Ice Cream Diaries – Episode 2
Hello again. Time for another exciting
episode of that new reality email ‘Ice Cream Diaries’. I’m just into week three of my small
business adventure, and things are moving right along. I’ve managed to survive my first crisis –
running out of candy corn, two weeks before Halloween! Someone’s head will roll for that one. No wait, I’m the only head. Well, that’s not entirely true. I inherited one employee, Betty, who I’m sure will be a character in a story or two sometime down the
road. She’s nice, very friendly with
customers, and knows the difference between ‘Air Heads’ and ‘Fun Dips’
candy. What more do you need in your
candy store staff. But I jump
ahead. I’ve still got to catch you
up. At the risk of boring you to tears,
let me try to bring you up-to-date on all the fun that led up to the actual
purchase of Sunrise Sweeties. So let’s
get to it, shall we.
When we ended last time, I had just
found the location. Here’s how the
groundwork for the purchase of the business played out. The couple of months between finding the
right location and actually becoming a business owner were definitely
hectic. Before I get to that, I had
promised to tell you how I ended up in the quaint little hamlet of Easthampton. As is usually the case, it’s all about the
network. I came out here to central MA a
few months ago to visit an old Lucent buddy of mine,
Leslie, at her B&B. She owns a cool
B&B with a full restaurant/bar in Worthington,
MA.
(which is for sale by the way). Better than
that, she has 2 great golden retrievers (which are not). So we’re sitting in her backyard one night
in late July, drinking red wine around a fire roaring in a big belly chimney,
and we get to talking about the old glory days, life, careers, and pondering
such questions as which would you rather be, a midget or a dwarf. Somewhere during that conversation I mention
that I’m in the market for an ice cream shop.
Upon which, she tells me about a baker supplier/friend who recently
started an ice cream/candy shop but wanted out. So the next day on my way home, I stopped in
to meet Carl the owner/baker and overworked candy-maker. Sorry about the rhyme, my bad. He gives me a quick tour. The place had me at hello. I just knew it was ‘the one’. It had that old-fashioned look that exactly
matched what I’d imagined. Hardwood
floors, 20 foot high tin ceilings, big windows in the front, soda fountain
barstools, the works. This place was
sweet. (my
first, and probably not the last candy store pun. Get used to it.) And the price was definitely right. The only unknown was the location and the
town. I had my Dad meet me up there a
few days later to get his professional opinion (I like to call it DD, Dad
Diligence). He liked it. I went back again with my drinking buddy
Mark (you may remember him as my burping Australia
travel buddy) to, as he called it, ‘give that puppy a test drive’. We spent a night on the town to help me
determine if it would be a cool place to live.
And to get a feel for the local color and culture. Everyone we talked with gushed about how
much Easthampton, especially
downtown, has revived over the past few years.
Sounded like ‘right place, right time’ to me. And the other good news was the rent was
about one decimal point to the left of the Boston
area locations I’d scouted. My gut told
me if this ice cream business thing was going to happen, this was the
spot. I made an offer, and with one
small counter, my career began its turn down a very different track.
Next began the business prep
work. Carl’s lawyer drafted a P&S,
and I found a lawyer to review it. The
only real concern was the non-compete stuff.
Seems he didn’t want me taking business from his bakery (located next
door by the way) before it closes at 3 pm
every day. And I needed to be sure he
couldn’t sell ice cream or candy in his place.
So if ice cream and Sour Patch Kids are your idea of the perfect lunch,
I’ve got you covered. I never said I
was buying a health food store! Other
prep work included creative tasks like choosing a name. That turned out to be one of the toughest
jobs. For a while it was ‘Father and
Sundaes’, then ‘Ingram’s Ice Cream’, then ‘Scoops n’ Sweets’, and even dorkier
ones (if you can believe it). After
finally whittling it down to two, Ingram’s and Mt. Tom’s, I poled my expert
consulting team of Amy (my marketing pro friend) and Elspeth (my wicked creative
sister-in-law) to help me make the craftiest marketing decision. Mt. Tom’s won. It sounds less formal, has a good ring to it,
offers great logo potential (by the way, I just got the final logo design back
from the graphic artist, I included it in the photos if you follow the link
below), and will hopefully be accepted by the locals. Next on tap was getting a bank loan. I could describe that in painful detail but I
won’t bore you more than you already are.
