Your first question I can address, but not answer. I imagine you might not get a lot of helpful replies, since you are asking what would essentially be your competition. A major factor in being successful in business is knowing how to out perform your competition, and just one measurement that plays a key role is cost of acquisition for inventory and supplies.
I am also researching starting a business in this field, so if anyone in the business feels compelled to divulge their trade secrets, please include me in your PM!
I think starting ANY company boils down to putting many factors in to place:
- Customer Service (#1 in MY book!).
- Reliable, consistent, desirable product offerings.
- Customer Service.
- Making it hassle free for the customer to order.
- Customer Service.
- Low overhead cost (supplies, labor, inventory, shipping, taxes, etc)
- Customer Service.
- Effective leveraging of basic business principles (economies of scale, supply chain management - JIT, effective application of industry knowledge, etc)
As for the second question, I have often wondered that myself. Honestly, I can think of no good reason why juices are mixed using the base8 system.