Digital tools are the cherry on top of a local ice cream business

Just across the Cuyahoga river and south of Lake Erie sits Ohio City, one of Cleveland’s oldest neighborhoods. This is where Jesse Mason and Helen Qin came across a vacant ice cream store. They already had a mobile ice cream business, Mason’s Creamery, selling cones from a pop-up space. Now they set out to turn the 60-year-old storefront, with "sprinkles from every decade caked into every crevice," into a permanent location for their sweet treats.

They had a lot of questions. From how to get a business license and secure a health permit to how to build zinc countertops, they went online for help. And since the shop is on a quiet street, its online presence and free Google My Business listing helped Mason’s Creamery scoop up strong reviews and grow its customer base.

Today, the Mason's duo joined hundreds of other small business owners, students, teachers and job seekers at Grow with Google in Cleveland to share their experience as part of the “Get Found on Search and Maps” workshops (oh, and share their ice cream too!). This community event brings together people from all over the Cleveland area for workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions and hands-on demos to learn new digital skills. To learn how free online tools can help you grow your own skills, career or business, visit google.com/grow.