The scoop on Smith Mountain Lake

HUONG FRALIN | Laker Weekly

Ice Cream Float, the lake's only ice cream boat, roams the coves along the Roanoke every summer, stopping at docks so residents can purchase sweet treats.

HUONG FRALIN | Laker Weekly

Ryan (left) and Travis Burke have been operating the ice cream boat on the lake for 10 years, during which they've never raised prices.

At 25, Travis Burke is starting to feel old. For the past 10 years, he and brother Ryan, 21, have been manning an ice cream boat, delivering sweet treats to docks along the Roanoke River channel of the lake.

"One kid down the road, Jake, was our first regular," said Travis. "He was like 1 year old. Now he's as tall as I am. It makes me feel old."

Recently, one of their adult customers turned the tables on them.

"They said: How do you think it makes me feel?" said Travis. "They've seen us growing for 10 summers now, too."

When the Burke brothers ventured into the ice cream delivery business, they were 15 and 11 and had no business experience. Thanks to a loan from their parents, Bill and Frieda Burke of Hardy, they were able to get their entrepreneurial toes wet.

"We didn't even know if it would last a summer," said Travis.

Now in their tenth summer, the ice cream boat has become an icon on the lake, he said. Regular customers are disappointed when rain keeps the boat away, and tourists often hunt down the boat to see it for themselves.

Although the business has been popular, the brothers admitted it has never been a profitable operation. After paying for the ice cream, gasoline for the boat, business insurance and boat maintenance, they barely break even. But the Burkes don't see that as a business failure.

"It was never about making money," said Travis. "We just wanted to try a business."

The brothers also aren't dependent upon the ice cream boat's revenue to survive; they live with their parents and work other jobs. Over the years, they've learned how to be business savvy and watch the bottom line, adjusting the budget to accommodate growing expenses.

"People always thought gas prices were going to affect us the most," said Travis, adding that gasoline was about $1.40 a gallon their first summer. "But the actual percentage-wise, ice cream went up far, far more than gas did."

Dairy industry increases have sent ice cream prices up several times. And as gasoline prices have increased, so has the cost of delivery.

The easiest solution, one many business owners make, would have been to raise prices, said Travis. But the Burkes never have. For 10 summers, their ice cream prices have stayed at $1 and $1.50, canned sodas still are 50 cents and bottled water is $1.

Instead, the brothers compare prices from ice cream companies and switch brands to save a few cents per fudge bar, popsicle or ice cream sandwich. They do most of the boat maintenance and repairs themselves. And when the boat's outboard engine died a few years ago, they negotiated a business loan with their father for a new engine and dutifully made loan payments for two years.

They've also learned strict time management, juggling the ice cream boat with both college and profitable jobs. When Travis attended Longwood University, working toward a business degree, he said he was ahead of his classmates because of his experience. But it was his devotion to keeping ice cream prices low that made him stand out.

"I didn't really fit in with the other business students at Longwood," said Travis. "They were all about maximizing profits."

Ryan is a junior at Ferrum College where he's pursuing a degree in parks and recreation leadership. He's taking summer classes, which sometimes cuts into the 80- to 100-hour week the brothers put in each summer on the ice cream boat. On days when Ryan needs to study or complete assignments, Travis floats the boat solo.

During the off-season, Travis works at 4DD Studios in Roanoke, a Styrofoam sculpture design business. He's also on call during the summer, which sometimes leaves Ryan working alone.

Ryan said working the ice cream boat also has helped them hone their people skills. The brothers sometimes spend 15 to 30 minutes talking with their regular customers and building relationships with new ones.

"All the people out there are like family now," said Ryan. "They invite us to cookouts and dinners."

It's an unusual business relationship, said Travis. At most stores, the shopkeeper thanks the customer for buying from them, he said. With the ice cream boat, the customer thanks the Burkes for selling to them.

"Nine out of 10 docks, we leave saying, 'You're welcome,'" said Travis. "Ryan and I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely say, 'thank you,' to the many, many people who have thanked us. It is because of them, and for them, that the ice cream boat exists."

Those customer relationships and the smiles they see on children's faces when the ice cream boat floats into their coves, makes the hard work and long hours worth it, the brothers said.

"After 10 years, I guess we learned that running your own business is a lot of work, but if you enjoy it, it doesn't seem like work," said Travis. "It's more like a labor of love."

The Burkes have received several inquiries from people offering to buy the business if the brothers ever decide to sell. Travis and Ryan said that will never happen.

"They would be concerned about making money," said Ryan.

The new owners likely would increase prices, which could taint people's opinions of the Burke brothers, said Ryan. It also could alienate customers that can't afford a $4 ice cream sandwich, said Travis.

Instead of selling the business, they'll just quit one day and leave the pontoon boat in the lift, said Travis. That day could be a long way off.

"Whenever I see the little kids that I knew about before they were born, when they start having kids, I'm going to quit," said Ryan.

Travis may outlast his brother's ice cream boat career.

"Ryan keeps telling me I'm going to be an old man out there, all gray, with a walker," said Travis. "I don't want it to end."

As Travis laughed, Ryan deadpanned: "He'll see the grandchildren grow up. It's no joke."

For more information, visit theicecreamboat.com.