At Age 15, He Started Selling a Sweet Product for $2. His Business Broke $25,000 Final Summer: ‘Smooth Sailing, No Pun Intended.’

Maryland-based teenager Brian Troupe, now 16, was on a ship experience with a neighbor when enterprise inspiration struck. 

The man talked about that somebody used to promote meals to boaters, cooking it one location, then delivering it to a different. Troupe loves being out on the water, and he wished to make some more money. So he began brainstorming.

“ I thought quite a bit about how I can kind of sneak past some food certifications and not have to have a sink on a boat and all of this extra equipment,” Troupe tells Entrepreneur. “And still having something that a lot of boaters don’t have on their boat.” 

It’s common for boaters to hold sandwiches, chips and related snacks on board, Troupe notes. However, frozen treats, like ice cream, are much less frequent — as a result of plenty of boats don’t have freezers. Then 15 years previous, Troupe determined to run with the concept. 

He bought a freezer with funds he’d earned doing chores, stocked up on ice cream and opened Troupe’s Treats for enterprise on the finish of a pier on the Bohemia River in July 2025. Unfortunately, issues didn’t go precisely in accordance with plan. 

“ I sat there hoping for the best, and it was the worst,” Troupe says. “Nobody came by. Absolutely nobody would pull up anchor and stop. So I learned from that.”

Troupe’s Treats noticed almost $6,000 in product sales in 2025

Troupe realized he didn’t want to attend for patrons to hunt his product out — he might carry it proper to them. The younger entrepreneur used his financial savings to spend money on a small jon boat, which price about $700, and outfitted it with bumpers and additional gear for about $120 extra. 

The first weekend of gross sales instantly validated his new technique. Troupe priced his choices at $2 apiece and introduced in about $400. As the summer time unfolded, Troupe averaged $800 per weekend promoting from the jon boat, hitting greater than $1,200 on his greatest weekend ever. He closed that summer time season with almost $6,000 in product sales. 

Going into summer time 2026, Troupe was able to make some adjustments and develop his enterprise much more. 

He upgraded from store-brand to premium ice cream merchandise, like Magnum and Klondike bars, and charged $3 for them. He additionally invested in a bigger freezer and a much bigger boat, the Sea-Doo Switch. The Switch might deal with extra vary, permitting him to go from visiting only one location to 4 in a number of rivers. 

The teen has additionally carried out some artistic methods alongside the best way in response to one of many greatest classes he’s realized up to now: “Growth isn’t more customers,” he says. “Growth is finding out what fails when you have more customers.”

Addressing a logistical problem

One logistical hurdle Troupe wanted to beat? The less-than-straightforward transaction course of on the water. 

“ Imagine trying to give somebody an ice cream with waves crashing, and you’re sitting here trying to balance on a boat, and you’ve got another person trying to balance on a boat while not dropping money or credit cards into the water,” Troupe says. “It becomes a comical scene.” 

So Troupe leaned into his nautical theme and purchased fishing nets to streamline the trade. With a few foot-and-a-half large internet and lengthy deal with, Troupe can transport six gadgets at a time to his clients. Then they’ll place their fee proper again inside the web. 

Bringing $2 payments on board

Once Troupe began charging $3 for his premium merchandise, he encountered one other problem: developing with precise change on the water. The new value level meant folks wanted $2 again extra typically, he explains, and generally he ran out of $1 payments. 

So Troupe started bringing $2 payments on board. Not solely did it guarantee his clients acquired precise change, however it additionally served as a enjoyable studying expertise for youthful children who’d by no means seen the invoice — and as a savvy solution to keep top-of-mind. 

“ Later down the line, if they go to look into their wallet and see that there’s a $2 bill, it makes somebody think back to the interaction they had with me, [serving as] a memorable marketing tactic,” Troupe says. 

Using humor to navigate sold-out merchandise

Additionally, Troupe has enjoyable with one other all-too-common enterprise conundrum — promoting out of sure gadgets. 

Not wanting to go away clients with a unfavorable impression when some treats aren’t accessible, Troupe began to put “I’m in a pickle” stickers subsequent to sold-out gadgets. 

But he additionally took it a humorous step additional, buying a jar of pickles in case somebody does wish to substitute the briny snack for a candy one. 

“ It just kind of became a joking thing, and if anybody actually really wanted to order a pickle, it’s the same price as my ice creams,” Troupe says. 

The teen entrepreneur doesn’t wish to disappoint boaters’ canine companions, both. He provides free pup cups to clients with canines. 

Troupe’s Treats broke $25,000 in product sales final summer time

Troupe’s good enterprise methods paid dividends this previous summer time. On a median weekend, Troupe’s Treats noticed about $1,800, surpassing $2,100 on its greatest. Gross gross sales broke $25,000 for the 2026 season. 

Troupe plans to function the enterprise subsequent summer time and says he can “100%” see himself remaining an entrepreneur — however he has one other main profession ambition, too. 

Since he was seven years previous, Troupe has been fascinated by curler coasters and the engineering behind them. He attends the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) expo every year to community with the companies that design and manufacture curler coasters. 

Troupe attends a commerce highschool, specializing in engineering. At this time, he plans to forgo faculty and leverage his community and ability set to land a job within the trade. 

“ I can even see myself, once I’m a lot older, passing [Troupe’s Treats] down to somebody to give another teenager the same opportunity that I had,” Troupe says. “Because this opportunity has really provided me with a lot of education, experience — and a lot more than I could have ever thought.”

Mentorship results in a collaboration with Kii Arens

Troupe encourages younger entrepreneurs who wish to begin a enterprise of their very own to attach with mentors who would possibly assist them hit milestones they couldn’t have imagined. 

For occasion, one among Troupe’s mentors is aware of the artist Kii Arens, who’s created work for stars together with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton, and occurred to say the teenager’s ice cream enterprise.

“It wasn’t a pitch or a request for artwork,” Troupe explains. “He just thought Kii might get a kick out of the idea of a 16-year-old selling ice cream from a boat. Apparently something about it caught Kii’s imagination, because the conversation eventually turned into him creating an original piece inspired by me and Troupe’s Treats.”

But maybe essentially the most priceless piece of recommendation Troupe would give to younger entrepreneurs is that this: Always depart room to fail. He goes again to his “lemonade-stand”-like first try on the finish of the pier. It flopped; he made $0. But he wouldn’t be the place he’s at the moment with out it. 

“ 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.”

Maryland-based teenager Brian Troupe, now 16, was on a ship experience with a neighbor when enterprise inspiration struck. 

The man talked about that somebody used to promote meals to boaters, cooking it one location, then delivering it to a different. Troupe loves being out on the water, and he wished to make some more money. So he began brainstorming.

“ I thought quite a bit about how I can kind of sneak past some food certifications and not have to have a sink on a boat and all of this extra equipment,” Troupe tells Entrepreneur. “And still having something that a lot of boaters don’t have on their boat.”