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At 15, Brian Troupe tried selling ice cream from a pier on Maryland’s Bohemia River. When customers did not come, he took the ice cream to them by boat. Entrepreneur reports that Troupe’s Treats recorded more than $25,000 in gross sales during the 2026 summer season—not $25,000 in profit. The profile does not provide expense totals or audited accounts, so the business’s take-home earnings are not established.
How Troupe’s Treats got its first customers
Troupe opened Troupe’s Treats at the end of a pier in July 2025, hoping boaters would buy ice cream they could not keep frozen aboard. The location did not attract buyers. Rather than keep waiting at the pier, he used savings to buy a small jon boat, outfitted it with bumpers and other equipment, and began selling directly to people on the water.
Entrepreneur’s October 1, 2026 profile reports that the small boat cost about $700, with roughly $120 more for bumpers and additional equipment. Those reported startup costs are not a full accounting of the business’s expenses.
What the reported sales figures do—and do not—show
The profile describes the following seasonal results. These are reported gross sales, before costs, rather than profit or personal income:
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| Season | Reported average weekend sales | Reported best weekend | Reported season total | Reported changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | About $800 after the switch to boat-based selling | More than $1,200 | Nearly $6,000 in gross sales | Started with items priced at $2; moved from the pier to selling from a small jon boat |
| 2026 | About $1,800 | More than $2,100 | More than $25,000 in gross sales | Added $3 premium bars, bought a larger freezer, and used a Sea-Doo Switch to reach four locations across multiple rivers |
Entrepreneur attributes these figures to Troupe, but its profile does not include receipts, expense records, or an independent audit. Because costs are not reported, the figures cannot establish how much he kept after buying inventory, equipment, or other supplies.
Why the business changed as sales grew
He changed the sales channel
The central pivot was not a new recipe or a large advertising campaign: it was moving from a fixed pier-side stall to the places where potential customers already were. Selling from a boat let Troupe reach boaters directly instead of relying on them to come ashore.
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He adapted the handoff to the setting
Passing ice cream and payment between two moving boats was awkward: customers and seller had to balance while trying not to drop cash or cards into the water. Troupe used a long-handled fishing net, about a foot and a half wide, to pass as many as six items and collect payment. The tool addressed a practical transaction problem as well as the product handoff.
He adjusted inventory and service details
For 2026, Troupe added premium products, including Magnum and Klondike bars at $3, and bought a larger freezer. The profile says he sometimes ran short of $1 bills for change after introducing the higher-priced bars, so he carried $2 bills. Some younger customers found the bills memorable. He also used “I’m in a pickle” stickers beside sold-out items and kept a jar of pickles as a playful stand-in; customers with dogs could get free pup cups.
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The small-business lesson: growth exposes weak points
Troupe’s experience shows why higher sales can create operational problems as well as opportunity. More customers can mean more inventory to store, a need to reach more selling locations, and a handoff process that must work safely on the water. His stated lesson was: “Growth isn’t more customers,” he says. “Growth is finding out what fails when you have more customers.”
His account of the failed pier-side start captures the decision behind the pivot: “It went the worst it could have,” Troupe says. “Luckily for me, I didn’t let that stop me. I looked at it as, This is a problem. Where is a solution? Once that solution was found, it was smooth sailing, no pun intended, from there.”
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