Anyone own an ice cream parlor?

[wcc]

I'm thinking of starting an ice cream shop in a small town. They do have two ice cream shops, a dairy queen and a local place but are both soft serve. I'd be doing the hand dip ice cream. Plus I'd be right in town for parades and events. Plus I'm sure I can grab local car/motorcycle clubs to visit on their drives.

One thing is I don't want to quit my full time job so I'd have employees running the place mostly and family stopping in to check on it once in a while throughout the week and me on the weekends. I'd be there as much as possible and working it as much as I can. But will I be robbed blind because I'm not there most of the time? Obviously, it's based on how I pick employees but is it common? Also, what are some things to watch for or pitfalls that could be avoided if I watched or addressed them early on? What is the the 'going' thing in your shop?

Thanks in advance......

[gprsh924]

A bunch of my friends worked at ice cream places in high school. One time, my entire soccer team went into one of the places downtown after a team dinner and got free ice cream. We were helped by our buddy on the team who worked there in front of the line of paying customers.

However, all that changed when the guy put in cameras and started firing employees who were giving away mass amounts of ice cream.

[Embraer]

i ran one for a couple of years in college. portion control and loss control are the two biggest issues. in addition to ice cream (plus phosphates, sundaes, chocolate cokes, those kinds of things) it's a good idea to also branch into fountain pops. ...not just 5-6 flavors, but all of the flavors. we sold 32 ounce fountain drinks (and had a drink club deal). it was a big cash cow.

the cost of drink, ice, and 32 oz cup was around 9 cents. we sold them for 1.09 (and allowed people to add syrups/flavorings. we still netted $1 on each drink sold.

[Oh Haha]

Hey Bill,

Do you ever stop thinking about adventures?

I think it's a great idea and something I have thought about recently in addition to my own coffee house.


What town are you looking at?

Video cameras are great theft deterrents.

You can get systems that you can watch via the Internet as well.

[Bill Douglas]

An ice sream shop that also sells excellent coffees (lattes, mocachinos...) and muffins?

[masraum]

Marble Slab Creamery! Yum, no, I don't own/run one. If I did, I'd weigh 400#.

[porsche4life]

Marble slab is way too high IMHO. I can go to Braum's and get a mighty fine double dip for ~2bucks. Marble slab is way more.

[Bill Douglas]

There is an ice cream place here in Wellington that some German people make, well I guess, German style ice cream. There is a queue out the door during the day and into the night. People want this REALLY good ice cream. The other ice cream places have a few kids and their moms.

[azasadny]

We have a Stroh's ice cream shop in our downtown that has been here forever. It may be a good idea to visit and talk to the owner of the shop and see how he runs the place. I don't have the owner's name and contact info or I'd send it to you...

[on2wheels52]

There was one located in small strip mall my shop is in for a year or so. I think he was in the wrong line of work.
Jim

[willtel]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Marble slab is way too high IMHO. I can go to Braum's and get a mighty fine double dip for ~2bucks. Marble slab is way more.

I read an article about Marble Slab \ Cold Stone Creamery franchises a while ago, I'll see if I can dig it up. Basically entrepreneurs were loosing money and upset over profit margins (or the lack of) because they were forced to use specific and expensive ingredients purchased from approved vendors. There were also some inflated numbers presented to them before they got their business loans that the stores couldn't realistically live up to.

Found it: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121321718319265569-search.html?KEYWORDS=cold+stone+creamery&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month

[LeeH]

I've never owned one, but did look at one that was for sale. Two owner/partners thought they'd hire kids to run it and ended having to work it themselves, but were barely breaking even. This was an independent shop, not a franchise in a great location - near a lot of neighborhoods, next to a grocery store. They said if it didn't sell soon they were going to sell off the stuff.

The Cold Stone near us just closed. It was the only dedicated ice cream shop in our part of town - close to a large park and lots of families. When it opened I thought it would be a gold mine. Wrong!

