Hey all! Hope all is well on your end.

I know this subreddit is mostly about sharing ice cream recipes and asking for advice but I was wondering if any of the business owners can share their inputs with me? I'm sure it's definitely a trade secret but I would definitely appreciate even just a beginner/starting tip.

A little bit about me and what I do: I'm a 26 y/o marketing professional and I lost my job last year. I've been making ice cream ever since I was a teen but not regularly and I was mostly doing the no-churn kind of ice creams. Last June is when I thought about making it a thing and finally bought an ice cream maker. Things went well at first but with the whole pandemic, it was really tricky to make it work. I sell custard-based ice creams in pints (my markup is about 50%) and I am hoping to add some vegan ones soon. I have mainstay flavours and I have monthly limited/seasonal flavours. I offer delivery and pickup, I make the flavours in my kitchen, I do my own photography, social media, and marketing.

So far I have invested thousands of dollars already. I got syrups, candies, chocolates, mix-ins, and other things in hand. I also have a small batch freezer. I admit I haven't made much money out of it but I do enjoy it and I want to continue doing it. I do hope this could be my main source of income one day.

My apologies for asking this but any help is greatly appreciated! I am more than happy to talk in private as well.

Thank you so much!

EDIT: Wow, thank you so much for all the replies and messages! It really means a lot. I’ve decided to enrol to a young entrepreneurship program in my city to hopefully learn more about running a business. I’m going to keep researching, educating myself, taking notes from you guys, and hopefully one day I can open a store and make ice cream my full source of income. For now, my goal is to get my licenses and certificates, register my business, rent a commercialized kitchen, and sell my pints legally. Thank you guys!