Ben and Jerry's: 9 scoops of wisdom that transformed two "failures in life" into $500m+ ice cream emperors

Scan time: 3-4 min / Read time: 5-7 min

Hey rebel solopreneurs 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️

"I don't have the special talents that successful entrepreneurs seem to have."

Sound familiar? That voice gets louder every time you see other founders with seemingly magical business instincts, right?

Meet Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield who felt exactly the same way before building Ben & Jerry's into a $500 million ice cream empire with nothing but basic common sense.

But here's the crazy part - how do you compete when everyone else seems to have some secret entrepreneurial gift you're missing?

🍹 The humble beginnings...

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield first met in junior high gym class in 1964.

They were both the slowest, most out-of-shape kids running laps around the track.

Ben says they bonded over being "the fattest, slowest kids in the class" who always finished dead last.

After high school, they went separate ways for college - Jerry to study pre-med at Oberlin, Ben bouncing between multiple schools.

Jerry worked scooping ice cream in his college cafeteria to pay for school, then got rejected from medical school twice.

Ben dropped out of every college he tried - Colgate, Skidmore, NYU, even the ultra-flexible University Without Walls.

While Jerry worked as a lab technician, Ben drifted through dead-end jobs - McDonald's cashier, Pinkerton guard, taxi driver, pottery wheel deliverer.

Both felt like complete failures and were ashamed of what they'd achieved by their mid-twenties.

Jerry was dejected about his medical school rejections, Ben couldn't sell the pottery he tried making.

Then Jerry showed up at Ben's dingy New York apartment, ready to figure out their next move together.

They decided to do something fun since nothing else was working - maybe open a food shop in a college town.

But how do two total failures with zero business experience even begin?

🔥 The $5 course that changed everything

They started brainstorming food ideas for a college town business.

At first, they considered opening a bagel cafe and went to price out equipment.

But when the bagel-making machinery cost more than they could afford, they pivoted to ice cream instead.

Here was the problem: neither knew anything about making ice cream.

So they signed up for a $5 correspondence course from Penn State University.

The course came with a thick textbook called "Ice Cream" by Wendell S. Arbuckle, the father of modern American ice cream.

Ben couldn't understand most of the complex science, but Jerry's biochemistry background from his failed medical school attempts finally paid off.

Of course, they both aced the course - it was their favorite subject!

But here's the thing - how do you compete when you have no money and no experience?

📊 The clicker approach

They needed to find the perfect location in Burlington, Vermont but had no idea how to pick one.

So they bought a simple clicker and stood at street corners counting foot traffic.

Ben would methodically click as people passed by to figure out which spots had the most potential customers.

Picture this: two guys just standing there clicking away like they're counting sheep!

This wasn't some fancy market research - it was pure common sense from an SBA manual.

They knew ice cream was an impulse purchase, so they needed high foot traffic.

When they found the right spot across from City Hall Park, they rented a dilapidated old gas station nobody else wanted.

The parking spaces where gas pumps used to be turned into the perfect drive-up ice cream spot.

But wait - what happens when the bank wants a business plan and you have no clue how to write one?

📝 The pizza plan hack

The bank demanded a business plan for their loan, but Ben and Jerry had never written one.

Their friend Jeff at the Small Business Administration got them a copy of a pizza parlor business plan.

Get this - they literally crossed out "slice of pizza" everywhere and wrote "ice cream cone" instead.

When their numbers showed they'd lose money, they simply bumped up their projected sales to show a profit.

The bank bought it and gave them the loan.

Sometimes you don't need perfect planning - you just gotta be resourceful and have the courage to start.

Things were going well until winter hit and sales crashed...

❄️ The celsius promotion genius

Winter in Vermont meant ice cream sales plummeted and they couldn't make loan payments.

Instead of panicking, Jerry came up with POPCDBZWE - "penny off per celsius degree below zero winter extravaganza."

