 Hello, welcome to Adventures in Small Business, a collaboration between the United States Small Business Administration, Hawaii District Office, and its resource partners. My name is Dennis Kwak. I'm your host for today. We have Allison Betzinger here today. Thank you for joining us on such short notice. She's a proprietor of AAA Best Water Company and Paradise Baby Company. But before we talk about your companies, maybe you can tell us a little bit about yourself. Sure. Yeah. Well, thanks for having me today, Dennis. I appreciate the opportunity. A little bit about myself, grew up in a small town in Wyoming, went out to the Naval Academy for college, not from a military family or background, but just wanted to do something different, kind of choose a hard path, I guess, and when we had the opportunity, I took it, was commissioned into the Marine Corps in 2004, it's almost 15 years ago now. And I've been doing that, been married for almost, for all those 15 years as well. And my husband is an Air Force pilot, commercial pilot. And we have three young boys, eight, six, and one, so busy family, and then decided even with all of that that we are going to get into business as well. And so we've been doing this venture for about four and a half, five years now. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, tell, I mean, very, very vast difference industries. Yes. So tell us a little bit about AAA Best Water first, and we can move on to the next page. Sure. Well, AAA Best Water Company is water purification and softening. We got into it, not necessarily because that was our dream job or dream company, but it actually was a good fit. So just some background on how we got into it. We were stationed in Okinawa at the time, we were a dual active military, and my husband and I decided that we needed to figure out a way that we weren't going to be tied to the military or tied to the government forever. And wanted to set ourselves up something beyond looking out in the out years, and knew that business was probably where we needed to go. Big Robert Kiyosaki fans, his four quadrants, and we wanted to get over there into that business and investor quadrants, and so we started looking at what we could do. And being on active duty, there really is no time, but we were lucky enough as we got orders to Hawaii. We started to look and try to find something that we could do as a family. And we actually kind of stumbled upon AAA Best Water Company, and it ended up that his parents, my mother and father-in-law, came out, moved to Hawaii with us, took a big leap of faith to run the company. Wow. So we were going to go into this as a family. My father-in-law is a plumber by trade. They had run their own small businesses for years, and they were kind of looking for another opportunity. And it just kind of worked out well. It was kind of a God thing, we think, just gave them something to do out here that could be around their grandkids, help us just with two busy active duty lifestyles. And so we jumped into it, came and checked out the business, and it just fit, and it worked. So here we are now. Years later, definitely some challenges in there, but they have been running it and doing an amazing job. He does all the technician work, technical stuff. My mother-in-law does all the administrative, does the books for us, all that kind of stuff. Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. So, I mean, there's got to be some challenges working with family, especially in-laws. Yes. I don't know if you want to air this on, but maybe you can tell us some of the challenges of working with family members, too. No, it's challenging, but it's been such a blessing, too. So definitely not for everybody. Our personalities just seem to work together. We actually all live together, which is common in Hawaii, multi-generational living. Of course, got to do it. So it works. A lot of forgiveness, a lot of egos go away, but I just take it back to personalities and the willingness to make it work. Everybody sacrifices on behalf of each other and for the company, and it's just worked and done well. So I give so much credit to them. They've done an amazing job, and it's provided for them and for us, and I'm quite a ride. That's nice. So when you first thought about, is this a purchase of a business? We did, but we purchased it. What were the preparations that it took to purchase an actual business? I mean, there's different methodologies for evaluating company. What was your, I mean, how did you guys go? So we were pretty naive in jumping into it. And we just started Googling, and we found websites that sell businesses just like houses, right? Right. And that's where we found it initially, and we just started the conversation with the business broker. Had no idea about evaluating. We asked some questions to some different mentors of ours, figured by what the revenue was and what we could expect to have to pay off that we'd probably be okay. Learned a lot through that process. Wouldn't do it the same way again. Right. Same way in using a broker or the same way? No, we could use a broker. I just mean, we just didn't know enough going into it. We wanted to make it happen. We took the best advice that we could find. We weren't really aware of all the SBA avenues, all the help that was out there. Knowing now that it could have been a lot easier, and we probably could have done some things differently. So yeah, business broker actually went and got alone. To buy it from Bank of Hawaii. Pretty much had to sell our first child, I think, to do that. Isn't it always the case? Yeah. I