Entrepreneurs aren't normal people. They aspire to be unique. "We always wanted to be cool and be different, and now it's our company motto," laughs entrepreneur Carlos Costa.

Costa and Tim Mulya control Ice Down Beverages Inc. (www.icedown.ca), manufacturers of popular bottled beverages.

Their product "O2 Aqua" boasts pure, oxygenated water and "Ice Down Splash" is a low-calorie natural fruit-flavoured beverage. "We primarily serve the health conscious consumer, but our products are made for everyone," comments Costa.

Facing strong competition in the bottled water industry, Costa and Mulya knew early on how important it was to position their brand. "A majority of beverages on the market today are high calorie and loaded with sugar," says Costa. "Our products are inspired by consumers who want to have pure water for everyday consumption."

Now in its fifth year, Ice Down Beverages' distinctive blue bottles appear on the shelves of major Canadian retailers including Loblaws, A&P, Dominion, Fortino's, Longo's, Highland Farms, Zehrs, Sobeys and numerous health food stores.

To help manage their growing venture, both Mulya and Costa each obtained a CIBC bizline^* Visa^® Card. "I've used it to purchase everything from airline tickets to client meals to carpet for trade shows," says Costa.

"We also use our Visa Business cards to help us manage cash flow," adds Mulya. "My card has a $20,000 line of credit attached, so when we're waiting for a customer receivable I'll use my card's bizline cheques to stay on top of our accounts payable."

Already commercial clients of CIBC, the entrepreneurs decided to stick with their financial institution. "We're quite happy with CIBC," comments Costa. "They seem to understand the needs of small business owners so they've been very flexible with us."

Mulya recently discovered an additional benefit for Visa cardholders. "I bought two laptop computers at two different stores within a matter of minutes," he recalls. "As large transactions occurring in quick succession, it caught the attention of the CIBC Visa fraud centre who called immediately to verify it was me making the purchases."

"It's great to know fraud protection is part of the benefits of a bizline^* Visa card," says Mulya.

*bizline is a trademark of CIBC