I'm not getting any younger in a dead end job. I love ice cream, who doesnt?!, and was thinking about opening a home made ice cream parlor.

Any one in the food industry that can shed some light on what I may be facing? Permits, inspections, what else? I've never had a business or really have anyone in the family that has. Would I just be pissing into the wind or do i have a viable idea?

Thank you in advance.

You need a minimum of a thousand people daily walking past your store. I heard that 20 years ago from a Haagen Dazs owner, FWIW.

seems like an odd choice. why ice cream?

You need someone to do a business plan and crunch the numbers

Hmm...

I'm looking in a small town that has a decent tavern/restaurant, a pizza shop that delivers, a gas station, and a small convenience store. The kicker is the home made ice cream. There isn't a shop around for 20 miles that does that.

Hopefully member Aglifter will stop by.

He owns an ice cream shop (or several).

All I am about to say is just my own opinion that's is formed while owning 2 business.

Your local DHEC will have all the rules and regulations for your state, city and county.
Having a great idea is only the beginning, the execution of the said idea is probably even more important.

You have to look at your competition and determine why people would choose to come to you vs competition.
Start up funds, it will cost more than you think it will.
You have to be ready to work very very hard if you want your business to secede, you are your most dedicated and hardest working employee. You will make it or break it.
You will have to have funds to support yourself for at least 6 months but more like 1 year. It takes time for business to grow into profitability.

I know someone who owns an ice cream store and he has done a great job at coming up with or replicating great ice creams. His shop is very successful, but he came to me because he was not making much profit despite his business.

I do private investigations as a side gig to my regular job and installed hidden cameras and caught every one of his employees stealing close to $2K in cash per month combined.

So my recommendation would be to ensure you have surveillance cameras as you will most likely be hiring young people for an ice cream store.

Find a job in that business. Work there 6 months, a year, etc. You will learn a bunch of valuable insights and experience, what the problems are, what the solutions are, what the market is like.

quote:

Originally posted by petr:
Hmm...

I'm looking in a small town that has a decent tavern/restaurant, a pizza shop that delivers, a gas station, and a small convenience store. The kicker is the home made ice cream. There isn't a shop around for 20 miles that does that.

Maybe there is a reason. Small town in an area where ice cream is a seasonal business.

Plus everything JAllen said. You maybe have to find a similar business if your area doesn't have that exact one but you'll get the idea.

Get a food truck and set up at fairs, car shows, flea markets, any place a crowd gathers. Concession type, sell the sizzle stuff.

Years ago I knew a guy that made fudge at flea markets. Big vats made on site with skimpy dressed hot chicks stirring and selling. Another friend put his kids through college with candy apple booths at the Kentucky State Fair. Guy right now does brisket burritos. Pulls his grill trailer and the smoke of the bbq is all the advertising he needs but his trademark is a big Texas flag. Parks at different regular locations during the week and often parks near the entrance when they have a Ramada Hurstbourne gun show. All cash.

I ran a roadside fruit market/garden center from 1974 through 1996 and still own the dirt but another guy gets the fun of running the retail. Triple net money by mail beats hell out of 4 am starts and 15 hour days.

Start small.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Find a job in that business. Work there 6 months, a year, etc. You will learn a bunch of valuable insights and experience, what the problems are, what the solutions are, what the market is like.

Best business advice ever. For real.

I know a co-worker who did this. Worked for a couple of coffee shops before opening her own independent coffee shop. I think she's crazy but it's her life. She's a food scientist. Either she worked for minimum or even no pay.

But doing it this way is the lowest cost way to get the knowledge you need to successfully run the business you want.

Since you live in PA, I can help you out with some of the permitting issues for food safety. You will need to contact your local health department (County or City) and apply for a license to operate a food facility. If there isn't a local health department in your jurisdiction, the PDA (Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture) will handle the licensing. Most agencies will provide you with the information that you will need to get your food license. Inspectors from the health department or PDA will visit your facility annually to conduct food safety inspections. Here is a list of local health departments:

http://www.agriculture.pa.gov/...th%20Departments.pdf

In addition, you will need to contact the PDA to obtain a frozen dessert license for your ice cream machine or machines. Once you start operating the machines, you will need to have them tested monthly by an approved laboratory. Here is the PDA website for frozen dessert:

http://www.agriculture.pa.gov/...t/Pages/default.aspx

Thank y'all for the help. I will have to look deeper into this idea and make sure all my ducks are in a row.

I think it's a bad idea unless you are on the boardwalk of a popular beach town or some other high foot traffic family-oriented tourist place.

Just google the list of ice cream parlor chains and you will see who you are up against, and probably not many of the stores are making a killing.

Build a model of your business on the computer, excel spread sheets are excellent for this.

Try various scenarios, high volume, low volume, help costs, lease costs, advertising, etc.

You say you can’t model it? This probably means you don’t understand the business well enough.

I cannot help you but just want to say if it is in your heart to do it. Than do it. I am so thankful for all those who Produce and contribute in the private sector vs those who only drain the system. And I am not just talking about the welfare system.

I sincerely wish you the very best and much success if you decide to pursue.

Whenever I get a wild ass idea to start a business, I start with the profitability of one sale.

If you sell a waffle cone for $3.00. How much did it cost to actually make the one cone and ice cream? Lets say $1.00. That gives your $2.00 of profit per cone. Now, how much of that $2.00 is going to cover your rent, equipment, payroll, electric, phone, workers comp, insurance, etc. Do the math, how much are all of the business expenses in a month? Guess $10k. That means you have to sell 5,000 waffle cones before you really start making money. 5,000 waffle cones divided by 30 days in a month = 167 waffle cones per day. Can you make that work?

Jallens on fire in this thread. I startes my own branding company this year, im a month away from "profitable". Profitable means all expenses but doesnt include time. I have not paid myself in 5 months, part of the plan.

I would hold off if i were you. First thing, summer is neaely here, itll take a month or more to get equipment which means you ll get maybe 3 good months of sales before no one visits you since its cold as fook in PA.

You also need to consider economies of scale. The more product you buy the cheaper it becomes. My folks owned a restaurant for 10 years and I know quite a few who failed opening thiers. Youre doing the same except with a seasonal business. Its a tough biz.

If i were you id take jallens advice about working an ice cream shop and also start trying to sell from my home to friends and fam. I would also look at exoanding to hotdogs or something easy that sells ice cream.

Good advice on product. U sell a cone for 5 bucks, how many cones ya gotta sell a day to keep the lights on and pay staff?

I like the idea of getting a job in the field that you want to work in.

I'll add that selling stuff on eBay is a low risk way to develop business skills. I sold some old toys on eBay and learned a lot. The lessons came in handy in my later pursuits.

V.