mean, that was difficult, but the whole thing came together. We were able to pay back the loan, no problem. So did you fully pay back the loan? We have, yeah. Wow. And such a short period of time. Yeah, it was three years. They gave us three years. So we said, okay, we'll make it happen. That's wonderful. So talking about Triple-A, I mean, what makes Triple-A best water, I mean, why would people use that company rather than other verification companies? So we're kind of a niche. There are several other small businesses on the island that do what we do. I would say we have kind of one main competitor, and then there's a few others. And there's a couple of the larger water companies that you know of, and you see there are trucks around that kind of do what we do as well, but we really offer a good customer service experience. You check out our reviews, and I think you'll see that in there. We establish relationships with people. We're not there just to sell them our system, but we're there to maintain it and continue that relationship with them. And that has just worked time and time again. My mother-in-law's done a great job in sales, but she's not pushy, but that relationship, and that's what we stress. And most of your clients are residentials, or do you have commercial clients? Yeah, I would say about 80-90% right now is residential. We've gotten a little bit into the commercial side, hoping to go that direction some more. There's definitely a market out there for it, for softening and things like that. But about probably 80-90% residential right now. OK, so there's definitely room for growth. There is, yes. But since you took over the business, or since your family has taken over the business five years ago, has the company grown a little bit? We have grown. Revenue's grown about, I would say, about 20% year over year. Wow. And so, yeah, it's been neat. It's been a neat ride to see that happen. So it must be exciting to see a business thrive. Is it more hours equals more revenue, or is it more just getting to know the industry? I mean, what are your experiences? Yeah, I think getting to know the industry. For us, it's not necessarily more hours. Definitely, my in-laws put in their fair share of time. But it was kind of finding the best advertising for us, how to get those calls to come in, was what equaled more revenue for us. And then getting into some of those commercial projects we've been able to do. Those are great revenue. Oh, wonderful. Now, on the other totally opposite end of the spectrum from AAA, which is water purification, you have a baby equipment rental. Equipment rental. Not a baby rental business. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about Paradise Baby Company, core services, and how you came about this company. Sure. Yeah, so Paradise Baby Company, baby equipment rental. So think cribs, strollers, high chairs, we even do bikes, beach equipment. So anybody coming to the island wants baby to sleep well at night, want to get around conveniently. They don't want to lug everything through the airports. Yeah, for sure. They come to us, and we rent them equipment. It's really a concierge service. We give them a one-hour delivery time. They're not waiting around all day at the hotel for their delivery. And we get really happy customers. Baby sleeps well. Yeah. And that's all you can ask for. Get that on vacation, right. Yeah. So that's kind of the premise of the company. We came about it actually through the same broker that had done our AAA Best Water deal. Okay. I had reached out to her because I just saw an advertisement, and we weren't necessarily looking for something new and to get into again, but I had just called her and said, hey, can you tell me about what this is? And they had a big warehouse, and we were interested in space. Okay. And again, we were looking at ways to tie ourselves to Hawaii as we were getting out of the military. And this just kind of, while it was not anywhere near what AAA Best Water is, the setup of it, everything, the employees were going to stick around. It just seemed that it would fit, and it was something that we could do and then continue as I transitioned. Okay. So would you say that when you purchased Paradise Baby Company that it was kind of a turnkey business? It was. It was absolutely turnkey. It had been started by a local couple in, I think, 2010. So it had been around a few years, and they were just ready to move on. And so we worked out a deal with them. We just ended, we didn't need a loan this time. We just ended up paying for it. And that the deal was turnkey. The next day I was the owner, and, you know, we've just, we've kept it going. Oh, okay. So Paradise Baby Company, a little bit more, do you have to, what are the biggest challenges in terms of, I mean, are there any legal issues that you ran into, or maybe equipment issues that people weren't happy with? You know, no legal issues. I would say for sure it's really concierge 24-7 type of business. And so when you have customers expecting on time, delivery pickup, anything for their children is really important, needs to be clean, sanitary, you know, all those things. So just continually trying to meet those expectations is a challenge. We've been able to do it. You looked at our reviews. You know, we've... Yeah, I looked. They looked great. The people we bought it from did a great job building the business, and we've been able to sustain that. You know, so just keeping that 24-7 mindset is difficult. And then the other challenge for me has been having employees. Yeah. You know, it's working with people