Posted on Aug 07, 2017

At one time or another, we’ve all seen a wonderfully successful ice cream shop & thought to ourselves “I can see myself owning a successful shop”.

Ice cream parlors are a great destination for families, tourist, and ice cream enthusiasts. At first, the thought of opening a brand new business might seem daunting but having a small helpful guide may make it a bit easier for you.

6 Tips For Opening Your Own Shop

1) Planning & Imagining

The first step in the process of opening a new business is planning what type of frozen dessert business you want to run. There are many different types of frozen dessert  shops varying in ambiance, pricing, location, and target market. From a high-end frozen dessert shop offering all type of sweet confections to the classic mom and pop shop, you have to plan for what type of shop would the right fit for you and your target market.

2) Learn From Your Competitors

Before you start an ice cream shop, we recommend visiting a few in your area and learning from them. See what type of ice cream equipment, décor, and customer service they provide to the people that walk into their store. Don’t forget to include any other businesses that sell some type of ice cream (Restaurants and convenience stores that sell ice cream & frozen treats are still competing for the same customers you’re targeting).

While we don’t recommend you talking to other ice cream store owners in your area (though some might be friendly & might welcome the challenge of a competitor) you can always travel to another city, and introduce yourself to the owners of that store. You will be surprised by how much information business owners will share with you, because once upon a time they were in your shoes!

3) Location! Location! Location!

The best location for your frozen dessert business would be a place with lots of foot traffic, an easily accessible and visible location. Preferably close to schools, family restaurants, or children’s stores. These are the best locations for your shop because children and young people make up a considerable amount of our customer base.

4) Develop Your Menu

Develop your store’s unique offerings. Why should customers love your store? why should they rave about your newest ice cream flavor to friends & family? Give them those reasons but putting in a little time to develop new flavors & offer classic flavors as well.

5) Hire Motivated Employees

Customer service is a crucial part of making a good impression on new customers, no matter where you go. Good candidates would be energetic and responsible individuals that have great customer service skills and have a passion for ice cream. Keep in mind that as the owner you influence your staff. Being a positive and energetic person yourself is number one. If you can’t find a reason to smile at work, then your staff won’t either.

6) Invest In Quality Equipment

This is one of the most important aspects of your business. You need to figure out whether you prefer a water or air cooled ice cream machine. Some advantages of water-cooled machines are that they usually last longer and don’t heat up the area close to the machine. Air-cooled machines have no water waste and are more versatile machines over all.

Make sure to invest in quality ice cream or frozen dessert equipment (batch freezers, soft serve machines, dipping cabinets, blast freezers, etc). We have years of experience helping hundreds of business owners start their own ice cream operations if you need help finding a machine or ice cream store supplies. We will fit you with a machine that exceeds all of your customer’s needs.

Feel free to check out our where to start page, where we outline some of the important steps when deciding which machine is best for you. 

If you want high quality equipment at a low price, check out our machines or call us at: 

352-262-9627

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