Anyone run an ice cream stand???

Hi All,
Has anyone here had experience in running their own ice cream stand?

My first job at 16 was working the window and inside parlor area. Then I moved onto shift supervisor where I got to learn some ins and outs of the business and how to deal with managing teenage help. Needless to say I've seen everything and met every kind of person you could possibly meet in my 6 years working there. My main goal is to invest in real estate, but I've always had a passion for the ice cream biz. I don't know what it is, but I just enjoyed it and think I could run it as a business even though I've been away from it for 15 years.

If you've run your own stand how did it go?

Any advice you could give someone like me?

Thanks!

I don't have any experience, but I have friends that know people who own some. If you have any specific questions I could definitely try to get the questions passed along.

I was always interested in an ice cream stand as well so I look forward to hearing whats said here. There are none near us right now in our area.

Did you ever see those free standing cone buildings they are too cool! tiny but cool!

ice cream stands and since moving south Id love to have a pizza place also. not just pizza tho. cheesesteaks hoagies real good philly pizza. I could go on and on. only problem is Idk how to make pizza lol! Id try to get the 2shops I love from back home to freeze and ship me sauce!
they so dont know what good pizza is here in georgia blah... damn now im hungry for pizza and soft serve ice cream!

My husband and I actually have been discussing what kinds of businesses we may be interested in getting into(once we have excess capital) the thought we had was to put an ice cream stand as a seperate business inside another shop/restraunt(pet store or pizza place) of some sort to increase profits for the building. add a large enuff room for the equipment add a walk up window and your on your way! also since we would probably be delivering(no good delivery food in my area at all) we could deliver ice cream with the pizza and vice versa!

where do you live and how many other ice cream places are in or near your immediate area?(or where you want your store)

Hi Carrie,
The thing that makes ice cream stands and pizza shops so good is that you can freely combine them into one business or just operate them as standalones. I used to live in upstate NY and I worked at one that was a standalone, but on the same property as a hot dog stand. So, it was like a one stop shop - people would eat their hot dogs and then get dessert. We made tons of money in the summertime. It wasn't uncommon to do $5,000 days at the ice cream stand. We even beat the hot dog stand's daily revenue a few times, which was damn hard to do. When I started there, we made our own ice cream using recipes that the owner's family created. It was awesome. We sold upwards of 60 flavors. Over time, the management watered down the offerings until we ended up having only about 30 flavors, and then eventually stopped making all together and purchased from a local ice cream supplier. In a way it saved on costs and streamlined things, but I think it hurt the business. When you start big and then scale down you alienate your regular customers. But if you start small and then expand your offerings you grow the business because you can attract more customers.

If I had the choice I'd probably buy the place that I worked at before and just lease the building, as it would obviously remain on the hot dog stand's property. If I had to go another route I'd probably buy an existing business and then work to improve it.