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ACADEMIC ABSTRACT
Chilly Dilly's Ice Cream Company: Building a Brand Name is a case about a young entrepreneur whose dream is to build a regional ice cream empire much like last century's Good Humor brand. Dylan is faced with trying to grow his business in one of the United State's worst economic climates since the Great Depression. Students are armed with information about both the ice cream and street vendor industries to help Dylan decide whether he should fund his company's growth through debt, equity, or perhaps use a franchise model to grow the Chilly Dilly's brand.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The United States' worst economic downturn since the Great Depression is the backdrop for this case about a young ice cream entrepreneur named Dylan. Dylan started Chilly Dilly's in his home town of York, Pennsylvania, while earning a Bachelors degree in Entrepreneurship. His dream was to create a highly recognizable regional brand much like last century's Good Humor Ice Cream.
The case opened at the end of Dylan's second full year of business as he calculated Chilly Dilly's financial position. While the company's sales and net profit increased by triple digits, Dylan was frustrated by his lack of capital to grow his young company to what he knew was its full potential. The reader is presented with several capital sources to ponder that Dylan may pursue.
The Chilly Dilly's case makes the following contributions to entrepreneurship education and practitioners. First, it helps instructors illustrate the types of capital that entrepreneurs may choose to grow their young enterprise. In addition to the more traditional sources of debt capital, the case highlights a fairly new source of capital through peer to-peer lending websites.
Second, the case and the instructor's notes discuss franchising as an alternative means to grow Chilly Dilly's. They include creating a stream of revenue for future corporate growth; growing his business more quickly through franchises; and building a regionally recognizable brand name through opening locations that are more geographically dispersed.
Finally, the case invites readers to explore whether Chilly Dilly's had the necessary resources to fuel a fast growth strategy. Perhaps the Dylan needed to step back and ensure that Chilly Dilly's had a solid foundation, not only financially, but also operationally. This...