Shaved ice stand. Good idea?

[Jesda]

I bought a snow cone today which got me thinking.


As temps outside crept toward 100F, I happily paid $3.75 for a cup of ice and sugar that cost only 15-30 cents to produce. The fully enclosed mobile stand was air conditioned inside and located next to a Texas vehicle inspection station, so while my friend's Ram was being looked over I wandered 30 feet over to the stand.

http://www.1-800-shaved-ice.com/shaved- ... hines.html
http://www.essortment.com/career/shaved ... n_syqb.htm



Potential issues:
-Snow cone season in St Louis runs from May to September. April is rainy.
-Competition from frozen yogurt, a more popular treat here that's more expensive to produce.
-Labor. I'd rather pay someone to run it.

Positives:
-Portability
-Cheap variable costs (ice, syrup)
-Cheap fixed costs (cart, machine, location)


Thoughts? Anyone ever run or work at one of these when they were younger?


What got me thinking was a list posted at Jimmy Johns, "Warren Buffet’s 10 Rules for Getting Rich":
http://www.zimbio.com/Warren+Buffett/ar ... tting+Rich

Reinvest your profits. "Even a small sum can turn into great wealth," Schroeder writes, if you're disciplined to not touch your profits. Let the power of compound interest work for you.

The list seemed to be telling me, "You don't need a Boxster."

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Missouri would not be a good state for these. There's too much of a gap in the year where you would get virtually no business.

Here in AZ we have a few around town. There's actually one by my house that's fully enclosed and just plopped in the middle of a parking lot, like an espresso stand. It has VERY little business. Even though it's hot as heck, no one wants to get out of their car for a snow cone.

The only way I could see this doing well is in a high traffic area like outside of a shopping mall or something. Preferably outdoors.

[Poyzinous]

when I'm in mexico, I buy a little cup for 10 pesos. which is like 95 cents.
I couldn't pay $4 for a cup of frozen water particles and fruit flavored sugar syrup condimenting it. Unless it was big enough to take up half my freezer and I could just scoop out a cup every day for like a week. But I'd need a new freezer. There's too much ice cream and waffles and taxidermy projects in mine. Waffles would be good for sale. Would people buy waffles from a street vendor? I'm thinking now...

[frapjap]

I used to visit a name brand snow cone place inside the mall next to the fountains. It was this brand. http://snobiz.com/
However, the guy who owned the Snowbiz was awesome. He'd pour on so much sugary mix that it'd start to melt the ice. But to a young kid, that made it delicious.

But I also lived in Florida, so just about any time was snow cone time. I don't think you'll move quite as many with a short season unless you schedule yourself to be at fairs, car shows, crafts, shooting some guy in the butt with a blowgun dart meets, etc. I think you'd have to work to schedule your events very well and get a mode of transportation for that cart. But kicking your a** for a few months out of the year vs all year could work out for you.

If you want a really, really, REALLY good snow cone, visit this place in my hometown called Java Surf. The Java part is new. They used to sell only shaved ice and soda. No one that I have seen has duplicated their business and they really should. This place has been around for~20 years. The owner is from Hawaii and she only imports a hawaiian brand of flavors- and let me say, they rock! Another cool addition they did was hand-whipped heavy cream (whipped cream) that was ice cold. A big ol' scooop went on top of your shaved ice if you wanted it. It was an awesome contrasting texture. I would hope that they still do that.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/201 ... in-Brevard

[drksolest]

i love shaved ice!!! had one like this when i was little (blue on the left). I love eeeeet!!! I don't care for the snowballs though.

[Dattebayo]

The stand there was obviously upcharging for the cost of the AC'd cabin and the truck, cause here you can get one for about $1.50.

[Jesda]

But I'd need a new freezer. There's too much ice cream and waffles and taxidermy projects in mine.

[sultan]

get one of these ugly blue things (pic taken while driving)

looking at the snowie website those things are $$$$$

[Mr1der]

can you convert it to make a Slush Puppy?

<----used to have a little Snoopy shaved ice maker.

[ThatGuyRoger]

if you are going to sell snow cones, you should also sell the ninja turtle ice cream bar with the gumball eyes

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I don't know, but because of this thread, I walked over to my freezer, pulled out my carton of ice cream, and went to town on that bad boy.

Do it, and name it "Jesda's Cold Stuff". You like road trips anyway, just be like a migrant worker and drive to wherever you want to, selling stuff along the way.

[RCA]

Am I the only one who has has a shaved ice that didn't involve any machines or electricity?


The guys in carts have a huge chunk of ice in a cart cooler and they manually shave the ice with a palm device. It never touches their hands and tastes delish!

[Dattebayo]

Am I the only one who has has a shaved ice that didn't involve any machines or electricity?

Jesda was talking about a sno-cone, not shaved ice.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

No...pretty sure it's shaved ice we're talking about here.
Sno-cones are terrible. Too little surface area and you always end up with a puddle of flavoring at the bottom. Not to mention the crappy cups they usually serve it in.
Best Shaved ice I've had was in Hawaii served over gelato.

[Dattebayo]

No...pretty sure it's shaved ice we're talking about here.

I bought a snow cone today which got me thinking.

[RCA]

Dattebayo...

What's the difference?

[Otto.]

*braces for copious amounts of elitism from Dave*

[RCA]

No...pretty sure it's shaved ice we're talking about here.

I bought a snow cone today which got me thinking.

Dattebayo, you're wrong...

But you're both right.

[Dattebayo]

*braces for copious amounts of elitism from Dave*

Quit being a dingus, dingus.

Dattebayo, you're wrong...

But you're both right.

[S13_love]

There's too much of a gap in the year where you would get virtually no business.