Speaking of boring, it’s amazing how much insurance I have in my life
now. Before taking over the business, I
had to get liability insurance (bet you don’t know anyone who’s got insurance
for ‘spoilage’), worker’s comp (my insurance buddy corrected me that it’s not
‘workman’s comp’), term life insurance (to cover the bank loan in case I die
before it gets paid), and health insurance.
Wow. And just to round out the
boring prep stuff, I also decided to go the corporation route. I filed my ‘articles of organization’
paperwork and am now president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary of Mt.
Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream, Inc. Now I just gotta figure out all these new
forms in my new life…1128, 2553, 941…
And I now even have an EIN to call my own. Are you still awake? Actually, the whole process of figuring out
what I had to do was really interesting and, at times, challenging. The funner part
(sorry about the grammar Mom) has been brainstorming about what Mt.
Tom’s will look and feel like. The signature dish, flavors, candy, creative
marketing, etc. And how to ‘funk up’ the
place without losing the cool old-fashioned nostalgic look and feel. Stay tuned to see how that goes. And by the way, I am always open to ideas…
Meanwhile, Dad began the search for ice cream making
equipment. On the list (and in the
budget) are a batch freezer (the contraption that makes the ice cream), a blast
freezer (to ‘fast freeze’ the ice cream after you first make it), a walk-in
refrigerator to store the ingredients, a chocolate cooker (I think you can
figure out what that does), and a dipping cabinet to hold the ice cream. With this treasure hunt, Dad was officially
brought out of retirement. He’s taken
me to a few vendors to see the prospective equipment. It’s been cool to see Dad put on his game
face and talk ice cream tech lingo with the reps. I sit next to him and pretended to understand
everything by nodding at what I think are the appropriate times and try not to
be too obvious as I take notes like ‘ask dad what overrun means’. On the drive home, I pepper Dad with
questions. I also visited other ice
cream shops, taking notes on layout, pricing, etc. and getting ideas for my new
place. I sat with a few owners to get
their insights on ice cream. Slowly, I
work my way up the learning curve.
Speaking of learning curve, next week I go to my first ice
cream conference. How wacky is
that. Technically, a lot of what I’m
doing is similar to my old career.
Supply Chain stuff – setting up inventory, ordering parts, creating
processes. But instead of talking
integrated circuits, lasers, and wavelengths, I’m talking chocolate Gummi bears and raspberry cordials. And I get ‘The Candy Chronicle’ from the
Jelly Belly Candy Company instead of ‘Optical Components Monthly’ from the
IEEE. Today, I’m meeting with Tamara, a
local chocolate maker (a chocolatier?) who, like any good salesperson, is
bringing samples. In this case, handmade
chocolate covered cherries. God, I hate
those darn vendor meetings! Anyway,
aside from the occasional cash flow anxiety, I’m having a lot of fun with it so
far. Happy to have
that first day in retail under my belt.
Starting to get the hang of scooping ice cream and
running the cash register.
Construction on the new ice cream kitchen is underway. After 3 long days with my carpenter Uncle
Jim, which included three hours in Home Depot speaking of adventures, the back
kitchen is just a few days away from being ready for the equipment. Shouldn’t be long before
the ice cream making can begin.
I’m starting to get to know the regular customers. A kid (reminded me of that tough kid in
‘Stand by Me’) came in the other day and just sat at the counter. It took him a few minutes to realize I
wouldn’t automatically know he always gets a root beer float. Like the regular at Joe’s Bar who has a
scotch on-the-rocks sitting in front of him before he even gets his coat
off. I think I’m going to like this
gig.
Next time I’ll tell you how the ice cream conference in Woodstock,
Vt. went and share a few funny stories from
my first month behind the counter.
In the meantime, I dropped a few photos into the website
below so you can actually see what Mt.
Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream looks like.
Hope you have (or had) a great weekend.
Go Pats!
Have a look. Best
bet is to hit ‘View Slide Show’…
http://members19.clubphoto.com/jim659947/1716670/guest.phtml
Your buddy,
Jim