Sarasota water bottling startup looks to grab market share

After her husband, Chad, was unexpectedly laid off from his job in orthopedic medical device sales in 2022, Rebecca Dawson felt compelled to increase her financial contribution to her family. She’d worked for a long time as a counselor, but she often offered her services on a sliding scale because her husband had a steady full-time job.

She began thinking of new ventures, and wellness and water floated to the top of the idea pile. When her children were younger, she always sought out pure water for them. She knew others shared that kind of desire, especially with wellness being a major topic of conversation these days.

She officially launched Sarasota-based WellHouse in April, but the bottled water business was several years in the making. She first needed to find a water source, which she learned was a highly competitive space.

“Water is a huge market, but not a lot of competitors want you to enter that market,” says Rebecca Dawson, 48. “We talked to different places and they wouldn’t work with us.”

Photo by Lori Sax

Wanting to use glass bottles instead of plastic wound up working to her advantage, and she entered into a deal to source water from Bear Hollow Spring near Lake Placid, in central Florida. She prefers not to disclose the company she’s working with because of the competitive nature of the industry but says it “felt like an open door” once the sourcing was locked in.

Next up came working through certification and licensing requirements at the state level. Sourcing glass bottles proved the next challenge, both in terms of finding suppliers and the expense involved, but she was committed to using them. “It’s the most non-reactive product,” says Rebecca. “If we’re going to drink a good product, we want it to stay a good product.”

The bottles come mainly from a supplier in Illinois, but she also works with a company in Texas. The water is all bottled locally in Sarasota at the commissary kitchen connected with the Pinecraft Ice Cream Shoppe. Rebecca’s kids had gone to school with the owner’s kids, which gave her the initial connection.

The company’s 16-ounce bottle is its signature size, which retails for $5 on wellhousewater.com. But it also offers a smaller 12-ounce size ($3) plus a 25-ounce bottle ($4) and one-gallon glass jug ($14). Wholesale pricing is also available.

The water is regularly tested, has a pH level of 6.9 (7 is considered pure) and contains natural minerals like magnesium, calcium and sodium. “I can’t say we have ‘the world’s best water.’ I don’t know what ‘the world’s best water’ is,” says Rebecca. “But I know our water is pure, I know it’s good, and I know it’s going to be good for you.”

Rebecca is taking the lead with the business, but Chad is involved too and would love to make it 

his full-time gig one day.; he currently owns Designs by Dawsons, which offers remodeling and woodworking services. The couple has completely self-funded the company (they declined to share specific startup cost figures).

Photo by Lori Sax

WellHouse currently offers residential and commercial delivery services within the City of Sarasota, and its products can be purchased at both Sarasota locations of juice spot Crop, Pinecraft Ice Cream Shoppe and Main Street Creamery in Sarasota. The company will also be participating in the Phillippi Farmhouse Market. starting this fall and is looking at introducing five-gallon jugs for home water coolers.

“I have hit the ground running — our samples are out there in a lot of different places,” says Rebecca. That includes restaurants, hotels, wedding venues, spas and retail outlets. Some Airbnb hosts are also providing WellHouse water for guests, and that’s a niche market where the company sees more potential.

“We’re trying to scale this thing, but in order to do it, you have to be very laser focused on who you’re doing it with,” says Chad Dawson, 50. “It’s an expensive process to bottle it and get it out there. You can’t just drop it off free for everybody. You have to be kind of lasered in on who you’re trying to target.”

Driving costs down as the company scales is one of Chad’s major focuses. “I’m constantly like, we’ve got to get this cheaper,” he says. “It’s a very expensive endeavor to get into until we hit scale.” 

Photo by Lori Sax

But he thinks that prudent approach will be an asset as the company keeps growing. “It’s been built on a more frugal, cost-conscious business model, which makes it more sustainable in the long term,” he says.

Giving back is important for the faith-based business, and Rebecca’s also in the process of establishing a nonprofit called Reservoir, through which some of the company’s profits can be used for charitable endeavors. “Our faith is a big part of this, and I feel like that is what makes us different,” says Rebecca. “We care about what we’re putting in here, and we care about the people that it actually goes to. We care about the companies that we work with. There’s just a lot of heart behind what we’re doing.”

Summer in Florida’s not a bad time to try to grow a water business, even if tourism is a little slower this time of year. “It’s probably the best season for us to kind of get our feet wet and get in there just a little bit when people are not so busy,” says Rebecca. “So we’re just going to keep planting seeds.”