is, you know, that's what the military is all about. It's relationships, and it's the same thing in the business world, you know, I'm taking care of people, but I had to learn a new way of dealing with people, totally different than what I've been used to in the military. And so just hiring, never firing, but, you know, just dealing with employees. Sure. Managing people is a very... It is. It's a skill set. And trying to get them on board with, you know, your values of your company and everything, you know, so that's definitely been a challenge. So like a marketing... I mean, two very different companies, but in marketing it's got to be very different, too, because one company AAA, you're marketing toward residential, local families, or local, you know, clients, customer base, and then you have Paradise Baby, where it's really not reserved for local families. Right. All over the world, we get reservations for Paradise Baby Company. So I would say the basis for both is, of course, the web. What a powerful tool, right? So we do most of our advertising on the web. We haven't done any print, anything like that, but Google ads and Yelp are powerful tools. And we've taken advantage of that. Luckily, we found somebody through a business network that does our marketing for us, has set all that up because, you know, no time for me to understand much of that. I'd love to understand more of it, but at this point, I really don't. And so that's how we get people is really from the internet. And then AAA best water referrals have been awesome for us. We actually pay a referral fee to encourage, but we get them all the time. You know, happy customer tells their neighbor, they see our truck on the street, you know, whatever the case. But so for our residential on the best water side, a lot of referrals. Wonderful. So which is excellent. So it must be very difficult juggling being, of course, a parent and being in the military as well as owning two businesses. I mean, how do you really allocate time? I mean, is it like certain number of hours? You got to do it for AAA, certain number of hours for paradise. I mean, good question. Definitely time commitment for everything. And of course, my family's main priority. Yeah, I don't mean to catch you off, Allison, but we're going to take a short break. I mean, we'll return to that question. We'll be back. Thank you very much. Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. My show is based on my book also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership, and finding greatness. I interview guests who are successful in business, sports and life, which is sure to inspire you in finding your greatness. Join me every Monday as we go Beyond the Lines at 11 a.m. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lo, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at 2 o'clock live from Think Tech, Hawaii. And on our show, we talk about taking your health back. And what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about, whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means, let's take healthy back. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Welcome back to Adventures in Small Business. We have Allison Betzinger from Paradise Baby Company and Triple-A Best Water, the producer. We're just going back to the question that we got, what are the kind of challenges in terms of time commitments? Sure. So being active duty, that's where I am day to day. So the businesses take kind of backseat, because my day job is being active duty, right? And so juggling that has been really tough, but a lot of weekends and evening hours, late evening after the kids go to bed, doing the books, doing anything administrative, those kind of things. Being up early to make phone calls if I have to, those sort of things. And then my day from 6.37 until 5.00 or 6.00 at night is with the Marine Corps. And so that's been tough to juggle. The kids, I've had to go on a weekend, emergency something, and they're a little disappointed, but they get over it, they're flexible. And then just not being able to put as much time as I want to in the businesses. We knew we wanted to just be able to sustain them until we could give them more time, but it's been tough to not see them grow as much as we'd like to initially, but I'm thankful and we're blessed that we've been able to do what we have, but we're excited to be able to eventually put more time and diligence into them. And that's going to come very soon, if I'm correct. Yeah, I'm transitioning this summer. Congratulations. Thank you. And that's 15 years, right? Yes. Okay, that's wonderful. And going back to the military, how has the military or your experience in the military kind of helped you in terms of starting your own business or running your own business? Sure. Or if it has that? Yeah, I would say absolutely. There's some correlation there and there's skills that I've gained in the military. Pretty much anybody, a veteran probably leaving, would have. But first and foremost, I would say being flexible. Things are always changing and not getting stressed out about it, being able to just kind of stay level headed and deal with whatever comes your way has been huge because in business things are always changing. There's little emergencies everywhere. There's stuff that has to be dealt with. So I think staying flexible, kind of level headed in stressful situations has been key. And then working with people, diversity in the military is huge. You work with all kinds of different people, learn some emotional intelligence on how to deal with people and that translates into business because it's all people business in the end. Sure. So when you transition out, you're going to spend a lot more time on your businesses. Do you plan to take on another role or do other things or do you see your focus really being on AAA and Paradise Baby? I do see my focus being on the businesses as I transition. That is the plan for us. I don't expect, I don't think I'm going to go out and get a full time job at this point. The goal is to make these businesses work and me putting my time into those. And then the family, being able to volunteer at the boys' schools and things like that, just stuff that I haven't been able to do since I've been on active duty. And are you looking forward towards transitioning? Absolutely, I am. I've been blessed. My time in the military has been excellent. