Dessert shops are popping up everywhere in Vancouver. Over the past year, the people of the city have been able to indulge in soft-serve ice cream whenever the craving hits them thanks to a number of new businesses.
Bustling cities like New York, Sydney, Bangkok and Los Angeles already have an abundance of ice cream shops that dish out new flavours regularly and have their own fan following. Now, Vancouver has its very own frozen treat culture that is propagated by small business owners as well as renowned names such as Bella Gelateria and Earnest Ice Cream.
Soft Peaks, a Gastown-based soft-serve ice cream shop, opened in 2015 and has been creating healthy handmade desserts using organic ingredients. The store is the brainchild of two brothers – Dan and Ken Kim – who had never started their own business before, nor had prior knowledge of the food industry. Both brothers knew they wanted to open a small business some day and it was their love for desserts and the lack of organic ice cream shops in Vancouver at the time that saw the Kim brothers opening up Soft Peaks. Other young entrepreneurs have since followed their footsteps, and Vancouver now boasts several soft-serve ice cream shops.
The success and popularity of Soft Peaks was instrumental in giving confidence to other young adults who wanted to become small business owners. The target market of these organic soft-serve ice cream shops is young consumers and students. This is because young people are more open to trying out new things and tend to have fewer qualms about indulging in frozen treats.
The dessert culture in Vancouver is flourishing, and the young entrepreneurs who have entered this market are able to connect with their target consumers by offering them healthy and traditional after-meal treats. Many of these small businesses source ingredients locally and ensure they are organic to cater to a new generation of consumers who are health-conscious.
The food scene in Vancouver has already attracted a lot of international attention. It is anticipated that the soft-serve ice cream business in the city will get its due recognition. There is immense potential for this type of business to grow and diversify, but above all, it provides young entrepreneurs of Vancouver with an opportunity to run a successful small business venture that believes in offering quality and freshness to its customers.
Starting a small business can be exciting and thrilling. However, if business owners have an MBA to back them, they will be more prepared to manage and deal with the challenges that come their way. An MBA in Canada equips graduates with the skills they require to become effective leaders who think out-of-the-box. Using a combination of classroom theory and real-life business cases, University of Canada West’s MBA courses can give small business owners the tools they need to become successful business owners.
