Shawn Allard·October 5, 2023

Buying $1m+ Ice Cream Shops to Expand Nationally | Shawn Allard Interview

Shawn Allard, a 26-year-old dental consultant in Arizona, discovered ETA in March 2023 and closed on his first acquisition just five months later in August 2023 — one of the fastest search-to-close timelines the host had encountered. He bought Novel, a two-location ice cream shop in the Phoenix area known for its signature 'dough melt' product, for $1.25m (roughly 4.5x SDE of ~$275k) using a 90% SBA loan with ~$125k equity injection. Despite having previously ruled out food and beverage, Shawn was won over by the brand's exceptional organic traction: ~2,000 Google reviews at 4.9 stars with zero marketing spend, an 85-90% customer return rate, and a lean window-service-only format that keeps rent at ~$500/month and build-out costs at $25-35k per location. His growth thesis is straightforward — the business has never been marketed, so adding digital marketing while opening two to four new Arizona locations (and eventually going national) should unlock substantial value from a brand that has already proved its product-market fit organically. He is still working his W-2 while transitioning into the business full-time, reinvesting all cash flow, and has already received inbound franchise inquiries from other states.

Deal facts

purchase price: $1.25m
multiple: ~4.5x SDE
sde ebitda: SDE ~$275k
revenue: $1.3m (tracking ~$1.4m by year-end)
financing structure: 90% SBA loan + 10% equity (~$125k cash injection)
notes: Listed at $1.4m; negotiated to $1.25m. Two-location ice cream shop in Arizona. Margins 25-30%. Each location operates out of 500-700 sq ft window-service format; rent ~$500/month per location. New locations cost $25-35k to open.

Why this business

Shawn was initially opposed to food and beverage but was drawn in by the brand strength and product quality of Novel — a Phoenix-area ice cream shop with a signature 'dough melt' product (donut sandwich filled with ice cream). The business had ~2,000 organic Google reviews, an 85-90% return customer rate, was the highest-rated ice cream shop in the country by Google review count and rating, and had zero digital marketing spend. He saw massive untapped upside in a brand that had already built a loyal local following purely through word of mouth and product quality.

What's working

Differentiated core product — the 'dough melt' (donut ice cream sandwich) drives customer loyalty and repeat visits
Extremely lean physical footprint: 500-700 sq ft window-service only, ~$500/month rent, low build-out cost ($25-35k per location)
High margins for food and beverage: 25-30% SDE margin vs. typical food and beverage
Strong organic brand: ~2,000 Google reviews at 4.9 stars, zero paid marketing, 85-90% return customer rate
Experienced management in place: two managers with 3 years each at the business, invested in growing the brand
Seller had reduced involvement to 10-15 hours/week before exit, making transition smoother
Inbound franchise inquiries from other states already arriving since acquisition
Low capital requirement for expansion allows bootstrapped growth without additional debt

What's hard

Paid a full ~4.5x multiple for a food and beverage business, which Shawn acknowledged as a stretch and relied on gut instinct and brand conviction to justify
Managing a team of ~20 mostly younger employees — 'a lot of emotions' and logistical complexity
Still maintaining W-2 consulting job while operating the business; running it early mornings, evenings, and weekends
Had to fight his own impulse to immediately throw changes at the wall — learned quickly from mentors and employees to slow down in the first 30-60 days
Food and beverage logistics are complex, especially with fresh handmade product delivered every morning seven days a week
Six-to-eight month ramp-up period expected before new locations reach full profitability

Notable quotes

I realized over a two-year span that all the projects I was working on — one maybe I wasn't passionate about them — but I realized that just wasn't that zero to one type of person.

The brand itself excited me the most. When you focus on the product itself you can in a way not focus on the other things that you typically hear as being the most important drivers of growth and you tend to have a better result when that quality of product is the main focus.

There was no digital marketing spend or attention, there was no review funnel if you will. Everything was completely organic. His core focus, his only focus, was on the product and customer service.

I may be overpaying for the business initially but the return in five, seven, ten years would sort of outweigh that initial sort of quote-unquote downside.