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but we're at the point in our lives, my husband and I are family, that it's just time. We're ready to move on from it and do something else. And the opportunity is here, so yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. When you started your business or when you're thinking about you and your husband back in Okinawa, did you get any assistance along the way? And you talked a little bit about a mentor or your advisor. Yeah, so initially we did have much help because we didn't really know where to go. But along the way, through B&I, we've met some great people. We were part of that with AAA Best Water. And we actually found our accountant through that, which has been huge. That was probably the scariest place for me, was the bookkeeping and doing things right. And we've met some, I would call them mentors along the way, friends and mentors that are in business in Hawaii, which is a different place than doing business on the mainland. As you've known, yeah, of course, yeah. Just having their help and assistance and advice has been great. And of course, we had the help from Banga Hawaii in terms of a loan, which we never would have been able to do this to get started if it wasn't for that. Now going forward with all the resources I know are available, you know, we plan to use those. Yeah, and this is more of a personal level to you. What is your kind of vision or your measurement of success? Oh, gosh, yeah, you know, everybody's vision of success, I think it's a little bit different. And a lot of it, you know, money drives a lot of a lot of things. But I think maybe that used to be my driver was was money, but it's it's not anymore family, you know, and money has to do with that. But if if we can continue to run these businesses and support our family, we don't need to be rich, you know, we don't need a lot of wealth. Helping other people along the way, employing, we'd love to employ veterans if we could. If we can sustain ourselves on this island, help other people along the way, whether it's our employees or our customers, you know, I think we'll be successful. Yeah, I think that's a great vision for success. Where do you see yourself personally and your company within five years time frame? Sure, oh my God. Do you think about expansion? Yeah, we'll definitely be here looking for growth, you know, we can never guarantee anything, you know, but that's with me, jumping into this full time, definitely pushing to grow. You have to have to get some more mentorship and advice to make that happen. But, you know, we see ourselves expanding AAA best water, getting more into the commercial side, you know, like I mentioned before. Paradise Baby Company, possibly expanding the rentals, what we offer. Have a couple other ideas in mind for that. Revenue, but. You think about maybe expansion into other islands or. We would love to, especially for best water. Yeah, there are some, some of what we do on the other islands, but I think that that would be feasible, but it's definitely difficult with the distance and shipping and all of that stuff. Yeah, we'd love to make it make it happen. That's in the cards, but I could see ourselves just on this island too. Sure. OK, cool. We talked a lot about today about the challenges that you face, but maybe some good stories or joyous things that, you know, you got out of your business. A lot of stress. No, no, it's been good. You know, I've learned so much about myself that I never would have. If we hadn't have jumped into this and done this along the way. So I'm thankful for that. A lot of growth personally and for our family. Lifelong learner, you know, so I always like to learn something new. Yeah. And so that and then the blessing for our family, you know, with my in-laws being able to be here with us. Right. If it wasn't for the businesses, that wouldn't have happened. Yeah. So the relationship my kids have with them. That's awesome. And then being able to be here, you know, has been great. So you really did. I mean, you know, that's really the capturing the spirit of the Oana. That's awesome. And I just want to say thank you so much for joining us today and talking about your great companies. You guys should definitely check out Triple A Best Water, their website. Just Google Triple A Best Water. There it is. There it is. And Paradise Baby Company, which is an awesome company. They do, you know, baby equipment rentals. And yeah, hopefully we'll see more of that. Allison, in the near future. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, Dennis. I appreciate it. No problem. And we'll see you in a month. Thank you for joining us in Adventures in Small Business. My name is Dennis Kwok, director of the Veterans Business Outreach Center. Aloha.