How one company formed over Gin and Tonics

Sometimes the start of a new company is literally at our fingertips. One day, over a refreshing G&T, Jordan Silbert noticed that his store-bought brand of tonic water left his teeth feeling a bit gross. Looking at the ingredients, he found that they were nearly the same as Sprite. What’s more they didn’t have have the stuff that makes tonic water a tonic: quinine, a tree bark with anti-malarial properties.
So, Silbert took matters into this own hands. Hordered himself some of the medicinal tree bark online and looked up a recipe. And, lo, the new business Q Tonic was conceived. Today, the bubbly is found in more than 3,000 outlets.
Here are some interesting statistics on the business:

• Startup costs: $35,000. Silbert also had free use of an apartment in New York City for six months.
• Cases of Q Tonic sold in 2010, compared with fewer than 500 in the brand’s first year: 65,000.
• Cost to rent the facility where he bottled his first 200 cases: $500.
• Number of financing rounds Silbert has raised to expand his company: 4.

Full story BusinessWeek.