Maggie Moos Ice Cream Franchisee: An 18-Year Old
Think you don’t have time to operate an ice cream franchise? I just read a story about an 18-year old girl who will be operating a Maggie Moos franchise while going to college full time.
Now how’s that for ambition?
She chose the franchise over a $10,000 scholarship after winning a contest on writing a business plan sponsored by Maggie Moo’s and Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda.
The articles explains:
James Davis, director of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Notre Dame and an associate professor of business, says running a business without a college education would be a struggle for any 18-year-old. “There’s a real difference between writing a plan and executing a plan,” says Davis, who would have chosen the scholarship. “If she receives the appropriate mentoring … and almost a manager managing her, she might be OK.”
Maggie Moo’s will waive the $30,000 franchise fee and send her to Moo University, a two-week course on everything ice cream.
She must then have Maggie Moo’s approve her store’s location. The company will expect her to hire and train a staff, manage the store and lead local marketing projects.
“Her obligations will be the very same as any other Maggie Moo’s franchisee,” says Maggie Moo’s senior vice president of brand marketing Debbie Benedek, who managed the contest.
Jim McCarren, who owns two franchises in Annapolis, Md., and helped judge the contest, says Coleman has her work cut out for her. The typical franchisee works 40 to 50 hours a week, he says.
McCarren estimates that she could make $50,000 to $60,000 a year. If her business really takes off, she could earn as much as $100,000.
She will have the option of hiring someone to take over many of her duties, and she can sell the franchise if she wants.