We went to an interesting yogurt shop recently. It was a buffet format... pick up a cup (only large ones available), get your own yogurt, get your own topping, and put it all on the scale to have it weighed at the register. http://www.mojoyogurt.com/

Funky interior at Mojo was interesting...

[vash]

to truly have a successful business, you need to babysit it. especially at the beginning.

you will get robbed blind. i have worked at places similar, and the freebies were insane. i helped my parents at their place. someone needs to be there 100%

[Zeke]

I have a couple of thoughts. First, keep the interior and the exterior of the business rather universal in appeal. You want all types in there from grampa buying his little girl a cone to teenagers. The bikers, too, but don't cater to any particular crowd until you know when that will pay.

Second, do what fast food does, count your cups and cones every day. Even count your napkin packages. Weigh your tubs and divide the weight sold by the receipts. Count your toppings the same way. I'm not sure what formula you will be using, but reciepts that double your consumable purchases should make you some money.

Further, be sure to donate your time and goods to churches and charity. It doesn't have to be a lot, but one small serving at a church social once a year should bring about steady business. Pick someone like that once a month from Rotary and so on. There will be some good crossover, so chances are you will serve the same customer 3-4 times in a year. Hopefully, they will have you in mind more like once a week.

Lastly (maybe), be ready for the seasons in Michigan. I don't know what the sales projections will be for January, but I'd say limited hours are going to be the norm. Before holidays, have that kind of merchandise on hand, especially the ones in winter including Valentines.

OK, now lastly, run specials on hand packed take out on slow days in slow weeks. Get a data base using contests to get all the birthdays you can and mail out a greeting good for a buy one, get one free offer. Make sure you are subtle, but don't miss the opportunity to suggest you cater the party.

You see, you will have to know a to z of the ice cream business before you can even think about being an absentee or part time owner.

[wcc]

This is some good stuff! Keep 'em coming....

I was planning on cameras to be my eyes and ears when I can't be there. Hopefully, I get good honest employees but I think that a camera would help keep them honest.

Embraer - didn't plan on a fountain pop machine but sounds like a pretty good idea.

Bill Douglas - I was planning on coffee too. But nothing to fancy to start with. Just the basics.

milt - thanks for the ideas and tips. A lot of ice cream only places here close in the fall and open in the spring. I'd have to come up more to sell if it was to stay open in the winter.

[stomachmonkey]

Was a great wing place in my town. Only dedicated wing place as a matter of fact.

Always seemed to be a HS economics project though. Don't think I ever saw anyone working there that looked over 17.

They went out of business during football season, may even have been during the playoffs IIRC.

There is a Custard place in the same town.

They have an interesting pricing model.

Including tax everything comes out to an even dollar amount. Keeps the line moving quickly when they are busy.

They don't need to make coin change and you don't get the idiot digging in their pocket/purse trying to come up with exact change.

[strupgolf]

We went to a local soft serve place last night and they charged $1.70 for a small dish of ice cream. WTF, this is soft serve. The mark-up must be, and I've heard it is, great.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

They have an interesting pricing model.

Including tax everything comes out to an even dollar amount. Keeps the line moving quickly when they are busy.

They don't need to make coin change and you don't get the idiot digging in their pocket/purse trying to come up with exact change.

You might aim for this Idea man.

[blk911]

Bill,

I am a banker and have seen a number of Cold Stone and Marble Slabs financed, more than 75% failed. Just not enough business and these were in Texas where I am sure we would have a better "season" than would Michigan.

If you really want to do it, keep your debt as low as possible, follow the suggestions Milt had, this is an extremely low margin business with little room for waste, not to mention theft. Did I mention how hard it is to find honest help?

Best of luck.

[Zeke]

The rent goes on 24/7. I don't see how any business can survive closing for even a month. You have to use this business store front to sell holiday baskets or fruitcake. I don't care what. You have to keep the gross coming in.

They don't sell insurance policies that only go a few months of the year. You can't start and stop your phone, yellow pages and utilities each season.