The colder it got, the cheaper the ice cream became.

At 32 degrees below freezing, customers saved significant money on their 52-cent cones.

Brilliant, right?

They turned their biggest disadvantage - cold weather - into their biggest marketing advantage.

This creative promotion kept them alive during the brutal first winter.

But here's where it gets wild - their real breakthrough came from an unexpected disability...

👃 The nose that couldn't smell

Ben had anosmia - he couldn't smell anything, which seemed like a huge disadvantage for making ice cream.

But here's the crazy part - this "disability" became their secret weapon.

While competitors focused on flavor and smell, Ben had to rely on taste and texture.

He pushed for large chunks of chocolate fudge and cookie dough instead of small pieces.

Customers went wild for the chunky texture that no one else was doing.

What looked like a limitation became their signature differentiator.

Can you imagine?

Then their amateur approach to business almost killed them...

💸 The generous scoop problem

Ben and Jerry were terrible at business basics but amazing at making customers happy.

They gave away huge scoops because they loved seeing customers smile.

Jerry said "When you scoop out a nice, big scoop for a customer, you get this beautiful smile and really warm response."

Their portion control was so bad they had to close the store one day just to figure out their finances.

They put up a sign: "We're closed because we're trying to figure out what's going on."

Honestly? That's kinda adorable.

Eventually they hired Fred "Chico" Lager to handle the business side while they focused on what they did best.

But then they made the boldest promise of their lives...

🎁 The free cone promise

During their first year, Ben and Jerry were convinced they'd probably fail.

So they made a crazy promise: if they were still in business after one year, they'd give away free ice cream for an entire day.

They figured it was pretty unlikely they'd survive, but if they did, it would be because customers supported them.

The promise created buzz throughout Burlington - people started rooting for these two guys to make it.

When the anniversary came around, they were still open and had to honor their commitment.

The free cone day created massive lines, incredible word-of-mouth, and became an annual tradition that still exists today.

But their real test came when winter nearly killed their business...

🆘 The winter survival mentor

By mid-winter, sales were dismal and they couldn't make their loan payments.

They were panicking until they discovered SCORE - Service Corps of Retired Executives.

A mentor named Manny taught them to ask the bank for a moratorium on their loan.

Instead of defaulting, they could pay just the interest until sales picked up in spring.

To their surprise, the bank agreed and extended the payment terms.

That free advice from an experienced businessman saved their entire company.

Just when things were looking up, a corporate giant tried to destroy them...

⚔️ The doughboy rebellion

Pillsbury felt threatened by Ben & Jerry's growth and gave distributors an ultimatum: sell Häagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's, but not both.

Ben and Jerry couldn't afford a legal battle against this massive corporation.

So they launched the "What's the doughboy afraid of?" campaign, targeting Pillsbury's beloved mascot.

Jerry picketed Pillsbury headquarters with hand-lettered signs.

They put 1-800 numbers on ice cream containers and got hundreds of calls from supporters willing to help fight the corporate giant.

Talk about David vs. Goliath!

The bad publicity forced Pillsbury to back down.

💰 The epic win

Ben and Jerry's first year was rough - they barely survived that brutal Vermont winter and couldn't even make their loan payments.

But their authentic approach and creative marketing built a loyal following that spread far beyond Burlington.

By 1984, they hit $4 million in sales - a 120% increase from the previous year.

The company eventually grew to over $500 million in revenue with stores worldwide, proving that two "failures" could build one of the most beloved brands in America.

🥂 Your turn to break the rules!

That's it, my fellow rebels!

The truth is simple - Ben and Jerry proved that you don't need special entrepreneurial gifts to build something amazing.

Your willingness to learn, adapt, and care about your customers matters way more than having some magical business talent.

I have a feeling you're about to prove everyone wrong about what it takes to succeed.

Keep zoooming! 🚀🍹

Yours 'anti-hustle' vijay peduru 🦸‍♂️