What's Involved in
running a Shaved Ice Business the FlavorSnow way?
When you use the
complete FlavorSnow System™, you become the producer of your two
most basic raw materials - syrup and ice.
That's the secret! The system's easy and the most cost
effective method of operating a retail Shaved Ice
business.
This little
secret, combined with the premium quality equipment
and products we offer, makes it hard for anyone to compete
with your Shaved Ice product in all the most important areas
- quality, cost of goods sold and production output speed.
We provide all the instructions on syrup and ice
production. We will also gladly provide tips and
advise that will help you run your business as easily and
cost efficiently as
possible.
Click on all the
topics below for more helpful information about "What's
Involved" in starting and operating you very own
profitable Shaved ice business...
Following the FlavorSnow
System™ of making your own syrups, you'll prepare all syrups in advance
and make sure you have all the necessary supplies you’ll
need for the day. The better you’re setup the easier the
day will be. Proper setup will also enable you to serve customers
at a faster pace and therefore increase your daily sales volume.
During peak season most stands open for business in the late
morning around 10 or 11:00am and close when customer flow
decreases significantly around 9:00 or 10:00pm.
Your location
will be the most important factor in determining business
hours. When you’re ready to open, you and/or your
employees will shave snow directly into a cup, dispense the
desired flavored syrup and serve to your customers on a per
order basis.
Be sure to click
on all the bookmarks above for more detailed info on the "What's Involved?"
page. Also see the "FlavorSnow
FAQ's" page for answers to our most common
questions.
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How to Start Your Shaved
Ice Business:
Start by
scouting out a location. Then contact the proper local and state government
agencies to register your business and obtain the required permits you will need to
sell a food product.
After that's done, equip your location (or
mobile unit) with all the
necessary items to you’ll need to operate like a shaver,
block ice maker, freezer, flavors and supplies.
NOTE: If you choose to open without purchasing
a block ice
maker you should contact local icehouses and verify that
they can supply you with solid block ice. A 12-1/2 to 15 Lb
block of ice from a Sno-Block™ ice block making machine
will produce between 20 and 30 small eight-ounce servings of
shaved ice.
The total amount of servings you’ll get from a
block will depend on how high you pile the snow above the
rim of the cup and how much snow is wasted. A lighter
"scored" block from an icehouse will usually yield
less because of its smaller size and lower weight.
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Business
Locations:
Without a doubt the most
important issue is your location. It has to be good to
achieve high sales volume.
Permanent Locations:
By far the most successful outlets in the New Orleans
area are small stationary buildings. Many of these
"Snowball Stands", as we call them here, are in
movable (or portable) type buildings built on skids no
larger than 10 x 20 feet in size - usually smaller - fixed in place with
pluming and electrical services provided by local utility
companies. These buildings are excellent because if for some
reason the location doesn’t pan out as expected you can
"disconnect" and move to a better location.
Nearly all operations serve customers standing outside
through a serving window. The nature of the product makes it
difficult to serve inside, although there are
exceptions. In
fact, New Orleans’ most famous snowball stand, Hansen’s
Sno Bliz, is a very successful indoor operation and has
been for around 66 years.
However, we highly recommend the standard
outside serving configuration mainly because of reduced
clean up and somewhat less stringent health code
requirements.
If you do decide on a stationary location, choose
a highly visible one with convenient access to commuters on
their way home. We also feel the added expense of a
"Drive-Thru" type outlet is well worth the
additional expense.
Mobile Setups:
Mobile
units offer more flexibility and allow you to
"go where the crowds are". Carnivals, fairs and
festivals, as well as special events such as, parades, air
shows and rodeos (or any public event for that matter) are all
great at providing a captive consumer base for your
products. Concession
trailers, carts and step vans are ideal
for use as mobile units.
While special event vendor fees can
be high, operational overhead is usually lower since you
will not have to pay rent on a year round basis. Either an
established route or a semi permanent location in one of
these mobile units can be very profitable.
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Here's some great ideas on where to
put your operation whether permanent or mobile.
