He Started a Side Hustle Selling a Product With 'Great Margins' — Then Grew It to 2,200 Franchises That Make Money 'From Day One'

Tony Lamb is the laminitis and CEO of Kona Ice, the mobile shaved crystal franchise (ranked #30 connected the 2025 Franchise 500) known for its tropical trucks, kid-friendly Flavorwave position and heavy organization involvement. Lamb started retired successful sales, past launched Kona Ice successful 2007, initially arsenic a side hustle to thatch his kids astir business. He felt the crystal pick motortruck exemplary was outdated, often associated pinch mediocre value and unreliable operators. When he considered shaved ice — pinch its debased merchandise and labour costs and its much interactive quality compared to crystal pick — he knew it was the correct fit.

Kona Ice has since grown into a 2,200-unit nationalist franchise that's returned much than $200 cardinal to schools and section organizations. Despite the growth, the brand's $3,000 yearly royalty fee hasn't changed successful astir 2 decades.

During the pandemic, Lamb expanded his portfolio pinch Travelin' Tom's Coffee, a mobile coffee conception (#217 connected the Franchise 500) named aft his begetter and Beverly Ann's Cookies, a dessert motortruck inspired by his mother.

Learn really Lamb built a recession-proof, feel-good franchise business — and what proposal he has for aspiring entrepreneurs — here.

Responses person been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Related: Considering franchise ownership? Get started now to find your personalized database of franchises that lucifer your lifestyle, interests and budget.

How did your anterior acquisition hole you to motorboat a mobile shaved crystal business?
I started trading vacuum cleaners during college, door-to-door, successful Kentucky. I yet graduated and ran six offices, had 300 salespeople and made "rock star" money for a while. It's a reliable business, but it teaches you everything astir mini business: marketing, customer interaction, sourcing and building teams. After that, I did trading consulting for a while. That gave maine the assurance to think, If I tin fig retired vacuums and mobile marketing, I tin fig retired an crystal pick truck.

Related: Emma Grede Dropped Out of School astatine 16. Now the Skims Boss Runs a $4 Billion Empire — Here's How.

What sparked the thought for Kona Ice?
One summer, I was successful my backyard, and an crystal pick motortruck came down the street. My kids ran toward it, and it was everything you pass kids about: a shirtless feline successful a achromatic van pinch a fewer stickers connected the side. I thought, This manufacture is already portion of our culture, but it's been dragged down to the lowest communal denominator. What if we built thing beautiful, unfastened and interactive that parents could trust?

Related: How to Turn Big Business Moments Into Lasting Brand Momentum

Lots of group person awesome ideas. How did you spell from an thought to your first truck?
I knew really to make a conveyance look awesome because I'd built mobile advertisement trucks before. I hired an technologist and a designer, brainstormed everything from layout to customer interaction and built the first motortruck successful 2007. I thought I'd have, maybe, 5 trucks arsenic a broadside hustle to thatch my kids astir business. But erstwhile I fto personification successful the adjacent region effort 1 and they succeeded, I knew I had thing bigger.

Related: How to Recover from a Bad Business Decision (and Rebuild Trust)

You started franchising conscionable a twelvemonth later. Why truthful fast?
A feline saw the motortruck connected picnic and wanted 1 successful Nashville. I realized franchising was the champion measurement to clasp the marque tightly. Safety and spot were central, and you can't get that if anyone tin tally their ain version. I group the royalty astatine $3,000 a twelvemonth — and I've ne'er raised it. I didn't want to get greedy. I wanted franchisees to support the lion's stock of the money.

What were the cardinal innovations that helped Kona Ice grow?
The large 1 is the Flavorwave, a self-serve spirit position connected the broadside of the truck. It gave kids a "keys to the candy store" emotion and justified a higher value point. For franchisees successful colder climates, we added the Kona Mini truthful they could activity indoor events. And, from time one, our franchisees made money, which fueled growth.

Related: What My First Failed Startup Taught Me — and How I Finally Got It Right 20 Years Later

The pandemic wiped retired each events for a important magnitude of time. How did you adapt?
We were 95% event-based, and wrong 2 weeks, each arena was gone. I spent 2 days successful the fetal position, past we launched "Curbside Kona" utilizing adapted transportation software. Customers booked stops online; we optimized routes and texted them presence times. That saved america successful April and May. From there, we built a $4 cardinal civilization platform, Kona OS, which now handles everything from routing to marketing. It has made scaling overmuch easier.

Kona Ice is besides known for giving back. How did that start?
In 2008, during the economical crisis, PTAs told maine they had nary budget. I offered to travel to schools, waste to kids and springiness the PTA 25 to 30% back. Shaved crystal has awesome margins, truthful why not? It locked america into the organization — we weren't conscionable trading a product; we were helping money helmets, playgrounds, uniforms. That became our culture, and now our franchisees person fixed backmost complete $200 million.

Related: Want to Own a Franchise? This 3-Tier Approach Can Help You Choose Wisely.

You've since launched Travelin' Tom's Coffee and Beverly Ann's Cookies. What was the inspiration to motorboat those brands?
During Covid downtime, I dusted disconnected immoderate concepts I'd been sitting on. We prototyped a java motortruck and named it aft my dada — a colorful, gregarious guy. It took off. Then I created a cookie-and-ice-cream motortruck named aft my mom, utilizing her assemblage image connected the side. Both brands usage the aforesaid mobile vending principles that make Kona successful.

Looking back, what's the azygous astir important determination you made that group Kona Ice connected this path?
Not changing the royalty. Investors person told maine to move to a percentage, but that's not who we are. Keeping it astatine $3,000 a twelvemonth makes franchisees patient and keeps title out. You can't build what we've built and complaint what we complaint — and I want the group doing the activity to make the money.

Join apical CEOs, founders and operators astatine the Level Up convention to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting gross and building sustainable success.