Young Manitoba entrepreneur just does it for the smiles

Children of Lorette have been finding it easier lately to get their hands on some ice cream.

“When I see the ice cream truck, there are kids screaming at the top of their lungs, and like, being really happy because they want to get something,” explains 13-year-old entrepreneur Ethan Cochrane.

Cochrane’s mother Jolynn says he has always been an inventor of sorts, choosing to do things that had practical applications. “He just kind of budded into this creative person who would constantly, just out of nowhere, come up with these crazy, wacky ideas.”

Ethan says his motivation is not even the money, but what he enjoys most is driving around and interacting with people. “To be honest, I’m just saving my money. I’m not sure what I going to get or save up for.”

Still, the young business owner is not afraid to add up the dollars while explaining where the initial idea came from.

“It’s always wild seeing their smiles,” remarks Cochrane regarding the responses from children buying ice cream, “so I decided to start my own business, and also make some money because, why not?”

Cochrane found his ice cream cart from a store online, and with the help of two local craftsmen, retrofitted it for his freezer and then added some decals.

His mother helped him through the process of attaining permits by starting with a google search and going from there. “As far as the policies and stuff, that was a joint effort between Ethan and I,” explains Jolynn who guided him through government websites and contacted municipal authorities.

Asked how she assists and spurs on her son’s creativity, Jolynn says she and her husband simply remain accessible. “Just keeping our minds open and letting him share with us what his current ideas are and not putting on the brakes for certain types of activities.”

She relays a story of Ethan’s dream to build a fort and says his father helped him through every step of the process. “He drew the model and figured out what materials they would need and he took a couple of trips to the hardware store.”

The result of offering a lesson in the theory of creation and how to have an idea and see it to fruition.

Perhaps an inventor, engineer, or businessman in the making, Ethan is taking things in stride and explains what he is enjoying most.

“The thing I will always remember is seeing how happy the kids are,” says the thoughtful young business owner, “because it’s always wild seeing smiles on their faces in my opinion.”