Our story and involvement with Snowie is simple but one that many folks might be able to relate to. I believe in work and providing for my family. As a police officer, my wage is set and based on years of service; however, our department and city went through a rough patch where no one received raises for more than six years. As a result, I attempted to work overtime shifts and pick up extra jobs that took me away from my family. Attempting to generate funds by selling things on Ebay or Craigslist was another option until our dog looked at us and wondered if we were going to sell him. Ha! ha!
A friend of mine owns a few Snowie buildings and has had great success. I began to inquire how he got into selling shaved ice and what was required to start this type of small business. He made it sound incredibly easy so I began to do some research on my own and learned that there are many shaved ice/snow cone businesses around the country. Although initially many companies looked promising their price to get started seemed steeper than I thought it should be to get started. After reviewing several options I was drawn to Snowie due to the following factors: attractive buildings, great tasting flavors, quality ice shaver, and the fact that no annual royalties were charged, and the proven business plan my friend had laid out. Another huge help were the videos that I could view on Snowie’s website.
We have two teenage children that will soon need a job to earn money in order to save for college and other expenses such as the latest and greatest shoes, etc. As a police officer, I am concerned about where my children work and with whom. My wife and I discussed the idea of starting a family business. We could own a Snowie building and begin selling shaved ice at various events together as a family. We believed this would be a great opportunity for us to be together, and we could teach our children how to interact with customers, handle money, problem solve, and how to run a small business.
We secured a small business loan and purchased a 5’ x 8’ building, shaver, and accessories. I had the opportunity to visit Snowie headquarters in Utah and met Aaron and some of the staff who answered questions about initial setup. The name we chose for our Snowie business is, It’s Snow Divine. Bring a little bit of heaven to your next event with It’s Snow Divine!
Honestly, in order to get inspected, certified, and licensed, there have been quite a few hoops to jump through in dealing with the county inspectors and different municipalities for business licenses, but our patience has paid off. We just went though our first Spring Training baseball season where our Snowie building was set up at a local stadium. The fans commented on the great tasting, fluffy shaved ice, and our reasonable prices. For the record, Tiger’s Blood, Cherry, and Blue Raspberry were our most popular flavors. Several fans were pleasantly surprised that we offered sugar-free flavors as well. Thank you Snowie for recommending this option to us.
Our plan is to pay off the initial business loan and, possibly, add another building or kiosk as we grow. We are networking in our community in the Northwest Phoenix metro area in the hopes of attracting more business and be involved in more events to sell our great tasting cold treat. Also, it doesn’t hurt that we live in a very hot part of the country and our window for selling shaved ice is from March to late fall. We appreciate the good people at Snowie for providing the business plan and producing quality products for us to use!