When teenage sisters Zo and Lydia Hayne set out to launch their own food truck operation in 2023, they hoped they’d be able to sell at least 50 donuts a week. Four weeks later, they’d moved more than 15,000 of their delectable mini donuts.
In just three years, these two young entrepreneurs have expanded their business to include five trucks with the support of 20 seasonal employees across three Michigan beach towns – Sawyer, New Buffalo, and St. Joseph. So how exactly did Zo and Lydia turn a clever summer hustle into a rapidly growing seasonal business?
To find out, we invited the Hayne sisters to drop by for our most recent episode of So You Want To Run a Restaurant. They joined co-hosts Claudia Saric and Spencer Michiel to share the secrets to the incredible overnight success of Zo's Mini Donuts.
On the Road to Success
Zo was just 15 when she had the idea for her mini donut food truck business. She sat down with her family, did a bit of math, and figured she could make the business profitable by selling just sixty donuts a week.
“So I got red and white paint, I mixed it with my dad in the basement of my house, and we put it on this vintage Coca Cola trailer that I found, just literally on the side of the road,” said Zo.
That lucky find became the trademark pink food truck that Zo would use to launch her business. There was just one other thing she needed to launch her business – a way to get around. Her older sister Lydia was 17 and had both a driver’s license and natural instinct for marketing. While Zo was too young to drive her own food truck, she did discover that you can pull a health department permit at the age of 15. So that’s exactly what she did. Lydia drove her to do that as well.
“Then we opened our first day," said Zo, “and our grandparents were our first customers for the first hour and a half.”
Finding the Sweet Spot
But word got out fast…really fast.
“Next thing you know,” said Lydia, “we sold out of all the ingredients we had planned for the week in a day.”
Success came on so quickly that Zo and Lydia didn’t have a food supplier yet. They were buying ingredients piecemeal at local grocery stores every single night.
“We were not a real restaurant at that point," said Lydia. “So every day we would sell out on time or earlier. We couldn't even keep up with supplies. And then we started doing night shifts as well.”
“It was crazy,” Lydia said. “We spent so much of our time driving during our first year just to get the best grocery store prices.”
Five Takeaways From Our Chat With Zo and Lydia
Quite a lot has changed in just a few seasons of operation. Naturally, Zo’s Mini Donuts has a food supplier to keep up with incredible demand that now greets them each summer. Today, the Hayne sisters spend less time at the grocery store and more time delegating to their growing staff, prepping perfect donuts, and planning for the future of their business.
Of course, many of those plans will have to wait until Zo graduates from high school. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite moments from our chat with the Hayne sisters.
1. Filling a Hole in the Local Market
Lydia credits her younger sister with the initial idea for Zo’s Mini Donuts. She explained, “The reason she wanted to do this in the first place was because she felt like there was something missing in our town. There were no good late night affordable snacks.”
Filling that void with a donut-powered food truck business seemed like an intuitive move. But neither of the girls anticipated just how big the demand was. Lydia said, “We didn't realize how much of a market gap there really was until we showed up and the market came to us.”
When the market did show up, both Zo and Lydia were putting in long daily hours in the truck just to satisfy a suddenly enormous demand. But as Lydia told us, “There was an adrenaline high that we would feel. It never felt like work. It was just joy.”
2. Making it All About the Product
That quick success wasn’t a fluke. And their youth was not a gimmick.
“Super cool that we're young,” Lydia mused. “But really, Zo's donuts are the best donuts you've ever had in your life. They are so good that we really set ourselves apart.”
Beyond just stepping into a gap in the marketplace, the Hayne sisters filled that gap with a superior product. Lydia is happy to boast on her sister’s behalf.
“We didn't invent donuts. Donuts have been around forever,” said Lydia, “but we make sure they're hot and fresh and consistent for you every time.”
3. Keeping It Simple
With just three classic donuts on the menu, Zo’s Mini Donuts isn’t about exotic new combinations and untested flavor profiles. It’s about doing the basic things to absolute perfection.
As Zo explained, “We believe in simplicity. We always say, K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid.”
That’s why the full menu includes just glazed, cinnamon sugar, and powdered sugar. Of course, at the rate they’re selling them, Zo’s Mini Donuts already goes through hundreds of pounds of flour and powdered sugar every summer. Even with all of this demand, Lydia and Zo both approach any changes or additions to the menu with careful planning and patience.
“We see introducing coffee, maybe,” said Zo. “And we always say that once our millionth donut is sold, then we'll start selling chocolate.”
4. Building The Perfect Team
“Our team is insane,” said Lydia. “We are a fun brand, and we do a lot of fun stuff, but I can't even explain the caliber of staff that we have.”
Lydia noted that she and her sister are always impressed by the commitment their team members have shown to the overall mission. Service is a particularly important part of what makes Zo’s Mini Donuts successful. As Lydia explained, “If you want to come work for us, you should know that this is better than Chick-fil-A level service. If that's not for you, this probably isn't the job for you.”
Team members have responded to this challenge by exceeding expectations at every turn.
“When they say they are with us, it means they believe in that mission times ten,” said Lydia. “And they have just blown us away with how hard they've worked.”
5. Graduating To Brick and Mortar
Business is highly seasonal in the Lake Michigan region where Zo’s Mini Donuts operates. That makes the food truck model a smart bet. This approach comes with very few off-season costs and huge benefits once the summer kicks into high gear. As Lydia explained, “We've chosen three beach towns that all have either a beautiful beach on Lake Michigan or a state park. The population increase is really unfathomable in the summers.”
But it's not seasonality that’s keeping the Hayne sisters from setting up shop year-round.
“The real reason we haven't transitioned to full brick and mortar is because Zo's still in high school,” said Lydia. “We just wanted to get through her education first. But we would love to be year-round as soon as we are able to.”
Scaling Up Your Operation
Considering all the Hayne sisters have achieved before even finishing their high school education, it is truly inspiring to imagine what they’d do next. To hear more, including the story of how Zo and Lydia cornered the market for endorsements by local athletes, check out the whole podcast.
And for all the tools and tech you’ll need to scale up your own business, schedule your free, personalized consultation with one of our in-house restaurant tech experts and we’ll figure it out together.
