The National Ice Cream and Yogurt Retailers Association NICRA is held annually at different destinations throughout the USA. For more information, click here.
One of the most important elements of any business is advertising and marketing. Today more businesses fail because they were poorly marketed than for any other reason. In this article we will discuss the ins and outs of marketing an ice cream franchise. While we will try to focus on ice cream businesses that are franchised, many of these tips can be beneficial to anyone...
We continue to receive a large volume of visitors asking us, “Where can I find those marble counter tops used at Marbleslab or Coldstone Creamery?” For a while we were stumped also and several searches on the web turned up nothing. We are happy to say we’ve found a vendor that carries these and will happily consult with you about your needs and what marble...
The following recipe is outstanding for a very “peanutty” peanut butter sauce. Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sauce Recipe INGREDIENTS: * 2 cups peanut butter chips * 1/4 cup peanut butter (try the smuckers natural) * 1/3 cup milk (not skim) DIRECTIONS: 1. combine the ingredients together in a non-stick pan. 2. warm the ingredients on low. just enough to melt the peanut butter chips and...
Have you ever wondered what happens to the ice cream shops and parlors during the colder winter months? If you guessed that business falls off, you’d be right… well partially right anyway. During one of my interviews with Paul, a 10-year veteran of the ice cream franchise business, I asked him how seasonality impacted his business. Here’s what he had to say… Geography Matters “In...
Ice cream shops are busiest during the afternoon rush and later in the evenings. How can a successful ice cream shop franchise manage these traffic patterns to their advantage? There is always work to be done, however many people who run an ice cream shop franchise search for ways to keep the business steady through the morning hours to maximize profits leverage their location. Getting...
Portion control was very important. You’d need to instill that fact in your employees. It’s really a training issue and requires constant monitoring. Since you aren’t dealing with large profit margins every bit counts. If a small cone is supposed to weigh 3.25 ounces and you are giving away 4 ounces, to be generous, it can really add up. Most of the people working are...
Before getting involved in any business it’s important to have an idea what the day-to-day tasks are like. It’s often easy to see the end result of a clean efficient ice cream shop, but what about the nitty-gritty? What’s it really like? I asked Paul Duberstein who ran a soft serve ice cream shop in the Virginia Beach area for many years. Here is what...
Need A Creative Idea to Help Increase Your Profits? Having trouble keeping your employees busy during down time? Many ice cream shop owners wrestle with this issue on a daily basis. So, how can shop owners solve this problem? I recently spoke with Russ and he believes he has the solution. He is the owner of Cold Molds and he suggests that employees use his...
Franchise training will vary from one company to another. In most cases your franchise training will consist of a two week session at corporate headquarters. This initial two week training focuses on all aspects of running the business and performing operations. Your initial training will focus on both business and product training is likely to be intensive. If you have an upper level employee that...
