There are lots of things you need to have with you before you head out. Its not all about the ice cream.
- Napkins. You need to have at least a hundred of these before you leave. I like to get the full sized ones at Market Basket and then hand them out to my customers after they pay for their ice cream.
- Spoons. The wooden “spoons” that come with your ice creams are plain and annoying to use. A cheap way to make your customers happy is to spend a dollar at a party store and get 20 multicolored, full sized spoons that you can give out with your treat. If you are selling hard ice cream make sure you invest in some high quality plastic spoons that won’t snap in your ice cream. Black or clear spoons look better than white ones if you can’t get colored ones.
- Towels. You need these to wipe off the condensation on your freezer, to clean your serving counter, and to clean up any messes that you make in your truck. I keep 3 clean ones in my truck at all times.
- Purell. Have a 12 oz bottle of this stashed behind your serving window and put it out on your counter when you stop. People really appreciate it and will be more willing to spend an extra 25 or 50 cents on your product when they see you are so concerned with cleanliness.
- Music Box. People need to know when you arrive and the ice cream truck song always gets people’s hearts racing and excited to buy your ice cream.
- Lights. Lighting is important especially if you plan on selling at night. Put a fluorescent light bulb over your serving counter so people can see you and your decals. A interior light is also required if you plan on seeing anything inside your truck. You can use Christmas lights to add some flavor to the inside and outside of your truck on the cheap.
- Garbage Can. I found this old metal garbage bin that was about 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall that worked perfect for me. I spray painted it red to match my truck and then put it outside my truck when I stopped. People hate having to carry around a wrapper and they will appreciate your bin. I started doing this and within a week both of my competitors had garbage cans outside their trucks whenever they stopped.