Gus Schoenbucher was 14 when his father gave him the idea to sell ice cream out of a boat. It was aluminum, and Gus’s father did the exact same thing 40 years prior. The reason Gus’s business took off but his father’s never did was because of a complaint about Gus not having a food service license. As Gus puts it:
” ‘You know what? I’ll go ahead and get a license,’ and now it’s an official business, and it’s all registered in my name.”
Since then, Gus expanded to selling hot dogs, red hot dogs (for visitors from Maine), chips, and soda. At some point, the manager of Krispy Kreme contacted Gus, so he sells donuts out of his boat too!
Considering that Gus’s business operates out of a single boat on Merrymeeting lake in New Durham, New Hampshire, business is pretty good. Gus drives the boat around the lake and delivers food to hungry customers, as well as transactions on the water. In no time, he upgraded from a dinghy boat to pontoon.
Gus operates his business on a seasonal basis because of school. Even though his business is a summer side hustle, it’s remarkable what cool things can be done with a good idea. Gus’s business is a fine example of kids rising to a challenge without being afraid of failure. Gus could have quit when someone complained about him not having a food service license. He could have chosen to be too lazy to go out and get a permit. He could have been afraid to get the license because he was just a kid and nobody was going to let a kid register a business. But Gus did not take no for an answer. He persevered when most kids his age would have given up, and how has a successful business. Making a successful business doesn’t drop into your lap; you can’t back down because of criticism or fear.
This is such a good idea. Not only did this young high school student create a fun way to get around in the water, but he also created this whole business. It’s a really smart idea because boaters want to spend the day out and having fun; however, people get hungry and it takes a lot of time to dock your boat and can have additional costs. Now when people get hungry and they’re on the water, they can simply buy some goods from Gus’s boat. Overall, a great idea with little competition
This is such a cool idea. He thought of a want that not many people think of, and worked hard to create the business. It is awesome how hard he worked to do what he wanted.
I thought it was cool that his father inspired him because he did the same thing when he was a kid. I thought it was impressive that he went through all that work to get a food service license. This shows how serious he takes this idea and is carrying his fathers legacy while doing it.