Hamilton Reef
08-13-2007, 12:25 PM
Teens catch customers from ice cream boat
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/1187012940141220.xml&coll=6
08/13/07 By Matt Vande Bunte The Grand Rapids Press
CANNON TOWNSHIP -- Will Weaver slowed the boat as he and Brent Distin gauged the interest of a group of adults onshore. "Ice cream!" they shouted, getting no clear response.
Sometimes, it can be hard to tell, the boys said, motoring along. But a few cottages away, the boys knew they found a customer when 5-year-old Alex Berris came sprinting down the dock at the sight of their ice cream boat.
The boy and his little sister, with their mother in tow, make up the target demographic this summer for the pair of 14-year-old entrepreneurs: "Kids ... with parents that pay."
"Between them and the ice cream truck, it keeps us busy," mother Jamie Berris said after buying a cool treat for her kids recently.
The vehicle is different and so is the music. But the product still tastes like summer to children on Silver Lake, where the two Ada Township boys have transformed a 6-horsepower fishing boat into an aquatic version of an ice cream truck.
With startup funding from their parents, the boys generated $228 in revenue -- netting more than half of that during their first four efforts selling fruit pops, fudge sticks, candy and pop to boaters and people at the docks of the lake's 180 cottages.
"I was surprised at how fast they caught on," said Brent, who will be a freshman at Forest Hills Central High School. "They'll wave us down."
Using a cottage and boat owned by Will's grandmother as home base, the pair fashioned an "ice cream boat" sign out of an old laminate countertop. Their floating store also features a large menu and on-board speakers that blare Beatles music.
"We play Beatles music to get people out because we thought the traditional ice cream truck music would be too annoying," said Will, a freshman-to-be at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
The boys buy treats in bulk at local stores and then sell them individually from a cooler stocked with dry ice. A push pop that costs them about 33 cents goes for $1.50.
"It's nice, especially when it's hot out," said Guy De Vries, a repeat customer who loaded up on nut sundaes for his children. "It's a lot more fun than when the ice cream truck comes by."
The neighbor boys have tried to launch a yard service and lemonade stand in the past. Their latest business idea took hold.
"It seemed like a fun thing for kids to do, and it seemed like good experience," said Barb Weaver, Will's mom. "Will has all the (financial) stuff on an Excel spreadsheet."
Brent aspires to become an architect, and Will wants to be an electrical engineer. For now, they are making a name for themselves as Silver Lake's ice cream men.
"Nobody in my family gets anything from the ice cream truck anymore, because, now, they live with the ice cream man," Will said.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/1187012940141220.xml&coll=6
08/13/07 By Matt Vande Bunte The Grand Rapids Press
CANNON TOWNSHIP -- Will Weaver slowed the boat as he and Brent Distin gauged the interest of a group of adults onshore. "Ice cream!" they shouted, getting no clear response.
Sometimes, it can be hard to tell, the boys said, motoring along. But a few cottages away, the boys knew they found a customer when 5-year-old Alex Berris came sprinting down the dock at the sight of their ice cream boat.
The boy and his little sister, with their mother in tow, make up the target demographic this summer for the pair of 14-year-old entrepreneurs: "Kids ... with parents that pay."
"Between them and the ice cream truck, it keeps us busy," mother Jamie Berris said after buying a cool treat for her kids recently.
The vehicle is different and so is the music. But the product still tastes like summer to children on Silver Lake, where the two Ada Township boys have transformed a 6-horsepower fishing boat into an aquatic version of an ice cream truck.
With startup funding from their parents, the boys generated $228 in revenue -- netting more than half of that during their first four efforts selling fruit pops, fudge sticks, candy and pop to boaters and people at the docks of the lake's 180 cottages.
"I was surprised at how fast they caught on," said Brent, who will be a freshman at Forest Hills Central High School. "They'll wave us down."
Using a cottage and boat owned by Will's grandmother as home base, the pair fashioned an "ice cream boat" sign out of an old laminate countertop. Their floating store also features a large menu and on-board speakers that blare Beatles music.
"We play Beatles music to get people out because we thought the traditional ice cream truck music would be too annoying," said Will, a freshman-to-be at Grand Rapids Christian High School.
The boys buy treats in bulk at local stores and then sell them individually from a cooler stocked with dry ice. A push pop that costs them about 33 cents goes for $1.50.
"It's nice, especially when it's hot out," said Guy De Vries, a repeat customer who loaded up on nut sundaes for his children. "It's a lot more fun than when the ice cream truck comes by."
The neighbor boys have tried to launch a yard service and lemonade stand in the past. Their latest business idea took hold.
"It seemed like a fun thing for kids to do, and it seemed like good experience," said Barb Weaver, Will's mom. "Will has all the (financial) stuff on an Excel spreadsheet."
Brent aspires to become an architect, and Will wants to be an electrical engineer. For now, they are making a name for themselves as Silver Lake's ice cream men.
"Nobody in my family gets anything from the ice cream truck anymore, because, now, they live with the ice cream man," Will said.