Situation: When Larry and Karen Pelleg returned to North Texas from North Carolina they left the corporate world behind to pursue their shared dream of starting a business together.

Larry’s more than 28 years in the bottled water industry, combined with the couple’s knowledge of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, convinced them they had the right idea and the right place for their new company, Designer Water USA, Inc.

Fast becoming a North Texas hit, Designer Water produces personalized, custom-label bottled water that provides businesses and all types of organizations an innovative approach to promoting their brands and messages.

Challenge:  To turn their dream into a viable business, the Pellegs needed professional help for essential business services including, banking, insurance, accounting, legal, marketing, and a strong Internet presence.

The Pellegs made Kristine Amador, CPA, their first call. It turned out to be the only call they needed to get their business going. Kristine, who handled their accounting needs when they lived in the area previously, is a member of the Quorum Group, an association of business professionals serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Solution: The Quorum Group went to work for Designer Water immediately:

• Shelly Ruddick, with Bank of the West, arranged a loan sponsored through the Small Business Association to finance equipment and other startup costs,
• Brian Zvonecek, of Texas Insurance Exchange, handled all business insurance needs,
• Mack Zimmerman, of Flynn, Campbell and Francis, LLP, guided the formation of the legal entity for the business,
• Lee Staicer, of Designasaur, helped create the company’s brand and logo and develop a marketing strategy, and
• Michael Burns, of Web Solutions America, created an attractive, user-friendly Web site and optimized it to get top rankings with the major search engines.

Results: The Pellegs quickly established Designer Water as a leader in the growing personalized bottled water market, serving corporate accounts and not-for-profit organizations and helping families celebrate special occasions. The Pellegs credit the Quorum Group with helping them off to their fast start:

“We could not have started this company the way we did without the Quorum Group. Before we left North Carolina we had all our critical services in place, which freed us to concentrate on running the business. We have been extremely pleased with the professionalism and service of every person in the Quorum group.”