Starting a Yogurt Shop

Yogurt is a popular alternative to ice cream because of its lower fat content and health benefits, making it a dessert for everyone, including those who watch their calorie intake and the lactose intolerant.

Yogurt Shop Essentials

To start a yogurt shop you need to have an idea where to put up your store. You have the choice of the mall, the beach or any busy recreational area such as a park. You will also need equipment, the most important of which is an ice cream maker. You might also want a yogurt dispensing freezer to save on space. Then you would need a counter and cash register. You will also need supplies like cups, cones and spoons.

Yogurt Shop Menu

For your menu, you would have to work out a combination of yogurt flavors and toppings. You don’t have to have many flavors, even just two will do (vanilla, chocolate and green tea are some of your choices). But splurge on toppings. Offer a wide variety of fresh fruit toppings like raspberries, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, pineapples. You can also use other ingredients like cereal or chocolate chips.

For the yogurt, find a local creamery that sells the product wholesale so you can buy it at lower prices. You can also use yogurt powder for soft serve frozen yogurt. Frozen yogurt may also contain other ingredients like sweetener, gelatin, and flavoring. To set yourself apart from competition, you can venture into organic natural yogurt, non-dairy yogurt, or sugar-free yogurt.

While flavor and topping combinations are endless, take note of the proportion of your yogurt and flavoring (or toppings). It should be such that the yogurt is not all there is to your product, and that the toppings do not overpower the flavors.

Yogurt Shop Financials

For all of these, you would need capital to buy equipment, supplies, and enter into a lease for the space or kiosk that you will be using for your yogurt shop. Add to that is the money you will have to spend in the day-to-day operation, which should be enough for a few months until the business generates a profit. And remember that yogurt business is seasonal.

There are also frozen yogurt businesses that you can franchise. You can start a yogurt shop for $10,000. Franchising will cost more but that will already include payments for training, insurance and advertising.