Jan 14, 2005
Long Hours in the Ice Cream Business
By Jason Lexell

I'd usually arrive in the shop at 8:00 am. During the busy months I might stay until 11:00 pm and in the off season I'd be there until about 10:00 PM when I worked nights. In the beginning I truly lived there, but I loved it.

Then, once the infrastructure was in place I could take more time off. When I was getting started I needed to be there to build relationships with my customers and train the new employees.

If you make a strong effort early on, with longer hours, you'll earn a very good reputation with your customers and garner their repeat business. Customers like to see the owner in the shop so you'll need to be there on many of the busy evenings.