8 Business Lessons for Ice Pop Entrepreneurs
The recent rise of gourmet ice pops across the world has lead the way to cash strapped entrepreneurs being able to bring their dreams and creative frozen deliciousness on a stick market. Long gone are the days of the Good Humor Ice Cream Trucks roaming around neighborhoods and schools looking for customers. Within a short period this trend has created a craze and completely revolutionized an industry. By combining technology like Twitter, Instagram and geo tagging with unique menus, snazzy carts and trucks and not to mention thousands of loyal followers these PopPreneurs are kicking the recessions butt.
Desperate times call for creative measures so here are 8 unique lessons that can be learned from the creativity spawned from veterans in the Ice Pop industry.
1. Don’t ask for permission ask for forgiveness. You have to make bold moves to get what you want as an entrepreneur especially when it comes to reaching customers and creating sales. In New York, the food trucks aren’t granted special parking spots. If they want good locations with high traffic they park at meters and usually rack up hundreds of dollars worth of tickets each month and they just chalk it up as “rent”
2. Completely rock out an old tried and true industry. We all grew up chasing the ice cream truck and getting a bomb pop that turned our mouth crazy flavors and were more then likely really bad for us. Sometimes starting a business is not about creating the next big thing, sometimes its just about breathing life into an existing industry and making people fall in love with it all over again.
3. Keep it Simple- The ice pop carts don’t t have the luxury of tons of storage space so they can create limitless menu offerings. A successful cart will focus on providing a few key menu items and preparing those items really well. Instead of trying to have a one stop shop for everyone focus on making sure your core flavors and catering services are amazing. Always have clutch flavors on your menu! Meaning safe flavors like a plain chocolate or strawberry. The eclectic flavors will draw people in, but remember vanilla is still the top selling flavor in the world for a reason.
4. Get personal with your customers- Most brick and mortar frozen dessert shops aren’t happy when the ice pop cart/truck arrives on their block for fear of them taking customers away. However many ice pop business owner/operators have mastered injecting their personality into their business. What restaurant can you walk into on any given day where you can have a personal conversation with the Chef/Owner? Even as you begin to grow your business you must still show customers that you are accessible.
5. Go Directly to your customer- Take a break from the computer or step out of your office and figure out where your customers really are. Find ways to interject your brand into their lives in other ways. The ice pop business has the luxury of not waiting for their customers to come to them but going directly to their customers whether it be a street festival or showing up at their office for an employee appreciation party.
6. Adapt quickly to change- If a customer complains that a menu item sucks most ice pop business owners can easily erase it off of their chalk board revamp it immediately and keep on slinging pops without having to waste time and money replacing expensive printed menus. Find ways to make your business flexible and nimble without having to go through multiple chains of command in order to ensure customer satisfaction.
7. Stop using traditional marketing- The biggest push for the ice pop revolution was adapting technology. Instead of putting an ad in the paper, or buying radio time most Poppreneurs use Twitter religiously to keep their customers/followers informed about their location and because they move so often this has proven to be cost effective and shows them immediate ROI. Living in such a mobile society it is important to look for new ways to reach your customers and choosing the right marketing mix that works for your brand.
8. When the traffic slows down make a move- Most businesses don’t have the nimbleness to just start up the engine and move locations when traffic is slow like carts and food trucks can but considering opening a pop-up-shop in a different high traffic area location for your brick and mortar business or web based business.
