What to Pay your Employees as an Ice Cream Shop Owner

As an ice cream shop owner, how do you know how much to pay your employees? Paying your employees minimum wage or above minimum wage has pros and cons. Let’s jump right in!

Should you pay your workers minimum wage?

Do some research in your area, what’s the average pay that ice cream shop owners are paying their employees? Usually, you can find some information regarding this on the internet. After doing some research, consider if you want to potentially offer $1 or $2 more than your competition or if you want to offer the same amount as the competition. Also, try going to some local ice cream shops and see if they have a tip jar. Consider if tipping is common at the type of shop you are hoping to open. If you plan to accept tips as a business then you could offer your employees minimum wage, as they will end up making more after tips. For the obvious reasons, offering minimum wage as the starting pay can help you as a business owner lower your costs. Another bonus to offering minimum wage is you can offer paid incentives for reaching goals or offer longevity raises which can boost the morale of the worker and that way you can show appreciation to your employees. 

Should you pay your employees more than minimum wage?

Choosing to pay your employees above minimum wage will incentivize working at your shop over other ice cream shops. Also, this will attract great employees and potentially give you a bigger selection when hiring. Paying more promotes longevity as your employees will feel loyalty to your business. Paying your employees a little more can make your profits lower initially but if you can justify the positives of it then it may be worth it for your company. Something that might be a downside is that you may have to fire people if they are underperforming comparatively. Having an underperforming employee can lower the morale of the other employees and bring down the performance of your team as a whole. This problem could also happen with paying your employees the minimum wage as well. Just be aware and make sure the tone you are setting as an employer for the workplace is one that will help your employees enjoy their job.

Now you have somethings to consider when deciding how much to pay your employees as an ice cream shop owner. Selecting either route has its positives and negatives. Select what will be best for your business and don’t be afraid to change things along the way as needed. If you have more questions about your business join our Facebook community for ice cream shop owners, and feel free to ask more questions and learn from fellow business owners. Click here to join!  Best of Luck! 

About the Author: Tim Porter

Tim is the CEO and people builder of FrozenDessertSupplies.com. In his free time, he enjoys being with his family, collecting watches, and Classic Mini Coopers.