07/17/2025
📢📢ANNOUNCEMENT: I am excited to announce that I am planning to sell my cotton candy business! If you are a local family who would be interested in helping your teen or tween run their own small business, I would love to transfer my entire set up to your family (instead of selling off my equipment piece by piece 😬.) I've been enjoying working at the elementary and want to try my hand at substitute teaching, and unfortunately, my kids have ZERO interest in making money, so I'm not going to force them to continue the business--it's clearly time for me to pass this business on to another family or individual who likes making kids happy and spreading joy in our community! 🥰.
If you or your kids might be interested in this business, you could job shadow me this weekend at Sauk Centre's Sinclair Lewis Days festival (Friday 6-10pm, Saturday 9am-3pm.) Just show up and I'll show you how it works!
If you're interested, read on for LOTS of details about what it would be like to run a cotton candy side-hustle: Cotton candy is a lucrative summer business, but I just want to make it clear that while the hourly rate is good, this is a VERY part-time job. There aren't enough festivals within 1-hour driving distance to work every weekend. You could do maybe 2 festivals a month and sell anywhere between $300-$900 of candy per 6-9 hour day. So this would not make for a full-time summer income. Farmer's markets sell even less ($100-$300 per 3 hour market) but they are SO MUCH FUN! For the sake of transparency, I did $8,500 of sales in 2024 and $4,700 in 2023, so your income really depends on how many events you want to attend. You could also just do just 3-4 events per summer and your kids could make $2,000 for the summer, and that would be fun and low-commitment.
Also, unless you want to license a food truck, you will need to make the cotton candy at home and bring it in plastic tubs in your van or truck to the events. So you need a clean space indoors to make and bag the product. Moreover, this is is a job where the hours are on your weekends, and the weather can be really hot and the festival hours can be long. So if you're over 65 or not able-bodied, this wouldn't be a great fit for you.
If you want your kids to run the business but they can't drive yet, you would need to drive your kids to an event, help them set up the tent, and then come back at the end of the event to help them take down the tent and pack up your car. Set up takes about 20 minutes with 2 people, 45 minutes when I do it by myself. If your kid is under 13, they should have an older sibling or parent present for the event.
Well now that I've tried to talk you out of the cotton candy business, if you're still excited about the idea, shoot me a message, text or email ([email protected]). My dream for Jubilee Cotton Candy would be for it to go to a family whose kids are excited about starting their own business and making more money per hour than they would working at a standard first job like Pizza Ranch. Plus it's way more satisfying to work for yourself, your kids will gain amazing people skills, and it's just so darn fun to see the joy on kids' faces as you make their day!
I haven't priced out my supplies yet, so I don't know how much I will sell the business for, but I'm guessing somewhere between $2,000-$6,000, depending on how much interest there is and what my supplies are worth (my machine is only 2 years old, and it's worth $1,500 right now if I sell it on Ebay,) so I have to sell the business for at least $2,000. I'm open to being paid in trade, if you have a skill to share (like plumbing, car repair etc) or a farm product to barter with (like meat, eggs etc.) Your kids could also pay me progressively, as they bring in income at each event, if that would be a better fit for your family than paying all at once.
Stay sweet my friends, and don't let the sugar-haters get you down! Life is meant to be enjoyed, and when consumed in moderation, ANY food can be part of a balanced diet 🥰😜
