italian Ice Business plan,has anyone used it?

[Rocky]

Hi,all I was wondering if anyone has used this plan http://www.italianicebusiness.com/
or the others like it? I need to get more agressive in my research and putting together my plan,I though this would give me more of a headstart,or am I just taking the easy way.

[JohnB1534]

It depends on how much you already know about business.
For 97 dollars what have you got to lose.

If you want some advice I can help a bit, not with ice but with business.
You need three things to start with, money,an idea and a location.
So you have your idea.
Locations are easy, they are there or they are not.
You are a consumer, if you find a location would you be a customer in that location, parking, ease of entry, good neighbourhood.
Look around for schools, sports fields, competition and customers in general.
Money, research how much your start up costs will be then add at-least 20%. Then realise 50% of new businesses fail, so decide how much money you are willing to lose before you quite.
Businesses that last often take 5 years to make money.
Remember if you don't have your line in the water you won't catch any fish.

[ICP]

I agree 100%.

Also you can get your local demographics information here:
http://www.census.gov/


It depends on how much you already know about business.
For 97 dollars what have you got to lose.

If you want some advice I can help a bit, not with ice but with business.
You need three things to start with, money,an idea and a location.
So you have your idea.
Locations are easy, they are there or they are not.
You are a consumer, if you find a location would you be a customer in that location, parking, ease of entry, good neighbourhood.
Look around for schools, sports fields, competition and customers in general.
Money, research how much your start up costs will be then add at-least 20%. Then realise 50% of new businesses fail, so decide how much money you are willing to lose before you quite.
Businesses that last often take 5 years to make money.
Remember if you don't have your line in the water you won't catch any fish.

[Rocky]

Thank you johnb an icp. We do have the idea and the location. As far as money thats another thing all together. To borrow or not to borrow? The other hard part is figuring out the initial start up costs of the business. We have been researching and have basic ideas on equipment and inventory. We are searching for a space between 600 and 1000 sq feet in the area we want the store. Of course we would like to keep the initial opening costs low but also want to do it right. We dont want to rush but the fear is somebody else will beat us with a similar idea to our area. I am going to purchase the italian Ice business plan as a little bit of a headstart.

[JohnB1534]

Like I said for 97 dollars you could end up with information that would take 4 or 5 years to learn or a useless piece of paper but whats 97 dollars in the scheme of things.
I've opened 6 businesses in my life time, 50% survival rate, the last 3 survived, guess that makes me a slow learner lol.

The latest business I opened was my Ice Cream store in 2002.
Didn't have a clue how to run it, just knew my wife would drive 30 miles to Dairy Queen, figured the worst I could do was save money on the gas she used.
I cheated a little, I bought a package for 25000, it included a twin head soft serve machine, topping bar, slush machine, small wares, enough product for start up and one day of training. No franchise or further fees.
The second year I added 8 flavours of hard Ice Cream, I now have all the soft products and 24 flavours of hard.
This year I'm adding nondairy soft serve, we'll see how that goes.
It took 4 years of working for nothing to make this business successful.
When I look back I can't believe it took 4 years, it takes time to change peoples habits.
Our growth rate has been 25% a year and shows no sign of slowing down.
I guess in short, if you've got the nerve jump in but don't expect miracles.

[Rocky]

Thats fantastic that all is working out for you. We definately have the nerve but of course with that comes the fear. We are very realistic as far as money and profit or should I say no profit goes. The major goal is to be able to pay our bills in the beginning that means all of our bills,the business and our home bills. My wife will keep her job,she will be the source of our insurance and 401k savings. I will keep my job as long as I can. The beauty of it is that I make my own hours and 80% of it can be done from a computer. But in my business things are tough now and the company I work for is not doing well. Eventually they will let me go or put me on commission or cut my salary. That is why we are moving forward on this business idea. It is something we have wanted to do for a long time but always had fear and never would step out of our comfort zone. We are ready to take the leap. Its been difficult to put together start up costs and monthly gross dollar needs. The biggest cost will be initial set up. We are deciding if we should take that money from savings and equity out of the house or if we should get a small business loan. We plan to start of small. We dont want to wait to long as the growth in our area is incredible and are worried someone else will come in with a similar idea. Our closest competition is 30 miles away with a similar concept. They are doing very,very well.