One More Scoop, a homemade ice cream shop in Kansas City, MO almost didn’t happen. Before co-founding the shop, Connor Moylan had considered various career avenues like practicing law or sports writing. When he graduated in 2012, the certainty of success as a lawyer felt farfetched, and while he enjoyed writing about baseball, that was more a hobby than a career he planned to pursue.
As he considered his options, a mentor reached out with an opportunity to purchase a Jimmy John’s location. At the time, Connor was working at a sandwich shop, so the move made sense. While he’d be taking on some of the grunt work to get the franchise off the ground, it gave him a stake in ownership, so he accepted.
In 2014 (which month?) they opened two franchise locations. With early success they decided to build and open a third store in 2016. Despite the promise of high volume, this third location never took off. During this time, as a part-owner, Connor saw the benefits and limitations of the franchisee model. Ultimately, the risk that they were responsible for drove them to think of what could come next.
‘We know food’, his business partner said one day. ‘Why don’t we try ice cream?’. At the time, they were still responsible for three franchises, so time was scarce. That didn’t stop the idea, though. Connor set up the guest bedroom in his rental house with two Cuisinart countertop ice cream makers and got to work. For a year, he read books and started working at it.
The spare room in Connor’s rental where the first flavors and tests were made
Testing recipes without feedback was a lost cause in his mind, so he did what any sane entrepreneur would do: he looped in his family and friends. Connor became the friend, cousin, son, and brother, that showed up at family events with random pints of ice cream. Some were from local, successful brands, and the rest were concoctions of his own.
Things started to click when his taste-testers chose his ice cream over established brands. After a year of experimenting, Connor had created a great tasting ice cream, some unique and eye-catching flavors, all made from natural ingredients. What started months before by peddling pints of mystery ice cream at get togethers was slowly becoming a brand. Connor and his partners felt confident that their ice cream could compete with anybody.
As Connor remembers it, “At some point we decided to go for it”. A friend of his was a graphic designer and helped craft the logo and design the menu. Next came the equipment, which they found online and were fortunate enough to receive some basic training on before shipping things back to Kansas City. With the product, name, and their business plan drawn up, the final piece of the puzzle was deciding on a location.
Connor + Graphic Designer Reviewing the Menu Design at his dining room table
Call it serendipity or call it fate, a storefront across the street from their Jimmy John’s location in Belton opened up. Their familiarity with the city and the community made it a no-brainer. What came next was a whirlwind of a year, with a grand opening of One More Scoop – Belton in May of 2019. Word traveled quickly in the city, which made for a fun and exciting first summer season.
One More Scoop - Belton Storefront
Despite the excitement of a new endeavor, they still owned their Jimmy John’s franchises. To balance the two, Connor focused exclusively on OMS while his partners managed their sandwich shops until they sold in January of 2020.
Even with their early success, it wouldn’t be fair to say it has been easy for the first six years. Seasonal demand, a constant need to fluctuate staff to accommodate events, and a worldwide pandemic have provided more than enough challenges for a young business. What started as a team of four reaches upwards of 25 during seasonal highs, and what began as one store is now two stores along with two mobile trucks for employee appreciation days, outdoor parties, and countless other types of events.
As they approach a significant revenue mark as a business this year, Connor is quick to acknowledge that there are still plenty of areas that they don’t have it all figured out. Not many people are sprinting to an ice cream shop during a midwestern winter where lows are in the negatives. Seasonal demand and diversifying product offerings are two areas that this group is focusing on to help them on their path to continued growth.
For those that live in the Kansas City Metro area, check out their locations and plan a visit this fall. Some of the seasonal flavors you can look forward to are S’mores, Pumpkin Pie, and Apple Brule. ONE MORE SCOOP - Home
If you are a business owner that sells ice cream wholesale, you can reach out to Connor and his team directly to inquire about flavors, pricing, and other details regarding potential orders. Wholesale - ONE MORE SCOOP
Lastly, keep up to speed on all things Ice Cream by following them on the social pages below!