Customer Reviews

Build Your Beverage Empire

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

About 3/5th of this book is about what it is going to tell you in later chapters. The book is loaded with phrases like, "We'll discuss _____________ in the next chapter in more depth'" or "Another topic that we'll delve into in a later chapter."
It's basically a get rich quick book. You can become rich by investing in the drink business, and it's so easy, you don't have to know a thing. All you have to do is hire me and my beverage consulting business and you'll make millions. To prove this, the author gives you "case studies" of normal guys who started beverage companies and sold them for millions or billions of dollars, as if anyone can do this. The content of the book as well as the steps and info you need to start a beverage company are left purposely vague, either so you'll hire the authors company as a consultant or because the author simply doesn't know what he's talking about.
I feel this book is a waste of time and money. Potential entrepreneurs can find more detailed and helpful info online. And if you need assurance that the author is a fake, take a look at his photo here on Amazon. The winking, finger pistol firing pose may have inspired confidence in the 80s dude but it's kind of laughable now and doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

There seems to be a lot of self promotion about their "consulting services" which is OK but at least give me some nuts and bolts information that I can use.

I'm new to the industry and some info is pretty basic. I am half way through the book and have not gotten that much useful info, but at the same time some of the info was good. They don't give the name of formula development companies, distributors, bottle manufactures, creative designers or warehouses.

Also on the website they get you to sign-up for a newsletter by falsely promising a FREE Video and other stuff:

"Learn How to Reach 2,000 Beverage Distributors With Your Products In Only 30 Days! - See This FREE Video
Simply subscribe to our newsletter and receive an email explaining this incredible sales program that targets 2,000 beverage distributors for your products in only 30 days"

Below is what I got:

"Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

We have regular scheduled Webinars and Teleseminars. You will get an email whenever one is scheduled. The topics of these are:

-Sales and distribution
-Selling more using brokers
-Open more stores
-Reach 200,000 c-stores
-Connect with hundreds of Beverage Distributors
-In-Store Marketing
-Beverage Development
-Trends and New Products
-Venture Capital
-Much More

Remember we offer 3 basic services:
-Beverage Development
-Sales and Distribution
-Consulting & Mentoring"

Like one other reviewer said here, this book is purely self-promotional. It's light on content, has spelling and grammatical errors and uses a lot of redundant text (fillers). For example, every chapter begins with "you will learn how to ...", then goes light on details and ends with "you now have learned that ...". But we never learn much.

To add insult to injury, I hired Jorge after reading the book, in a desperate attempt to see if maybe he could help me out with my beverage. Turns out, he's just the same in real life as he is in the book: all talk, no action, no insight, no help.

I never write reviews. I make an exception here because this book is terrible. Brad Smith's review is SPOT ON! Even the passages he quotes from the book are WORD FOR WORD. The entire book spends pages and pages telling you everything you will learn LATER in the book--- and when you get to the second half of the book, it reminds you of everything you JUST READ, which was just the author telling you what you're GOING TO READ! I'm not exaggerating. I'm not being histrionic. The book is a gigantic exercise in temperance. And worse, it reads as if it's written by a fourth grader writing a book report the night before. If you remove the fluff, self-promotion, and incoherence, the book is twenty pages long. Even that's too generous.

Please don't buy this book. Save your money.

Jorge Olson's little book, written in an accessible style, is chock-full of great advice. He has consulted for many kinds of entrepreneurs, and this book distills his store of experience and knowledge for a single industry. His information cross-references to form a tight web; the early chapters introduce the info you'll find later in greater depth. I hope he writes similar books for other trades. His eye is always on the goal. His ability to spot the angle which will achieve product placement, or provide an edge on the competition, or to read the customers' minds, is awesome.

Only read this book if your looking for down to earth easy to understand information on how build and promote a beverage company. What seems common sense to some can be Greek to others. This book lays it out is simple to understand term for outstanding results.

This book tells you everything you need to know to get started in the beverage industry. It really lets the reader know that there is a lot of opportunity in the market for good new-age beverages that are unique, but at the same time does not paint a pie-in-the-sky image of becoming a superstar overnight. The book gets into detail about what Jorge Olson refers to as "reverse engineering" - walking backwards through time from that first vision of a drink back to the first step in producing it... asking yourself the most important questions first, such as "Who will be drinking it"? "Where do they buy"? "What drinks do they currently buy?" Only when you truly know these answers should you even begin to think of the "how to's." To a novice beverage entrepreneur the entire process of developing a beverage, warehousing & distributing it, and hopefully selling it off the shelves can be quite overwhelming. This book will tell you the truth about what it really takes, and help you believe that you too can build a successful beverage empire. I bought this book when I first had the idea of creating a new beverage, and it offered so much useful information that I incorporated much of it into my Business Plan. At the time of this review, I am at the stage of the process where I am producing my first batch of drinks in a few weeks, and I have peaked the interest of well over 100 stores in my home state of Florida. Jorge Olson's book is an excellent, if not necessary foundation from which to build your own beverage empire.

With the energy drink and energy products/neutraceuticals in high growth, it is clearly an exciting time to be in the market. On the other hand, with 1,000 energy/recovery drinks already cluttering the market...how do you compete. This book provides very practical and pragmatic steps and words of wisdom to ensure that your vision gets to the shelf and into the hands of your customers. Take the time to study your demographic and the benefits that you offer them to ensure your message, your packaging and your contents are all in syn is one of the messages clearly delivered. Nice job.

All the information I was looking for and more, was in this book! It was an eye opener and very informative. The best investment I made before making a major investment in this industry. As a newcomer I needed to make sure I was on the right track and this book has certainly led us in the right direction. Thanks for all you work and sharing your knowledge.

This book is perfect for a potential entrepreneur looking to break into the beverage industry. The steps Jorge talk about are the way you want to go. I started a beverage company over 2 years ago and jumped right in making many mistakes and throwing away money that I would not have thrown away had I read this book ahead of time. I would caution anyone thinking of starting any new venture that if you are not willing to risk everything you have and believe in what you are doing 100%, don't do it. Good luck!