Concession Equipment

If you are running a shaved ice concession business, you want to be able to get all of your necessary supplies as easily as possible. That's one of the advantages to being a dealer for an already-established company. Unlike a franchise, you don't have to follow very many rules in terms of design or running the business, but you do have the support of a centralized and experienced network.

Essential Concession Equipment

If you are running a shaved ice business, storing the ice is actually much more of a concern than storing the equipment and cups. You may want to invest in a freezer specifically for freezing large blocks of ice at the optimal temperature. Slow freezing yields much better ice for shaving than you'll get from a freezer at a standard temperature, which freezes ice as fast as possible. If you have a large volume business, you'll also need an ice caddy and coolers so that you can bring several blocks of ice with you, and keep one of them tempered (just slightly warmed up) at all times.

Chances are that some area in your home is going to turn into storage for your concession business, at least at first. You don't want to take the risk of losing business because you run out of supplies, and if you have a mobile cart, you won't be able to store a lot of extras for back-up on the cart itself. If your business starts to thrive and you really don't want to (or can't) devote the space in your home to storage, you can think about renting storage near your business location. Storage space can be very cheap to rent, especially if it's the amount you need to store things like cups, coolers, and utensils.

You want to be able to make a single phone call or fill out a single form online to get everything from your cups and napkins to your shaver blades or a foot control for your ice machine. Find a distributor who carries all (or almost all) of the things you need, and develop a relationship with that company. If they are shaved ice specialists, they will also be a great resource if anything ever goes wrong with your equipment or if you need a little business advice.