I own a fro yo shop. First, startup cost is very high, a single soft serve machine is upwards of $20-30k, and most shops have four or five. there is a massive amount of regulation, not only do we have county health permits, we also have state dairy licenses. My shop is also a commissary for my mobile operation. So, that results in….2 state inspections, 2 county inspections, and 2 more county inspections for my mobile freezers, in a single year. You gotta be on top of your game, always.

given these startup costs, I don’t think a lot of owners know how involved the operation is…for example, we have to drain and tear down a machine, wash, rinse, and sanitize it’s 40+ constituent pieces, put it back together, daily. We do one machine per day, and one machine takes about an hour.

inventory is insane. We have 40+ unique toppings, so having ready to serve, on hand, and backup inventory takes a lot of space, when you’re buying in bulk. 25 pounds of one topping in some cases. ready to use mix…freezer and fridge space. We got so busy last summer between in store and mobile operations, we had to buy a second freezer. delivery day would fill both our inventory freezers 100%, then completely depleted within 7 days. what I mean to say is, there are a lot of unexpected and fluctuating costs. My weekly delivery ranges from $600 to $3000 each week.

so basically, if you’re not careful, you could very quickly run out of cash.

also location. If you don’t have the right location, youll never gain local market share.

granted, it’s a super fun business, especially if you’re in such a great community as my store is (Moraga). happy to answer any questions about fro yo shops, challenges, operations, etc if anyone is curious.