This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Melissa Tavss, founder and CEO of boozy ice cream business Tipsy Scoop. The company has three brick-and-mortar barlours in New York, ships nationwide through Goldbelly and is expanding nationwide with franchising this year. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tipsy Scoop. Melissa Tavss, founder and CEO.
What was your day job (or other sources of income) when you started your side hustle?
When I first started Tipsy Scoop, I had just left my full-time job in marketing and PR in the wine and spirits industry. I was a bit burnt out and looking for something new. I decided to go to graduate school because I wasn’t sure what was next for me. While in graduate school, I started developing recipes for Tipsy Scoop. I figured I would just sell the ice cream and use my ice cream cart for events around New York City.
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When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
When I worked in marketing for wine and spirits brands, I planned a lot of events and launch parties for new spirits coming to market. We would often partner with food companies to make food infused with the alcohol we were highlighting. Believe it or not, infused food with alcohol 12 years ago was a novel idea! We did bourbon wings, Chambord cupcakes and all sorts of cool desserts.
At the same time, I thought about ice cream a lot. Ice cream-making runs in my family, going back to the 1800s. My great-grandfather brought gelato from Italy to Scotland and later became president of the Ice Cream Alliance in Great Britain. So, ice cream-making was a big part of my family history. I was always also perfecting my homemade ice cream recipe. If you have ever made homemade ice cream, it’s not easy!
I initially started adding a tablespoon of alcohol to my ice cream recipe to soften the ice cream; it was a little icy on the side. The alcohol not only helped with the consistency but got me thinking: What if I could find a way to add more so the ice cream not only tasted and had a great mouthfeel but actually held an alcohol content? When we previously worked with food vendors for these launch parties, the end product of the food never actually contained alcohol since it was burnt off during the ice cream-making process. But with ice cream, you had an opportunity for the alcohol to shine and come through with an alcohol content.
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
I started not knowing where I would go with Tipsy Scoop. I started developing the recipes because I thought it was fun, and then I bought an ice cream push cart. I started with events for some former clients and people in the alcohol industry and then did friends’ weddings and kind of spread the word from there. I would wheel ice cream carts all over the city to avoid the additional cost of transportation (sometimes I still do that — it can be easier than dealing with New York City traffic).
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What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle, and how did you navigate them?
So interestingly enough, as a side hustle only, catering and events with the Tipsy Scoop cart, there were not very many challenges. I rented kitchen space by the shift and only spent money on producing and the cost of transportation and staffing when I had an event booked. I had no inventory, just the cost of a small ice cream machine. It was a really good way to “test” the market before jumping into a full business. I started adding other components to the business — first ecommerce, then wholesale, then brick-and-mortar, and now franchising, one by one. Doing so allowed me to get a sense of the needs of the business and what the revenue stream entailed before fully jumping into the whole thing.
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
For the first couple of years, it was very much a side hustle. It was only me and any friends and family I could convince to help, so consistent revenue was not important yet. Once I made the commitment to open the first storefront, I was able to see how having a storefront or physical presence allowed me to combine all the other revenue streams of the business and amplify those. Three years after I opened the first store in May 2017, we started to see really consistent revenue, with the business bringing in over $100,000.
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You’ve since transformed Tipsy Scoop into a full-time business. What does growth and revenue look like now?
Tipsy Scoop has grown so much, definitely beyond what I could have ever expected over the past 10 years. We have based growth on customer demand. Again, we started small with catering and events and started to add in ecommerce when customers asked if we could ship. I opened the first brick-and-mortar because we had customers showing up at our production facility looking for the boozy ice cream shop they had seen on Facebook and Instagram.
I decided to franchise because, since opening that first shop, we have had customers nonstop asking, “How do I open my own Tipsy Scoop?” Working slowly, listening to customers and taking the next steps based on their wants have been helpful. Currently, Tipsy Scoop is a multimillion-dollar company with three new franchises opened, three company-owned stores and five more franchises coming soon.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tipsy Scoop
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
I love creating new flavors and working with brands on collaborations and customization. I love the creativity and art in making new sundaes and cocktails — it is so fun! I also love popping into one of our stores and working there for the day. Sometimes, when you are stuck working on larger deals, you forget what you love or why you started. When I go back in the store, make a boozy sundae for someone, and they are like, “This place is so cool; I was here when you first opened,” it is incredible and just makes me want to keep going and pushing.
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What’s your advice for others hoping to start successful side hustles or full-time businesses of their own?
Don’t be afraid to start. Just start small, so it is not overwhelming. You don’t have to be Ben & Jerry’s overnight — and you won’t be! Start small with something that works for you and is realistic for you to work on with your current lifestyle. It won’t feel like work and will be able to grow organically from there.
