Alexander Gottwald received a Young Entrepreneur Award from NFIN for his successful snocone business, Gottsno Enterprises LLC in Carmel, Indiana.
Alexander Gottwald, 18, is a small business owner with big dreams of being a life-long entrepreneur. Before starting a snow cone business with his younger brother, Gottwald knew he had been waiting for the right time to begin with the basics of entrepreneurship.
“This was an opportunity that my brother, father and I stumbled across,” says Gottwald. “A business was existing in the neighborhood and there was a snocone trolley driving around. We decided that if they were ever going to sell the trolley, which is the main asset of the business, that we would be interested.”
When the time came, Gottwald purchased the trolley with his family.
“Then we formed GottSno Enterprises LLC, which manages that major asset, the trolley,” he says. “My brother and I have been interested in entrepreneurship and this was a great opportunity to learn those lessons on a small scale while still in high school.”
Since their first season, Gottwald and his brother have perfected the division of labor for their trolley business.
“I typically drive, and my brother is in charge of scooping the snow cones,” says Gottwald. “I interact with the customers and pour the syrups.”
This partnership was not always so well run, however.
“My brother and I sort of struggled at the beginning,” says Gottwald. “It took a while to get into the logistics of dividing up responsibility until we ultimately decided that my brother was [covering] inventory and operations and I did sales and outside things. I think that distribution of responsibilities took a while to sort out, but now, in our third season, it seems to work out pretty well.”
As the business grew, Gottwald and his younger sibling expanded their areas and products.
“We started off small, we did a few events,” he says. “We gradually ramped up to this year, and we’ve been advertising pretty heavily to do more parties and personal events. We’ve also expanded our menu to more than snow cones, with different flavor options that can be added and different candies as well that can be bought from the trolley.”
The best part of owning his own business? Gottwald says it’s simply the freedom of ownership and dealing with his customers.
“I love the fact that we do have ownership and are not working for someone, but for ourselves,” Gottwald says. “I love serving our customers. Being in snow cones, we serve a lot of children and their families in the neighborhoods, that puts a smile on our faces.”
Balancing school and his business hasn’t been easy, but with a seasonal business, Gottwald has been able to accomplish being a student and an entrepreneur with the help of his brother and good planning.
“I’ve been fortunate enough that my business is a seasonal business and I can do it over the summer,” he says. “Definitely at the end of the year, it’s hard to balance my exams and finishing the school year and the start of the snow cone season. That’s where the distribution of labor between my brother and I is really helpful.”
Next year, Gottwald is off to Duke University to study entrepreneurship and computer science. He hopes to continue working with his trolley business when he returns home for summer break.
“[We] have been thinking about doing franchising and all sorts of things,” he says. “I’ll come back next summer and help my brother with the trolley for the season. From there, we’ll decide whether to branch out with franchise or sell.”
