for smooth running of the business.

Market research- market research is a process which an entrepreneur undertakes to test how the potential market will respond to the product they are intending to introduce to them. It can involve giving out samples and receiving the feedback from a questionnaire or even word of mouth while interacting with the potential clients. It can also involve physical observation of the target business locality to see if there are similar businesses and how they operate. You can learn if there are loopholes that are not being leveraged by the existing businesses that you can come in and maximize on for a competitive advantage. It helps you to be able to know the size of the market, their purchasing power their buying trends and also if they are the right target audience. Sometimes you might realize that the product that you want to introduce to that target market is not what they need but it is needed elsewhere.

For example there are some products that can do really well in places where the residents belong to the lower level income economy but not well embraced by the upper class economy.

Business plan- after you have identified a potential market is ideal for your product and in this case bottled water or water refilling you can now go ahead and prepare the business plan.

A business plan is a document that outlines how your business will be run, sources of funding and expansion plans. It also explains the structure of your business and who are the key stakeholders or the key persons who will be needed in the business operations.

Business location search

Where is your target market in terms of location? Is it in the central business district in a town, is it in an estate or a shopping centre? Does that location have the necessary infrastructure and public amenities like electricity, water, accessible roads, good drainage etc.? These are very important considerations to make.

Business premises identification

After you have identified the suitable location for your business, you now need to find an ideal business premises. Sometimes this is a hard nut to crack because you may find an ideal locality but no premises is available to move in to or none of the available ones are at a strategic place like where it’s visible or has people traffic. For business survival, you must be visible and accessible.

Business premises renovation

After taking care of the above and satisfied with everything, you now need to do the necessary renovation that will be suitable for your business operations. Consider also how you will be serving your clients by ensuring they can comfortably transact with you. Leave some space inside where they can stand or sit if necessary as they wait to be served.

Guidelines to setting up a water filling station business in Kenya- equipment required

Before we proceed on sharing the equipment that you need for this type of business it’s important to note that there are two ways of going about this business. One you can opt buy already purified water or you can opt to purify the water on your own. The first option is more cost effective to start because there are some equipment that you will not need to invest in. However the downside of this option is that you will be making less profit than the person who has invested in purifying equipment.

In the second option you will invest in water purifying equipment which can significantly add to the cost of setting up the business but eventually you will recoup what you had invested in the equipment as a result of the increased profit margins.

In the former option you are buying water that is already purified which means that there’s a mark-up already added to the water. But if you are purifying your own water from the source you will be saving on the mark-up added to the already purified the water as seen above.

Equipment needed.

Water vending ATM machine

One of the main equipment that you will need for this business is a water vending ATM machine. This is what you use to sell the water. It helps you to be able to sell the right amount of water for the money that the client has. It helps you to keep the sales records and also be able to do sales reconciliation. If you have employed someone to run the business when you are not able to a run or operate the business on a day-to-day basis it comes in handy. Because it also comes with a password protected PLC, you can be able to calibrate the prices and review the sales records without having to worry that someone else has tampered with them.

Water purifying machine

Another major equipment that is necessary for this business is a water purifier. It helps you to purify your own water from your preferred source. A good purifier is able to purify water from different sources like dams, borehole, river e t c. Sometimes though you might not need these if you opt to buy already purified water. For clients who do not have enough initial capital to invest in a water purifier we do connect them to suppliers of purified water where the purified water is just delivered to you and you store it in storage tanks.

Purified water storage tanks

After you have purified the water with your purifier or received purified water from your supplier, you need it stored so that when you have plans you have enough stock to sell. You do not want to run the water purifier when the clients are waiting because the rate of output of the machine that is purifying the water might not be as quick as the rate of clients coming in. You end up losing clients who are frustrated by waiting.

On the other hand, if you are buying already purified water, you also need enough storage to last you until the next delivery. It is therefore important to invest in high capacity storage thanks. The best storage tanks are those that are made of stainless steel. However you can also use plastic storage tanks but sometimes they can make the water to have a different taste or some odour because it is plastic. Some other times when water stays in the plastic for a long time it can react with the plastic and it starts shedding of some oily stuff or even starts forming some algae.

Rinsing jet

A rinsing jet is also a very important equipment. When clients bring their bottles for refilling sometimes they might not be very clean but also remember having stayed with the water for a long time plastic tends to have some smell and the reaction with water can also change the smell of the water. That is why rinsing the bottle is very important before you refill it with freshwater.

Filling station with taps

If your business model is not targeted to just walk-in clients but you intend to sell to retail outlets, it means you will be packing a lot of water bottles at once. This is where having a filling station with several taps comes in handy. It helps you to be able to fill up many bottles at a go. The number of taps can be determined by how frequently you will be refilling the bottles. However we would recommend you don’t go with anything less than 4 taps. This helps you to be able to fill up many bottles in a short time. The more the taps, the less time it takes to refill the bottles.

Packaging benches

Packaging benches are also important for the above mentioned business model. These are important for packaging processes like inserting the caps, sealing and placing the stickers on the bottles. They can also be used as a temporary holding station before dispatch or transferring to you storage facility. The best packaging benches are those made of stainless steel.

Business licences and permits

In Kenya it is a requirement for any legal business to be registered and issued with the necessary licences and permits. This can be gotten from your county offices. Some of the documents that you need for this business include: the business registration certificate, food handling certificate among others.

Acquire high quality water filling station equipment from us

Get in touch with us if you need any of the equipment described above if you are planning to start a water filling station business. Watertech is a leading manufacturer of high-quality water filling station equipment in Kenya. We have been in this industry for over 7 years now and we have both the expertise and experience in making the right equipment for the industry.

You can get in touch with us by sending us an email, calling us, filling out the contact us form, sending a WhatsApp message or leaving a comment below.

You can also visit us in Ruiru Kimbo toll bus station next to Rubis petrol station before you reach the Juja weighbridge. We look forward to serving you.