Living in a tropical climate creates many opportunities for the drinks industry to succeed. In Indonesia, one of those opportunities is the trendy drink business. However, the overriding question here is, How can you turn the idea of a trendy drink business into a reality with small capital but high profits? And alternatively,
What types of trendy drink businesses with small capital have the potential for high profit? Read on to find out!
A trendy drink business can be started with small capital by starting your business with just a few hundred thousand rupiah, with most of the capital going towards purchasing raw materials, such as alcohol, mixers, and plastic cups. And, as for the trendy drink business location, as a start-up, it could be free as you can start your business from the comforts of your own home.
You must have an effective marketing strategy to ensure that your small investment-capitalized trendy drink business generates significant profits, because as well as creating a buzz and a following, you must also actively promote your business to potential buyers by using the following marketing strategies:
Firstly, to get your trendy drink business and its products and services to a wider audience out there, your business must create daily promotional content that is visually appealing, using mediums such as photos, videos, and vlogs to ensure that your drink sales grow exponentially.
Secondly, your trendy drink business must leverage social media platforms such as Facebook (Meta) and Instagram for digital marketing. You can use the Story feature or WhatsApp's Status feature to share photo and video content that promotes drink menu items to your friends, family, coworkers, and the wider public. Social media platforms are powerful mediums for carrying out your small business's digital marketing campaigns.
Thirdly, partnering with apps such as Go-Food, GrabFood, or ShopeeFood helps to promote your business while saving on rental expenses. By registering and partnering with these food and beverage services, you are only required to show the following: a photo of yourself with a banner or sign of your business (at least 1x1 meter) with your business’s name and address, your product menu with attractive images of your products, and your preparation space, such as your kitchen and equipment, as well as the logos of Go-Food, GrabFood, or ShopeeFood.
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Fourthly, Open Pre-Orders (Open PO) is a common term used when taking advanced orders for delivery made on a specific day. In business, an Open PO is usually offered 1-2 days before the actual delivery date, so your business can leverage Open PO via WhatsApp Groups or WhatsApp Status to your friends, family, and potential clientele in advance and streamline their service.
Once you have understood the basic principles of digital marketing strategies, the next step for your trendy drink business is to determine its menu, one that should initially use low-cost products such as milk, tea, coffee, and chocolate (served cold), because these ingredients require minimal capital but potentially offer great rewards and profit.
Boba Tea is a milky tea with a boba topping made from tapioca flour, formed into the size of marbles, and cooked until it has a soft, chewy texture.
Originating from an experiment in a Taiwanese tea shop, owner Liu Han Chieh created a new experience for enjoying milk tea. The boba topping is used as a topping for cold milk while adding ice cubes to the milk-based beverage. Liu Han Chieh’s experiment quickly became popular among young people, and today, this cold milk tea-based trendy drink business has become a global phenomenon where you, the customer, can create your own milk-tea boba variations with dozens of combinations.
Thai tea is usually black tea, or cha yen (Ceylon) tea, mixed with spices, becoming popularized by Thai street vendors in the 1980s, subsequently becoming a global sensation.
Cheese Tea, originated in Taiwan, is a beloved milk tea topped with a layer of liquid cream cheese and is a simple, cost-efficient idea for a small, trendy drink business with the potential for big profits.
Bubble Tea is a milk and tapioca tea that is very similar to boba, although Bubble Tea features tapioca pearls that have been boiled with a sweet caramel syrup for several hours. Bubble Tea’s point of difference from boba is that it offers teas such as Earl Grey Tea, Green Tea, Fruit Tea, Jasmine Tea, Matcha Tea, Oolong Tea, and more.
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Iced coffee is a great idea for a trendy drink business with small capital but big profit potential because this drink is made from cold milk and coffee mixed with palm sugar syrup. Iced coffee became popular in bottled form during the pandemic due to social distancing restrictions.
As a point of difference, your business might want to consider selling your iced coffee in bottles as a small business idea with the potential for big profits.
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Milkshakes are a perennial Indonesian favorite, having been around before any other trendy drink, and as such, they have remained a beloved refreshing beverage. Milkshakes are made from milk, chocolate, and vanilla and come with a variety of toppings such as biscuits, biscuit sticks, boba, and more.
Ice Chocolate and Iced Dalgona (Whipped) Chocolate are drinks that can be made easily and cheaply, starting with a small capital investment but with high-profit potential. Your trendy drink business can develop iced chocolate menu variations such as banana smoothies, made with banana slices, whipped cream, and soy milk, to add to your menu.
The following are 5 tips to consider when starting your trendy drink business, even if you have limited capital to start with. Don’t be discouraged, but rather, consider the opportunities you have before you and the potential to make big profits.
Firstly, innovation and variety are how Boba Tea started in Taiwan, so learn from their success story experience. Learn from their entrepreneurial experience and see how your trendy drink business can use these tenets to move forward and attract more customers by implementing innovation and variety into your business's menu.
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Secondly, as in any other hospitality establishment, pay close attention to the quality of your ingredients. Because trendy drinks are predominantly sweet, avoid using artificial sweeteners that create that sweet sensation on your tongue. This sensation can be overwhelming, and its sense overload could detract customers and even turn them away because of it.
Thirdly, attractive packaging greatly impacts the selling value of your beverage.
Although packaging is minimal in cost, do not ignore packaging, as it attracts customers and can make your product more profitable with the right packaging.
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Location, location, location is a catch cry for any business.
Fourthly, having a strategic location is important for your trendy drink business; however, be mindful of the product that you are selling.
For example, it would be challenging to sell cold drinks with ice in a city where it rains every day and the weather is cold, and in warm beverages would be a better and wiser fit in such an environment, particularly if you want your business to be profitable.
Lastly, it is important that you actively and consistently promote your business.
Showcase your trendy drink business to the public and accentuate its uniqueness of through social media, as already mentioned in this article, because the more frequently you promote your business and its products, the greater the opportunities you have for attracting customers.
Youtap, which can be easily downloaded directly from Google's PlayStore and the AppStore, is a great tool for business owners. As well as making payments easier with QRIS, transactions are automatically recorded, and sales data can be analyzed to help you determine your next marketing campaign and sales strategy.
So, use Youtap! It will ensure your business has seamless experiences and smooth payment systems, which lead to you having a thriving business!