Commercial
-
Shopping Centers
-
Super Markets
-
Department Stores
-
Flea Markets
-
Schools
-
Day Care
Centers
-
Fairs & Festivals
Tourist
-
Beaches
-
Water Parks
-
Campgrounds
-
Historical Landmarks
-
Travel Terminals
Recreational
-
Ballparks
-
Playgrounds
-
Amusement Parks
-
Public Pools
-
Zoos
Residential
- On main roads leading to:
-
Cities
-
Suburbs
-
Sub-divisions
-
Municipal Parks
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Sales
Unit Layout & Appearance:
LAYOUT:
Your sales unit’s layout is important. Unless
you have a very small work area, the best place for your shaver is directly to
the left of the serving window. This
is whether you have a permanent or mobile operation.
This
"shaver to the left" setup allows the easiest flow of operation during
busy periods and lets the customers actually see their serving being custom
made. It also alleviates the need
for you or your employees to cross your bodies with every cup of snow that’s
shaved.
Place your syrups either to the right or in back of the serving window with the
more popular flavors as close as possible.
Your cups or serving containers should be situated close to the shaver
operator.
Additional equipment and
supplies can be placed in any convenient out of the way place in the stand.
Additional equipment can include an ice block maker, refrigerator/freezer
and syrup mixing and storage containers
APPEARANCE:
It’s best to have your outlet brightly painted and well decorated.
Signage is especially important in promoting your business. Remember
that this is a COLORFUL
business and you want it to stand out and grab that impulse buyer.
It should also be well lit at night.
This makes your customers feel safe and helps you attract many more
customers after sundown after the temperature drops.
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Personnel:
The
typical stand will employ two people at or slightly above minimum wage, one to
operate the shaver, the other to dispense the syrups and collect the money.
Higher volume operations can keep four or more employees busy at peak
times.
In very high volume
situations, such as fairs and festivals, it’s wise to have at least one backup
support person per machine to set up for both your machine operator and customer
service personnel.
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Marketing:
What To Call Your Product:
Snowballs,
Sno Cones and Shaved (or Shave) Ice are all terms currently used to describe
your finished product.
SNOWBALL
- and all its variant spellings (i.e. Snow-Ball, Snoball, Sno-Ball, etc.) is a
regional generic term that’s been used in the South for generations.
Here in New Orleans, a “Snowball” has the great reputation of being a
soft, fluffy and delicious tasting summertime treat.
SHAVED
ICE
- is an excellent generic term because it truly describes your product. It can
also be easily incorporated into the name of your business regardless of where
you’re located.
Example: John Doe's "Real
Shaved Ice" Snowballs. NOTE:
In Hawaii the term is “Shave Ice”, without the “d” in Shaved.
SNOW
CONE
- Unfortunately (in most areas), the
term snow-cone has the unfortunate reputation of being crunchy and bland tasting.
Whatever
you choose to call your product, we feel your business will benefit by using the
term “Shaved Ice” in addition to any traditional regional term, either in
the name of your business and/or the description of your product.
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Advertising:
Your
best advertisement will come in the form of “word of mouth” referrals from
satisfied customers. A promotional
give away of a small serving to curious customers for the first day or so should
quicken the process.
For
the first few weeks you could pass out flyers describing your product, prices
and give directions to your stand. Consumers
in new markets tend to be uninformed about the quality of the product you have
to offer.
Be sure to emphasize the
fact that your product is true "powdery" shaved snow that’s
deliciously flavored, and not the crunchy, bland tasting products they may have
been exposed to in the past.
As
stated above, lots of signage is great and small advertisements in daily
or weekly newspapers will help get the word out as well.
Even short, inexpensive radio commercials have also been used in new
markets with success.
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Support,
Advice & Tips:
FlavorSnow
Mfg. Co.™
has supplied the gourmet Shaved Ice industry since 1932.
The company owners are available to explain anything not covered in this
brief overview of “What’s Involved” in operating a successful retail
Shaved Ice business.
We encourage all of our customers to ask any question they
feel is necessary to make their business flourish.
We've known for over 83 years that your success means our success.
Give FlavorSnow™
a call at (972) 832-1274 at your convenience for
advice – you’ll be glad you did!
Contact FlavorSnow Home
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Copyright
© 1995-2019 FlavorSnow Mfg. Co.™ All rights reserved.
Revised
March 22, 2019
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