We Don't Water Down. We Water Up

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with John Sherwin, Co-Founder of Hydrant, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Our business is Hydrant - we make clean, effective hydration mixes that sustain the vitality of our customers. These customers are active, energetic doers - people who make shit happen. An active lifestyle can lead to us feeling tired and fatigued, which many solve with the bandaid of just caffeine. The reality is that dehydration also causes fatigue and is often the main contributing factor if you're getting plenty of sleep. So our suite of products exists to sustain these doers.

Tell us about yourself

I started Hydrant because I discovered the role hydration could play in making me feel and perform my best mentally while I was in college. Hydration with water alone wasn't making a huge difference, so adding in the electrolyte component and going deep into the science made me realize how powerful this simple combination could be. Educating others on this and being able to back it up with a great product has kept me motivated throughout the long journey of building Hydrant.

The journey is not finished, though, and even today, there are products that get launched that preach hydration but have very subpar electrolyte balances, so people find them to be ineffective. We've got a long way to grow to get everyone up to speed on how hydration works!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

One of our biggest wins was winning distribution at Kroger nationwide. A huge grocery chain that touches millions of American lives every day. That's really helping us get our product and message into the hands of people beyond the impact we can have with our online business. Retail is a different beast from the direct-to-consumer landscape we originally built the company, so we're learning every day and working to keep reaching more Americans.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Responsibility is definitely the hardest thing because it never goes away. You're responsible for your team, your customers, and your investors. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions that are not going to make all three of those groups happy, and so balancing those decisions and making sure you're always doing right by every group is a heavy burden. When times are good, it's easy, but there are always ups and downs in business, and how you handle the low points is how people will judge you.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Start lean, and stay lean as long as you can. When we got started, raising money was relatively easy, and so many companies got funding and started to scale before they had found true product market fit.
Find someone to build your company with - it's way more fun, and life is short. Pay a ton of attention to this relationship, though. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.
Have fun doing it. The journey is long and will be hard. Don't take life too seriously, or you'll miss out on the rest of your life and having fun.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.drinkhydrant.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinkhydrant/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkhydrant/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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