business, Water Works 4 Women.
Company: Water Works 4 Women
Owner: Nancy A. Luzzi
Building a Strong Data Foundation in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key priority in the boardroom and across management —…
Learn More
Type of business: Bottled water company
Location: Franklin Street in Westerly
Employees: 5
Year founded: 2000
Annual revenues: WND
Nancy A. Luzzi had spent years fundraising for breast cancer research, but when a close friend was diagnosed with the disease almost three years ago, she wanted to do more.
The single mother, who at the time was working as a waitress, began brainstorming ideas. After going with her friend to a chemotherapy session, she found it.
“The doctor kept saying to her that she needed to drink plenty of water,” Luzzi said. “I thought we should sell water with a proceed of each sale going towards breast cancer research.”
So with inspiration to guide her early in 2000, Luzzi asked a Connecticut-based water company what she had to do bring her idea, Water Works 4 Women, to life. The company told her she had to order at least 200 cases of water – a task that might have overwhelmed some, but not Luzzi.
“I met with the company in the afternoon, the next morning I woke up and went to 30 stores in Westerly, and not one company said no. I ordered the cases and rented a storage space that afternoon,” she said.
For the following few months Luzzi would spend her days packing the trunk of her Toyota Camry with water for deliveries. At night she continued to waitress. And while she said the intention was never to start a permanent business by June she had sold 1,600 cases, with a dollar from each case sold going to Breast Cancer Research.
“I thought that I was only going to do this until June. That’s when I would write the check to Race For a Cure, ” she said. “But when June came, I had 30 regular customers and more calling me at home everyday. All of sudden I had a business.”
Over the next year Luzzi’s customer list would grow to more than 200, including local convenience stores, coffee houses, restaurants, and even Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn.
“It was unbelievable,” she said. “Everywhere that I would go people would say yes. They were more interested in the cause than the cost. They all wanted to make a difference.”
The venture didn’t come without its challenges. With no business training or experience, Luzzi had to teach herself all the basic business skills, from using a computer to balancing the books, to eventually setting up a payroll system.
“I have had to learn as I go,” she said from behind a desk cluttered with a calendar, keyboard, piles of papers, and an ever-ringing phone. “The infrastructure of the business, from patenting my label to pricing my product, that is something I have had to learn. I was a waitress, so selling was the easiest part for me.”
She has also had some help. A local entrepreneur, Bob Lucey, has helped her set up shop in a Franklin Street house he owns, and has helped the company purchase a much-needed box-truck to make deliveries. In addition, Luzzi said, family and friends have been supportive with their time and understanding.
The combination seems to be working. In 2001 the company sold more than 20,000 cases of water. Water Works 4 Women has also expanded its initial offerings to include home coolers, and various sizes of bottles, and now has customers in states from Massachusetts to New Jersey. In addition, Luzzi who is now running the business full-time and no longer waitresses at night, said she is working to purchase her own spring in Maine.
Expectations for sales this year were raised recently after supermarket giant Stop & Shop agreed to sell the water for the month of October in all of its 254 stores. October has been designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If sales go well, Luzzi said, the chain could pick the product up permanently.
“I had a broker and he told me not to go to Stop & Shop, that they wouldn’t buy it,” she said. “I told him I was going and if they bought it, he was fired. I got there and sold them on the cause, and walked away with a partner. Needless to say I don’t work with that broker anymore.”
And while the idea of starting a business just to donate money isn’t something that is done everyday, Luzzi considers herself a philanthropic entrepreneur. She has already started planning similar projects geared toward raising money to help children and men.
“My goal in five years is to write a $1 million check,” she said. “I don’t want to sit on the money we raise, I want it to go out to the local community, or wherever there is a need.”
As for her friend with Cancer, Luzzi said, she is in full remission and was recently married. But, she says, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more women with breast cancer out there.
“More than 190,000 women are diagnosed with this disease everyday,” she said. “If it’s not you, then it’s somebody that you know.”
For the complete current issue, visit our subscription Web site, or call (401) 273-2201, ext. 227 or 234.
