How’s it goin, Hard Knocks community? 💰 

We’re sliding into your inbox with another amazing session at the School of Hard Knocks where we keep you up to date on the latest happenings in the business world, wisdom from today's top entrepreneurs, and actionable steps to apply in both your business and personal life.

Today’s Schedule

• Making Millions, One Scoop at a Time: How Two College Friends Made 9-Figures off Ice Cream

• Free Game: How Billy Loesch Created a $20M Business

• From the Hard Knocks Library: Blue Ocean Strategy by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim

• In Case You Missed It: Our Podcast With Ryan Serhant

Let’s Dive In!🔥

Making Millions, One Scoop at a Time🍨 

Who would have ever thought an ice cream shop in a renovated Vermont gas station would turn into a household name? Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took their vision and turned it into a sweet treat powerhouse. Their incredible story is fueled by hard work, determination, and a little bit of chocolate chip cookie dough.

In 1977, Cohen and Greenfield decided to take a course on ice cream making at Penn State University. Cohen took a bit of zany aspiration from his anosmia (lack of a sense of smell) and incorporated it into their first batches. Because of his condition, adding texture into the ice cream in the form of big chunks helped bring out flavor and this quickly became a Ben & Jerry's signature.

About a year later in May of 1978, Cohen and Greenfield opened their first ice cream parlor. They invested $12,000 into a renovated gas station and held their first "free cone day" on the store's anniversary in 1979.

Due to their success, Cohen and Greenfield expanded their operation in 1980, rented more space, and started packaging their ice cream in their signature pints. They also began franchising Ben & Jerry's ice cream shops, the first one opening in 1981 in Shelburne, Vermont.

In 1984, Ben & Jerry's went up against Häagen-Dazs in a couple of lawsuits. The rival ice cream giant wanted to limit distribution of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but eventually the feud reached a stalemate and both brands showed up on supermarket shelves.

The Ben & Jerry's Foundation was established in 1985. It originally focused on community-oriented projects and later expanded to support a variety of causes and missions. That same year, the company also opened a factory in Waterbury, Vermont. It opened to the public in 1986 and you can still take tours of the facility today. The location produces over 350,000 pints of ice cream per day!

In April of 2000, Cohen and Greenfield sold Ben & Jerry's to the food industry giant, Unilever for an estimated $326 million. In the deal, Unilever agreed to keep things running the same, including supporting their economic and social missions.

The Ben & Jerry's story is an inspiration for anyone looking to start their dream venture. In a past interview with The Guardian, Jerry Greenfield offered up his best advice for entrepreneurs and business startups:

Start Small: You might have big goals and dreams, but Greenfield says you'll go the farthest by starting off small. A reason people are too afraid to take action on their goals is because they create this giant to-do list of what it will take to accomplish them…so they never go for it. Break your vision down into smaller, actionable goals and commit to staying in it for the long haul. When we started the School of Hard Knocks, we just made it our goal to post 3 times a day. It didn’t matter what we had to do that day, as long as we got our posts up, that was a W. That consistency compounded and helped us build the brand that we have today.

Find & Build Connection: Greenfield believes bonding with your customers over shared values is a key to business success. Understanding who you serve goes much further than a flashy marketing campaign. When you can connect with customers through similar beliefs, values, and ideals, they'll stick with you. As the saying goes “People Buy From People They Like”. One of the best ways to build rapport with a customer is to find things in common. Look for common ground with your potential customers and watch how many will be more willing to buy from you!

Expand to New Distribution Channels: One of the key differences for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream compared to other ice cream parlors is their product also ended up being served as pints in retail stores. Not only can people buy their ice cream at store locations but they can also get it at their local grocery mart. This distribution channel allows them to bypass location barriers and create a much larger customer base. Before opening up a new distribution channel in your business, make sure you are crushing it with the first. Then, as your business looks to scale, see what barriers are stopping you from reaching newer markets and find a way to bypass them.

Words of Wisdom

Free Game

Billy Loesch started his career in Wall Street but after a few years found himself unhappy and wanting to go another direction, so he decided to go out and start a Acai bowl and smoothie franchise business. After 7.5 years, and lots of hard work within the business, this year he will do north of $20 million in sales this year.

When we met with Billy, he shared some life and business lessons that every entrepreneur needs to hear. Here are our top 4 favorites:

Investing 101: In business, we think long term, but investing is a shorter-term game. Set a goal and then once you hit it, sell. A lot of kids today get caught up in the "to the moon" mentality or get too emotionally attached to their investments, but doing so can lead to trouble. Billy also advises entrepreneurs to fund their fun with interest earned on investments and income from real estate assets.

1 Step Back To Go 2 Steps Forward: Billy said if he became broke tomorrow or had to start all over again, he says he'd find the best mentor in his niche and work for them for six months for free. This allows you to learn first hand from someone who is doing it successfully and Sometimes you have to be willing to take a step back to move forward.

Tough Times Don’t Last: It doesn’t matter what you aspire to do in life, you will be faced with challenges and failure. Obstacles are inevitable, but what really matters is how you respond to them. If you reflect on your life and your career you will often see that the greatest sources of learning are from your hardest lessons. Just remember, these lessons and obstacles are setting you up for a better future and in the words of Billy Loesch "Tough times don't last, but tough people do."

Think Outside The Box: One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to solve new problems with old solutions. Just because a campaign or a strategy worked for you to get customers two years ago does not mean it’s going to work today. The world is constantly so here are two ideas you can start with.

• Build a strong network: Having people who can help share insights of what is working for them in their business even if they are not in the same industry as you can help spark new ideas and strategies that you may not have thought of before.

• Study competitors: If you are dealing with new issues, and changes to the marketplace so are your competitors. Look at what offers and strategies they are trying to succeed in the new environment.

From the Hard Knocks Library

In Case You Missed It

We shot a short and sweet podcast with Ryan Serhant the star of Bravo tv’s Million Dollar Listing. He talked about his journey into real estate, key factors of his success and how he got his start on Million Dollar Listing New York.🔥

Let Us Hear From You

Do you have any entrepreneurs or stories you would like us to talk about? Please reply back with any ideas or things you would like us to include in future newsletters and we may just cover that story in our next weeks episode!