How to Start an Ice Cream Cart Business?

Anytime is good to have ice cream. There is always a space for this frozen food even when you have had your fill. The temperatures are soaring so is the demand for chilled food of which ice cream bags more than a fair share of the demand.  The demand is so high that it is likely to be profitable even if you sell a premium brand in a premium store or even if you are going to sell ice creams on the cart. It is indeed one of the many street foods that are high on demand. This means there is immense scope for you to make money by following one of the modest methods of selling icecreams, that is by using the ice cream cart. However, like all businesses this also requires a lot of planning and strategies that are implemented properly, if you wish to taste success.

Icecream cart business

This refers to the use of carts to sell icecreams.  When you are about to start an ice cream cart business, you have got to understand the pros and cons involved in the business.

Advantage

1. It is a low-investment venture when compared to setting up an ice cream parlor

2. The profit margins are quite high

3. The minimal skill would suffice to run as well as manage the business

4. This is one of the street food types in which the wastage is quite minimal.

5. You would be able to earn income by virtue of renting the cart to wedding receptions and parties where it would be considered as a novel feature.

6. You can cater to parties, events, etc which means greater profits on a single day.

Disadvantage

There is hardly any business without a set of disadvantages as well. the con’s with regard to ice cream cart business includes

• A business that can be affected due to bad weather conditions, this would hold good especially in case of places where the weather isn’t ideal most of the times as well as where it rains often.

• The street food regulations that have been in practice and strictly enforced in a locality could affect trade in the location

• The supermarkets in the locality that offer multi-brand options and convenient payment options with membership discounts can also be another deterrent factor.

Nevertheless, you cannot discount the fact that the ice cream cart business would be successful if you are aware of and are able to work around the limitations.

The other steps

Having researched and understood the nitty gritty’s associated with the ice cream cart business, it is time to take steady steps to ensure that you succeed in the business. The steps include

Learning about legal requirements

Learning about the legal requirements that you should comply with the procedures involved in getting the licenses to run the ice cream cart business is the first step. The procedures, as well as the law, can be different for different states. You can visit the environmental services department or the health department as well as the business license department to learn about the regulations and how to apply and obtain the license.

This must, of course, follow the decision you make about where you want to set up the ice cream cart business. It is better to choose a location that that has been earmarked as an area meant for street food vending. The area pr locality you choose should also have good potential for selling icecreams.

Getting to know about the competition

 If you are an entrepreneur who is venturing in to the business for the first time, you should understand that for a business to be successful, it is not enough for you to set up the business at the right location. you have to be conscious of the competitors in the area too. learning about the other vendor including aspects such as

• The attitude of the vendor

• The flavors of ice cream he sells

• The toppings and sides that he offers with his icecreams

• Which flavor is the best seller

• Customer preference for the ice cream

• Pricing

• Marketing

and others.  This would go a long way for you to develop strategies and even make pricing decisions.

Planning

There is no doubt that a business that is run without a plan will not be successful for long. The ice cream cart business too has to be operated successfully by drawing up a plan with a clear direction. At the start, along with the marketing and sales strategy, you should focus on the budget as well. the budget, in turn, should focus not only on the investment on stock of icecreams operational costs, etc but it should also be developed with the incidental costs such as the cost of napkins, plastic containers for takehome packs, etc. insurance as well as the style of the cart and its price are the considerations when you sit for planning.

Branding

Though you might be selling multibrand ice creams, it can do a world of good if you can give a new name for the ice cream cart business you are about to undertake.  This would help you in the long run, even if you wish to expand the business to cover more than one locality within the city. Branding would help establish consistency and identity. This would be helpful in designing promotional materials and design and copywriting materials that fall in line with the same.

Accessibility

The USP of the ice cream cart business is that it keeps moving around. But, it should not make you lose customers. Therefore, you can consider using apps like facebook, twitter etc to let your customers know where they can find you.

Staying open always

This is one way to ensure customers of other competitors of yours too get to taste your icecreams. Staying open, especially on Sundays,  which is the most popular day as far as ice cream sales is concerned can be helpful to boost your business.

Though starting an ice cream cart business involves a lot of work, the profits are lucrative and you can be your own boss. Since you would be counting your money from day one, it would indeed be a morale booster for you to carry on on a daily basis.

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