We finally started! A little over a month ago, on November 11th, we officially sold our first cup of yogurt! I cannot even begin to explain the craziness that ensued those first few days, but I can certainly try....
The whole day and night before we opened we worked on getting everything ready. We had gone to Costco a couple days before and bought A TON of stuff thinking that we would be really busy. We also had no idea what to expect with how many customers we would have, how much product those customers would use, etc. There were so many unanswered questions. The night before we opened we had to get all the toppings together. I think we went to bed around 3 am. We were prepping strawberries, cutting pineapple, washing raspberries, chopping nuts, shaving chocolate, peeling kiwi, removing pomegranate seeds (which I got the juice of all over my white curtains), and making sauces. We planned way too many toppings and ended up using hardly any of them. It was definitely a learning experience to say the least. At least there's no more 3 am bedtimes!
The morning we opened was sheer madness. We still had to get the seating down to the location, which involved putting two large bright pink picnic tables on Alex's truck. We had our helper for the day, Jax, who lives upstairs, help out. One thing you should know, though, is that he's only in seventh grade and he's not big for his age. The poor little guy had to lift those tables onto the truck and back off them once we got there. I was in charge of packing the tubs full of toppings and our Greek yogurt to bring down to the truck. I was exhausted! I just kept wondering what I was thinking getting involved in this craziness when I was also teaching, working for the state on curriculum, and doing online teaching. We were running around trying to get everything ready on time. We had many of Alex's Brazilian friends helping us out. It was a little bit like a circus, but it was so great to see so many people helping us get started. The amount of support we had was amazing!
With all those things to do last minute, we opened late and missed some customers who had come right at eleven for the opening, but two of my students stayed until we actually opened (note photo). One of them even bought a shirt and wore it the next day at school (where he promptly got spaghetti sauce on it at lunch). The rest of the day went well, but it was definitely crazy! It was fun seeing people enjoy the yogurt we had worked so hard to create!
Since the opening we've made many changes. We streamlined our process, cut out some of the toppings, and simplified our opening and closing procedures. Most recently we moved to the other side of the field where we were located, added flower pots, and painted the hub caps, bumper, and fenders the Ono Yo pink. It really stands out now! We already had more tourists today by being closer to the shrimp truck they all go visit.
We've met some really nice people and have had an interesting experience so far. There's been a lot of great feedback on how delicious our yogurt is. Our yogurt really is unique and very different from other frozen yogurts out there. We use real strawberries in our strawberry yogurt, real mango, watermelon, honeydew melon, etc. Healthy, simple food is what I eat in my diet because I know how much better it makes me feel and I love knowing that I'm giving people the very best frozen yogurt product they can get because it is healthy and simple!
I'll continue to write as new things happen. It's all so exciting and there's always changes! Thank you to everyone for your support. We can't do it without you! Enjoy the photos!
