Latest news with #ScoopersDairyBar
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Scooping success: 11-year-old P.E.I. entrepreneur serves sundaes and smiles
Maria Sarrouh talks to an 11-year-old entrepreneur in P.E.I regarding her success in running an ice cream business. When customers ring the bell at Scooper's Dairy Bar in Brudenell, P.E.I., the pint-sized employee behind the counter can sometimes be a surprise. Roya Cooper, 11, is turning her summer break into sweet profit. She runs the shop herself, checking freezer temperatures, scooping sundaes and balancing the books. 'They think that I'm way older,' Roya said. Some cash she had saved up helped start the shop. A loan through the Community Business Development Corporation, a not-for-profit network that finances small businesses and startups in Atlantic Canada, covered the rest. 'I thought ice cream was really cool. I liked eating it, and I wanted to start a business,' she said. It is not her first enterprise. At just six years old, she made French books out of post-it notes, 'She sold those bad boys for $5 apiece to tourists,' said her mom, Ambyr Cooper. 'She loves money. Always has.' Roya gets her hard-working nature from her parents. They run several businesses, including the Brudenell Riding Stables next door. '(We're) super proud,' said Carson Cooper, her dad. 'She's so good at doing everything,' added her mom. 'It's a way harder job than you think it is.' Scoop work can be sticky. Roya says chipping into the tubs takes muscle, and she often finds herself managing staff years older than she is. Her last employee threw in the towel. 'Too much cleaning for her,' the young owner said. 'Some are like, 'I don't really need to do this because I don't need to listen to you,' but others actually respect me.' So for now, she's working seven days a week, until she finds a replacement – or school starts. Most customers leave happy. 'I love the ice cream. And the chocolate, of course, is my favourite,' one patron said. Still, Roya has learned she can't please everyone. 'Some are like, this ice-cream scoop isn't so big. You have to redo it.' Her latest creation is nacho ice cream, a big scoop topped with sprinkles, sauce and waffle chips. But Roya's favourite flavour is peanut butter fudge crunch. After closing up, she goes home and handcrafts earrings shaped like mini ice-cream cones. She packages the accessories, then sells them from a small display outside, adding another revenue stream to her store. She says she wants to serve many more sundaes in the years to come, and her dream is for the business to grow with her.
CBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Pint-sized ice cream entrepreneur in P.E.I. tasting sweet success at Scooper's Dairy Bar
Inside a multicoloured minibarn at the Burdenell Riding Stables in eastern Prince Edward Island, an 11-year-old girl is serving up an ice-cold lesson in entrepreneurship. For two years now, Roya Cooper has run the aptly named Scooper's Dairy Bar. "We always liked ice-cream, and I wanted to start my own business," Roya said. And so it was that with some help from her parents, a little inspiration from the competition and a lot of paint that Scooper's was born. A pink, purple and blue fence surrounds the barn like an ice cream corral. The barn itself is painted like the rainbow to represent the variety of flavours the dairy bar serves, said Roya. "Death by chocolate, or chocolate chip cookie dough is the most [popular]." Sales are pretty good. Roya said she can sell about 30 cones of her most popular flavours each day. Some of the profit is eaten up by horseback riding and her personal snack habit. Serving up success Roya has one employee who's 17 years old. Mom and dad are never far away, and her big sister is helping at the family stable right next door. Managing the inventory and running the counter is all up to her. If she gets enough requests for a new flavour, she taps dad and he puts in an order. She's learned a few lessons during her time in the business. "You have to smile, you need to be good with money," she said. "You need to be very organized. You need to clean every single time. Wash your hands like a thousand times a day." The most difficult part is scooping the ice cream: "It gets pretty hard in the freezer. You have to have muscles." She gets the odd question from kids her own age — wondering why she's working at 11 years old. "I tell them they should do it," Roya said, adding that it's a lot of fun. "When the sun's shining and it's about Friday and Saturday and Sunday, those are the most busiest, funnest days." In the future, Roya said she wants to continue as an entrepreneur. In terms of university, she is split between a few options.
