On a cruise with his wife and friends, Glenn Hettinger turned a problem into a product. The group had alcohol but no mixers and no desire to purchase soft drinks to mix them with. He says the idea for Shot Dropz, easy-to-use flavorings for shots of liquor that don’t require mixers, “came within seconds.”

Already an entrepreneur who owns Columbus-based commercial telephone provider “Wired Communications Solutions Inc,” Hettinger decided to gamble again at this new business opportunity.

“I wanted to show how, if you have a desire, you can do it yourself,” he said. “I wanted to show that even in today’s economy, you could start a business and make it work.”

Immediately upon returning from the cruise, Hettinger, 49, began researching his idea. After finding that there was a market for such a product, he started interviewing manufacturers for the half-ounce packets.

The Columbus Dispatch met with and wrote an article about his road to success and how he marketed his product.