An ice cream truck sells summer by the piece: wrapped novelties bought from a distributor at about a dollar and sold for $4, soft serve cones that cost less, and private parties booked by the hour. The margin is wide; the season is short. The plan turns on the truck, its fuel, generator and freezer power, the route and events that bring the crowds, and the months when nobody wants ice cream. A truck that books birthday parties and school events into the fall stretches the year. In the example, a Columbus ice cream truck starts with $45,500, ends its first year about $13,500 behind before the owner's pay while sales build, and makes about $4,300 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the truck in a paragraph: the routes, the events, the season, the goals.
- Cost each sale: the novelty or the mix, the cone or cup, the card fee.
- Plan sales by product: novelties, soft serve and party bookings.
- Fuel, the generator and insurance run whether the truck sells or not.
- The season is short; plan the winter months honestly.
- Party bookings stretch the season.
- TaroStack keeps novelties counted by the case, so the freezer is never empty on a hot Saturday. More below.
Part 1: the business description
Sweet Route Ice Cream, a made-up ice cream truck in Columbus, Ohio, writes:
Sweet Route Ice Cream runs a soft serve and novelty truck through neighborhoods on summer evenings, at pools, ballparks and festivals, and books birthday parties and school events. In its first year it aims to reach $15,000 of sales a month in season.
Part 2: what a sale costs
| Sale | Product | Cone, cup or wrapper | Card fee | Cost | Price | Cost share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrapped novelty | $1.10 | $0.12 | $1.22 | $4.00 | 30.5% | |
| Soft serve cone with dip | $0.62 | $0.10 | $0.15 | $0.87 | $5.00 | 17.4% |
Novelties are bought by the case from a distributor; soft serve mix by the bag. Pricing a pint instead is in how to price ice cream.
Part 3: routes and season
The truck runs evenings and weekends from May to September, with festivals and pool days, and books parties: an hour for 40 kids at $350. In the cold months it books school events and holiday parties, at far fewer days.
Part 4: what each product earns
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | Units a month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrapped novelty | $4.00 | $1.22 | $2.78 | 69.5% | 1,600 |
| Soft serve cone | $5.00 | $0.87 | $4.13 | 82.6% | 1,300 |
| Party booking, an hour | $350.00 | $90.00 | $260.00 | 74.3% | 6 |
At full speed the business sells $15,000 a month and keeps $11,377, 75.8%; soft serve cones bring $5,369 of it.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $7,100 every month: fuel and generator ($900), wages for a driver-server ($3,500), insurance ($350), truck payment ($800), truck upkeep ($400), event fees ($400), commissary ($300), register and software ($60), ads ($200), and other costs ($190). Sales start at 60% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9,140 | −$170 | −$170 |
| 2 | $13,360 | $3,035 | $2,866 |
| 3 | $15,000 | $4,277 | $7,142 |
| 4 | $15,000 | $4,277 | $11,420 |
| 5 | $13,360 | $3,035 | $14,455 |
| 6 | $9,140 | −$170 | $14,285 |
| 7 | $4,570 | −$3,635 | $10,650 |
| 8 | $2,930 | −$4,877 | $5,774 |
| 9 | $1,640 | −$5,858 | −$85 |
| 10 | $1,640 | −$5,858 | −$5,943 |
| 11 | $2,930 | −$4,877 | −$10,820 |
| 12 | $5,860 | −$2,653 | −$13,473 |
The year's sales are $94,570, and the business ends it $13,473 behind, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $9,360 of sales a month, in the second month. The lowest cash point, −$13,473 in month 12, is covered by the $16,000 of working cash with about $2,500 to spare. The months start in May; the second row in the workbook carries the season, falling to a tenth of summer in the winter months, which is when the working cash earns its place.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Truck down payment | $12,000 |
| Soft serve machine | $9,000 |
| Wrap and signs | $3,500 |
| Freezers and generator work | $2,500 |
| Licenses and permits | $900 |
| Opening inventory | $1,200 |
| Register | $400 |
| Working cash | $16,000 |
| Total to start | $45,500 |
The $29,500 before working cash is earned back in about 7 months at full speed. The license a truck needs is in ice cream business license, and a scoop shop in ice cream business plan.
Get the template
Download the ice cream truck business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan uses one summer. The truck has a different one every week: a heat wave that empties the freezer by Wednesday, a rained-out festival, and novelties that melt in a broken freezer.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps novelties counted by the case and the box, so the freezer is never empty on a hot Saturday.
Cases and boxes. Novelties bought by the case are counted by the box and the piece, with unit conversion.
Counts with no signal. The truck's freezers can be counted on a phone with no signal.
Reorder list. Novelties and mix come up on a reorder list in days of cover, worked out from how fast they sell.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What's in the freezer | Counted at night | Stock by the piece |
| When to call the distributor | When it's low | Reorder list in days of cover |
| Novelties lost to a broken freezer | Not recorded | Waste with a reason |
Counts, units and the reorder list are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.