If you are thinking of opening an ice cream business I have some things for you to consider. I do not claim to be an expert although I have owned and operated an IC parlor for nearly 20 years.
The best thing about the ice cream business is that it is for the most part a happy business. What I mean by that is generally it is a happy experience when people go to an ice cream parlor. As a result of that, I have found it to be a very enjoyable business to be in.
12 OUNCES EQUALS
If you are fortunate enough to be in a location where you have lots of traffic and high customer volume, you can make good money. Other wise your creative advertising will have to drive customers to you.
As in any business there are start up costs. For example, my soft ice cream machine had to be replaced the beginning of this ice cream season. The cost for a new machine was around 22 thousand dollars. I was able to purchase a used machine for 15 thousand dollars. (You can find lots of deals on used equipment due to the large amount of parlors that go out of business). That was for one piece of equipment. The truth is if are seriously thinking of opening an ice cream business be prepared to make a large investment.
The profit margin is quite good especially on soft IC. For example if you sell a small soft serve cone for .25, the cone will cost you about 7cents and the ice cream, lets say five ounces, around 50 cents for a total of 57 cents, for a profit of .68. Remember unless you are planning to do all the serving yourself, you will have to pay someone to do it for you. There are of course many other expenses that will come out of that profit such as paying for your building and your equipment. It would take the sale of 8928 small cones to pay for my new used machine if I sold every cone my self and didn't have any other expenses. So you can see, high sales volume is a must.
If you are thinking of opening an ice cream business simply because you want to be in business for yourself but not necessarily the ice cream business, I encourage you to investigate online businesses. The start-up costs are minuscule in comparison to traditional businesses and the earning potential is far greater. Learning to market online is a process, if you are willing to put forth a persistent consistent effort you can definitely be successful.
Thinking of Opening an Ice Cream Business? 12 OUNCES EQUALS
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