Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Mitchell.
Hi Erin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Our family has talked about having an ice cream business on the side for a long time! We’ve always said no one is unhappy when they get ice cream! The hold-up was we have 3 boys, and we wanted this to be a family affair. But an ice cream trailer would have to be hauled everywhere, which meant I would need to become an expert in hauling. Or a cargo van would not have seats in the back for our kids so we couldn’t do it as a family. So my brilliant husband said, “What about a golf cart” just over a year ago, and now here we are! Once our last boy went off to kindergarten, it was time, so we hit the ground running, I mean driving.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle was deciding on a vehicle. Once we decided the cart was our way to go, we had to change our plan slightly. Originally we wanted to do soft serve, but we could not do that with the required permits because of obvious space restrictions. However, switching to prepackaged novelties made it even easier! Order it, stock it, and go, any time we want! We had several permits and licenses to get along the way, and one city even told us we couldn’t go there since we were not an actual vehicle. Even though, according to the law, we are street-legal, it might take some time for cities to catch up to our brand-new ice cream trend!
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are so proud of our little ice cream cart! It’s the perfect Florida ice cream truck! It’s easy to drive alone or as a family. Salt life wind-blasted hair is the way to go. We do parties and events, too! My husband learned how to do balloon animals, while I learned face painting! So we do it all! One-stop party shop! Anyone local to Jacksonville knows the Duuuval chant, so we twisted that into our ice cream mascot cow saying “Mooval,” and then our name was born! Anyone in Jax picks it up right away. Anyone outside of Jax needs clarification! But we like it that way. It’s a definite conversation starter. Decking out our cart has been a blast! No one understands what an ice cream golf cart is! But when they see the jags colored cow print and the 3 cow treat logo printed all over our cart, we get nothing but compliments on how original and great our idea was! We stretched out of the box a bit but preferred it that way.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
Find out every single permit requirement you can find. Follow Facebook pages in your area of work. Ask the experts; most are willing to help you. Believe in yourself. Believe in your abilities and know your faults. Expect a slow start. Don’t get worked up by a big or small sales day right off the bat. It will likely be a slow-growing process, and that’s OK! Use social media. Use it, use it, use it! Even if you’re uncomfortable with it, your customers will be, and most of them will use it to find out about you.
Pricing:
- We only make about $1 off of each treat. We don’t expect to get rich. We want to enjoy the journey as we deliver smiles!
Contact Info:
- Website: moovalfrozentreats.square.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mooval_frozentreats/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moovalfrozentreats
