How do you like them apples?

By Paddy Morgan

Most entrepreneurs had to upskill over the last eighteen months.

Happy Apples, which is a new ice-cream business in Artane, has come about thanks to a complete career change.

The owner of Happy Apples, Siobhan Harte, spoke to Northside People about how the business was established.

“I was struggling to pay rent I had to come up with some ideas,” Siobhan says.

“I had a caravan in my garden and I decided to renovate it at the start of 2021.

“It’s hard to buy good ice-cream in Artane, considering most people love to eat a treat, I was going to do the usual coffee and cakes but my daughter said to me there is nowhere that does good ice-cream in the area that’s local.

“My family have ice-cream parlours named after my brother in Scotland so I got great advice from them.”

As it is a new business Siobhan wasn’t sure how well Happy Apples would go.

“It’s not an industry that I’m used to because I’m a barber, I just wanted to cover the costs for setting up the business and the target is to clear the cost of overall setup in six months.”

The most important thing when opening up a new business is you rely on local support

“I was overwhelmed as all the local people were very supportive,” Siobhan said.

“People love it, it is somewhere for families to go without bringing your car.

“To promote the business we use the usual social media avenues such as Facebook and Instagram.

“I try my best to update our social media channels and I sponsored a local newsletter in the estate I work. Word of mouth works well when it comes to local trade.

“Without a doubt a lot of the time everyone gets busy with life and we look further a field when it comes to shopping, local trade is a big factor for me, everybody has come to terms in how much they need to support local businesses.

“Happy Apples was a bit quieter in July with everything opening back up and with everyone going away but we except to be busy again in August.

“I will have different options in winter, we won’t be open as much but I have a couple of ideas for a few nice warmer dishes to keep our customers warm throughout the winter months.”

It’s always tough trying to set up a new business, especially with it is not the only business that you manage.

“I’m back full time working in the barbers,” Siobhan says.

“I opened my van the same week the Irish Government announced that barbers would be open.

“This was crazy times for me with my old business back functioning and trying to setup a new business this month was the most stressful month in my life.

“It’s important to keep the economy surviving in Ireland especially after the last eighteen months and it’s crucial for local businesses to provide jobs. “I have been able to give more jobs to people that were unemployed and I employed local people.”

Does Siobhan feel that a nice working environment is just as important as knowing the area and your local customers really well?

“Yes of course, without a doubt it’s a nice environment when you know the local neighbours and I always want everyone to be friendly, and to be one family, in both of my businesses.

“That’s very important to me.

“Most entrepreneurs have targets and ambitions for their business, at the moment we will sustain the business this year and then we might look at another Happy Apples down the line.

“I aim to be in more local areas.”

Does Siobhan think that with more people getting vaccinated, support for local business will continue to remain strong?

“I hate to hear so many closing,” she says.

“It’s heartbreaking to see people build their businesses over years and then be gone overnight. “I think whoever goes for ice-cream will go for ice-cream, it’s not a huge treat and it won’t cost much.”