Carl Rupp - The King Of Shaved Ice
photo credit: psychofish
I want this category, “Success Stories”, to focus on all sorts of people, many that you’ve never heard of. The purpose is to motivate and inspire you, to make you shake yourself awake, to do something for what you believe in. Maybe in one of these stories you will find your own, that you never had the courage to write.
So here we go, our star for today is Carl Rupp. You might have never heard of him, so here is his story.
Carl Rupp was a teenager in 1979, living in Salt Lake City. He launched an ice cone business that he built from the ground up, starting with a portable shaved ice stand called “Sno Shack“. He worked it himself, even building the machines himself.
He soon noticed there was a huge demand, so, in no time, he had 13 stands working. Other people became interested, so he started to sell business opportunities to others that wanted an ice cone stand.
15 years later, in 1994, he lost his business due to a divorce and a heroin addiction, ended up in jail for a year, and was buried in debt.
After he cleared his addiction, he partnered with his brother and both started the company called Snowie. The first two years were very hard for them , but they didn’t give up, and now, 5 years later, Snowie is doing great. It manufactures buildings, kiosks, carts, shavers, flavors, and other items. The company makes over $2 million a year!
Between December 2005 and February 2006, Inc.com and The History Channel asked readers about their startup and career-building stories, and Carl Rump was the big winner of the Self-Made in America contest.
Here you can find a letter written by Carl Rupp about his business.
Here is the Snowie web page. You can start your own business with them, it will cost you over $20,000 to buy a kiosk, a machine, flavors, etc. But if you have the money, their clients are very happy with the results, and they say you get back your investment in a few months.
That was it for today, did you ever have any experience with selling shaved ice?
Hope you’ve enjoyed it, do leave a comment 
please!
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Carl Rupp - The King Of Shaved Ice…
This is a blog that wants to present different success stories from peple that you never even heard of. Learn from their experiences and maybe you’ll find the path to your own dream!…
Too bad he hit those problems, maybe he would have been more successful if he didn’t. But I guess at least he got back up and tried again.
Also I subscribed since I could always use tips on how to make money.
Thanks so much Edward! I really appreciate you subscribing, I’ve already added your URL in the Resources blogroll at the top of the page. Hope to hear from you some more!
This gives me hope that maybe one day my drinking habit can cause me to find some sort of business opportunity and then make 2 mill a year. MAN that would rule!
Thanks for stopping by, Chandler!
I think definitely your drinking habit can become very profitable at one point!
Very interesting read, good to hear he got over his problems. Ive just checked out their website and i was impressed with the amount of products they have for the brand. Glad to see people making a success of things. Good luck to them.
Great blog by the way.
Danny
Danny, thanks a lot for stopping by and also for your kind words!
It’s always inspiring to me to read this “Success Stories” and learn about people that made it, despite hardships in their lives.
I will be posting more inspiring stories.
Glad you liked it! All the best
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