Ice Cream Shop Business Tips

Opening an ice cream shop is a common dream. Most people with a sweet tooth have at one point or another stood in an ice cream shop, looked around at the delicious flavors and all the smiling faces, and thought, ‘I could do this.’

When opening a new ice cream shop it can feel overwhelming. There’s so much to do & so much to figure out before you start taking care of customers. although this isn’t a comprehensive list, these tips will steer you in the right direction.

TIP 1: Use Natural Ingredients To Make Your Products

Using natural flavors not only makes your product taste better, but it’s usually cheaper. For example: adding a half jar of real peanut butter to your base mix is much cheaper than using peanut butter flavoring & it gives your ice cream a better flavor. This can be used for chocolates, fruits, berries, coffees, etc. To create great flavors you will need to experiment  with different coco powders & crushed berries. It takes time to perfect, but your customers will be more loyal, healthier, and your product costs will go down. You’ll also be more free to come up with flavors of the week from seasonal or soon to expire items.

TIP 2: Pick a Great Location

Ice cream shops don’t have the same requirements as other restaurants. We have to pick a location of easily accessible and large numbers of customers are near the store. This is due to having a much smaller ticket amount than most restaurants. With a $5 average ticket it will take a lot of ice cream to pay the rent every month. We must do volume to succeed and planning that out from the beginning will be a big help.

TIP 3: Give Great Customer Service

Great customer service is probably the easiest thing on this list. We should never have customers leave our shop unsatisfied. A little good will goes a long way with customers and they easily have other dessert choices so we should show the appreciation they deserve when they choose our store. Our bistro was the number one spot in our town for years because we went out of our way to make customers feel welcome and appreciated.

TIP 4: Keep Your Shop and Machines Clean

Cleanliness & customer service go hand in hand. When a customer walks into your store, they don’t know how many customers have stoped by or if there was a huge line out the door. All customer knows is that the garbage cans are over flowing, tables are dirty and the ice cream cases are all messy. As soon as a rush is over, it’s important to clean up as soon as possible to make the best impression on customers.

TIP 5: Buy Used Ice Cream Machines

When setting up your new shop startup costs can get out of hand quickly. Choosing quality used machines rather than new will save you at least 50% on your equipment budget. I’m not talking about old used machines, but rather fairly new machines built within the last 5 years. Yogurt and Ice Cream machines are built to last +30 years. If you buy well taken care of used machines you will be able to use it for a long time & save more than half the money. Less Costs = More Profitability.

Can You Let Go of The Reigns?

When you’re first starting out, you’re going to want to take care of everything yourself. But even the most savvy and hardworking of business owners can’t be all things at once. Eventually, you’re going to burn out, and you’ll need to rely on other people to help lighten the load. It’s your dream to open your own business and be your own boss – but don’t forget that you might also end up being the boss to someone else.

Location, Location, Location

You might think a downtown, street-facing location is the best option for an ice cream shop. Central location, lots of foot traffic, tons of people to stop in after a glance in your window. Don’t forget – if you’re located right downtown, you’ll be paying year round downtown rent, when you might not be getting year round customers. It might be worth researching areas that get increased footfall in the summer (think: parks, beach, lakeside, riverside) but maybe offers a cheaper commercial rate due to less traffic in the winter.

If you really want to open up an ice cream shop, these are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself. Starting an ice cream business might be your lifelong dream, but you don’t want to rush into things – especially if you’ll be selling frozen desserts. There’s a lot you need to learn about the business before opening an ice cream shop, but if you’re determined and ready to do your research, there’s nothing that can stand in your way!

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