[[ The Author’s Apology: this is neither a sentimental treatise nor a bible lesson. For that matter, it also isn’t a complaint nor a brag. It just seemed appropriate for the day, I guess. Happy reading! ]]
The third week of June, 2025 is upon us. Pretty sure I don’t understand the rapidity with which we seem to fly through the year—48.5% of this year is gone! I’m absolutely astounded at a couple of things: first, how did this happen without me so much as noticing it slip by! Next, why have I not done 48.5% of all I wished to do this year? Is it slacking down my work-load? Or is it, more likely, doing the wrong work? In such case, why haven’t I changed my position, pattern, plan and prosecution of such work!? Almost as a side note, the bible puts forth the principle of “for as “he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Since that’s the case and yet what we seek for in accomplishments we do not seem to attain, is then, our thinking wrong? Obviously. But how radical to decide to erase all that in favor of a new plan for the next 6 months. So we vote to “stay the course.” “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” “We’ve just begun to fight.” “You’ve seen the start, but wait till you see the finish!”____and other such truck. Maybe so, maybe no. Oh!
To most of you, that paragraph might not make sense. But, to some of us, more goal oriented than drive oriented, we just wish to see the achievement. A drive oriented person sees the start toward and yet not worry about the finish. Whereas a goal oriented sees accomplishments in stages or steps towards the desired end, as another bible verse says “the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.”—Prof.13:19. I have so loved that verse for many years. Not that I have lived that way, especially not in preaching or teaching God’s word. In fact, being called to be an ambassador of God’s word unto others keeps me from establishing a goal or even an expectation. (Apply 2 Cor.3:5 here.) It really is none of our business who the Lord might lead toward us; we would be very poor choosers of who might become a strong believer, trust the gospel, and then be used of the Lord because we said or taught a certain doctrine or thought pattern.
Back to that other side of my life’s desires in the past 7+ years: building of many High Alkaline water stores. At the start of 2017, Chuck & Laura, with Sarah & I began to think in terms of a new way to be free from an inhibiting supplier and become our own wholesaler for just two stores—theirs and ours. But searching out all we would need caused us to see things in our industry about which we had not before known. Things like advances in system efficiency; exceptional quality of minerals to manufacture our water, and ways to buy at wholesale level everything a store might need. Indeed, we became BLUE JUG ALKALINE WATER AND HEALTH MARKETS.
Within a short time span after July, 2017, other people who were tied to those with whom we had formerly been associated said things like , “we want to be a blue Jug, too!” etc. Yet when we considered this, we knew we couldn’t go out to recruit these stores to change from what they were to what we were, so we did not recruit even one from that number. Then came some who never had been with the previous company and after looking at the way we built Blue Jug, they desired to be like us, not the other way. So then, what were we to do? We could have done nothing, of course. But, we believed we were doing some things extremely well and that others could follow our lead. We examined franchising: whew! We didn’t have the money to do that! Then, we decided we could become a licensor of our name if someone wanted to buy the equipment we had and use our name. So we did that. We’re still glad we did this. People can be in business for themselves while carrying a chain store name and absolutely the best Alkaline Water our world has ever seen, in fact, “Water the way it’s meant to be!”—great slogan, Sarah!
So, here we sit. Nearing the end of June, 2025. We now have 17 stores with our licensed name on their front and on their products with the best drinking water possible in this world going out the doors —-thousands of gallons a day! We thought by now, we’d have a few more. Telling our story people will say, “Wow! That’s terrific!” But, living it on this side we wonder why there aren’t 50 or more stores. Showing people how well the top stores do, helping them choose the best locations, training them with every aspect from product jargon/lingo to technical side of changing filters and mineral packs timely, taking special note as to ROI rapidly, … and they don’t owe us a royalty or adv. payment every month: why don’t we have 50 stores?
Many relatively small store franchises require a net worth of half million $$ and up, and working capital of $200-300 thousand. Our stores can be outfitted, inventoried and open for less than $100,000 total: Yet, why don’t we have 50 stores open? If our owners work the store, their ROI is almost always under 2 years. Placing a licensee/licensor related chain store into a ranking system doesn’t seem possible. If it were, with our 17 store list of stores, none of which have slid into failure nor have had to have been closed; I’d say we ranked pretty good: pretty good, indeed! Yet there isn’t a rush of business wannabes trying to get one open….Maybe tomorrow….on into July!
Thanks for reading, the Elder.
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