Do you love experimenting with the machine that you have at home and whipping up new ice cream creationMaybe you get a lot of positive feedback when you share some of your unique ice cream flavors with others that make you seriously consider opening your own shop. As the owner of an ice cream shop, you can share all your favorite flavors with customers and find out how the general public feels about your creations. Owning a shop does take some hard work though, which is why you’ll want to consider some things before taking out a loan or looking at rental spaces.
Competition in the Market
One thing you should really consider is the amount of competition in the market. There are many customers who prefer buying local and would gladly pay to buy ice cream from a local shop than a chain. Other customers might prefer hitting a franchise than stopping by a shop they never heard of before. You may face some competition from other shops in your city too like diners that offer desserts and fast food restaurants with ice cream on their menus.
Feeding a Crowd
Home ice cream makers generally make just enough ice cream for a few people. Even the largest of home machines typically cannot make more than enough ice cream for 10 people. When you own an ice cream shop though, you’ll enough on hand to feed the crowds that come through your doors. You might have dozens of people come through in an hour or less. You also need to think about the flavors you want to make and how much of each ice cream flavor to make. A blending machine and other types of equipment can help you make flavors with cookies and other ingredients.
Time Available
Running your own ice cream shop can take more time than you ever expected. Not only do you need to be there during your hours of operation, but you also need to arrive early to set up for the day and stay late to clean the building. You’ll also spend time cleaning up after customers and taking care of the grass and plants in front of or near your shop. Advertising can eat up a lot of time as well. When deciding whether to open your own ice cream shop, you’ll want to think about the time it takes as well as your local competition.
