Today we’d like to introduce you to Lyle Rupp.
Hi Lyle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
22 years ago my oldest son was unable to get a job because he was “too busy” with being on the football and wrestling teams, involved in boy scouts and school being a priority, so we decided that we should start our own business with the focus on providing jobs for students with busy schedules due to the combination of academics and extra-curricular activities. This proved to be a rather fortuitous decision that we would discover later on.
At the time, I owned my own insurance agency and had been in the insurance business for 25 years. We started a shaved ice stand under the brand Snowie, selling shaved ice at events. Our primary goal was work opportunities for our children and other busy kids, with a secondary goal of having the young adults learn about running a business. Our entire staff was under the age of 18 that first year (8 employees). Our third objective was to have the business at least pay for itself. Profitability was hoped for, but not critical. At the completion of the first year, the business had covered over 90% of the initial investment. That got my attention.
During our off season, the young adults who worked for me asked if there was a way we could come up with something that would allow them to work during the week, not just events on the weekends. In addition, we found a demand for our services at events and did not have the equipment needed as we were now getting multiple event requests each weekend. This lead us to find a stationary location and then to take out a loan to purchase two additional stands – one for events and another for the stationary location in a shopping center that we would just leave on site for the entire summer. We took every penny of profit that year and reinvested it into the business. It might be worth noting that my wife was rather vocal that we should be happy with the one stand and didn’t want me expanding – that my focus should be on the insurance agency only. That second summer season, the business not only paid off the original investment, but the entire loan for the additional equipment.
Fast forward to the end of year six, where we discovered that we had six stands, with the business being run by our 25 employees (all of whom were under the age of 22) and it was generating as much income in six months as my insurance agency did in a year. The decision was made (much to my wife’s chagrin) to sell the insurance agency and go full time shaved ice.
We expanded to 12 units over the next 5 years and also began to have a lot of calls from those wanting to get into the business, coming to us for supplies and equipment in addition to advice on getting started and how to duplicate what we had done. We scaled back to operating ten units and expanded the distribution and commercials sales divisions.
I increased my staff to help with sales and marketing, along with distribution and we have since expanded the operating stands to fourteen, provide supplies and materials to about 2,000 stands in the eastern United States and help on average, about 75-100 people start their own shaved ice businesses a year.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As I read the prior page, it sounded like I just opened and made money! I wish it was that easy. A touch of background. I was an insurance executive for about 20 years before starting my own agency. My last corporate position was as the Vice President of Sale and Marketing for the Life Division of a major insurance provider. They made the decision to exit the life insurance business due to the desire to focus all resources on a different target market. I had been through two buyouts, a merger and now a division closing and was tired of someone else dictating my life. So I started my own agency. The reason I mention all of that is because I learned a number of valuable lessons in managing a business. Many small businesses start and run themselves as a small business. I started it as if it was a large business. Each decision or process implemented was made with the this premise: “If I was doing this for 100 stores, what would I do differently?” – when you build it as if it was 100 stands, then it didn’t really matter if you had one, or five, or twenty stands. It was just processes that you had to follow.
In theory, it was a great idea. However, two problems came up. Not every idea was a good one and not every process worked as expected or hoped for. Second was, I was hiring seasonal help and it was a bunch of high school and college kids, not adults.
But we persisted and did a few things well. one was hiring busy kids that nobody else wanted to hire. Why? Because these kids were in sports, band, drama, etc. and had already learned the skills of time management, discipline, commitment and the need to be a team player. Every year we average about 3500 shifts a season and yet only have about 3-4 shifts a year that are missed. I use to manage 75 adults and couldn’t match that in a week, let alone a year.
The other thing I did was let the young adults have a tremendous amount of say and influence in solving problems and coming up with new processes that would prevent the challenges we faced. These youth not only learned about and helped run a company, they made decisions and had influence in how the company operated. 22 years later we have had over 350 youth work for us with an average tenure of about four years.
The problems were also not just about our workers. It was also having to manage money more carefully because we were seasonal and didn’t have the year round income or year round staffing. We had to find facilities that could accommodate our business and yet work within a viable budget. Growth presented many challenges in both resources and staffing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
While I have an extensive insurance background, my expertise is teaching and training. That core has served me well in both my insurance days as well as with Snowie. I would venture that 90% of the errors made by employees are a result of inadequate training. Most employers want to show something once and expect you to be an expert and when a mistake happens, they immediately look for someone to blame. I always look first to myself and ask how I could have trained them better to prevent the mistake from happening. Also, when we train, we don’t just teach you what to do, but why we do it. Understanding the “why” gives a far greater understanding to what you are doing. It is no longer about just doing a job or action, but what that job or action is accomplishing. It also builds far more confidence in the employees.
I would challenge anyone to match us in having a multi-million dollar producing business with over 95% of the staff being between the ages of 14 and 22.
Next is our service. It is our Vision Statement:
“Our vision is to provide customers with a fun, positive, memorable experience. We do this through offering top-tier products and providing extraordinary customer service.”
Add to that Our Values – and we live them every day.
1 We believe that our first responsibility is to our customers who buy our products and services – which must always be of the highest quality and be delivered with unparalleled customer service.
2 We believe that our second responsibility is to those who work with us – whether they be in our various locations, stores, warehouses or offices. We endeavor to provide them with a personal sense of value within the organization, fair and adequate wages, as well as uplifting working conditions. We also have a responsibility to help provide our employees with the skills necessary to promote themselves. There must be opportunities for advancement, for those qualified, and that each person must be considered based on their own merit and skills. We place emphasis on ability, initiative, performance and personal character.
3 Our third responsibility is to the communities in which we live and do business. We must be good citizens, supporting worthwhile programs and charities, and pay our fair share in taxes. We must participate in community, civic and charitable programs and activities – this involvement must include a commitment of our time, services, finances, and products. We should also acquaint the community with our activities.
4 Our last responsibility is our financial obligations to our stockholders as well as our employees and the communities in which we serve. Therefore, we must manage our financial affairs so as to establish adequate reserves for growth, adverse times, taxes, expansion, new products and marketing plans as well as the development of our employees and managers. When these things have been accomplished, the stockholders have earned the right to a fair return.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
People will rise to the level of expectation.
Give them the opportunity to prove themselves. Expect them to and act as if they will and the majority will do just that. I listen to a lot of employers complain about todays youth and how they can’t do anything and have no ability to work. I completely disagree.
Pricing:
- interesting question. Pricing should be reasonable. Not sure what else to say.
- It is a unique balance. price so they will buy and priced so you will make a profit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.snowiecincinnati.com
- Instagram: snowiecincinnati
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SnowieCincinnati
