This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello, what's up? Welcome back. This is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. And a lot of our listeners, probably the majority of them in fact, have some kind of day job. And if that's you, I think you should work hard for your employer.
I think you should do a good job, but you should also think about yourself. You create your own security. You are your best backup plan. That in fact is what Side Hustle School is all about. And today's story illustrates this principle well.
It's all about a British pub manager who has a creative idea that he initially uses to help his boss before realizing it might actually be better for himself. We'll also look at this very vital issue of navigating employment and hustling as well in just a moment. [Music]
Deep in the heart of Cambridgeshire, England, the city of Peterborough is just 75 miles from London but operates at a very different pace. For the past decade, Tom Barron has worked as a pub manager in the city. In British culture in particular, pubs serve as community centers.
They are the original third place where people have historically gathered after work to have a pint and catch up with friends and neighbors. Like a lot of things with globalization, the role of pubs is changing in some bigger cities. But in towns and smaller cities, they do still play a vital role. Tom enjoys his work and he also loves cooking, especially cooking street food. And a few years ago, Tom decided to try cooking and selling a few recipes in the pub he managed.
He started with what he called Sunday stews, sandwiches and curries. Now at first he was thinking like a good employee and he put all the profit from these food experiments back into the till. Until one day, he was out mowing the lawn and thinking of how to best spend his time. And he thought, why was he making the food and not making any profit? This wasn't part of his official duties.
It's something he took on for himself. It was completely his own initiative and he did all the work. At the time he had a young son with another on the way and he wanted to do more for his family rather than doing more for someone else. He made a few decisions right then and there. First, he thought about what other items he could sell.
He wanted something sustainable that could be served cold and had a good shelf life. He watched food programs on TV and he saw a chef make scotch eggs. But instead of deep frying them, in a traditional manner, he baked them. That method was not only healthier, it also inspired Tom because he didn't have a deep fryer, but he had an oven. So he started making scotch eggs.
And second, he went to his boss and asked if he could sell his own food items on the bar. Unfortunately, his boss said yes. The great scotch egg experiment began with him charging three pounds each, which is about $4.50, and he changed the recipe each time. He used Instagram and Facebook to post photos and a description of each day's egg, building anticipation, and a group of fans. The scotch egg romance was short-lived.
He eventually fell out of love with it, but that's when he discovered pork pies, which used similar ingredients but take less time to prepare as well as have a longer shelf life. His thinking was that he could spend one morning a week making a big batch of pies while his kids were in school and then pop them in the freezer, just getting out enough to cook fresh for any given day. Now, this was much easier. And not only that, the pies were an even bigger hit. He sold them for two pounds, 50 each, and cleared a profit that year of 4,500 pounds, which is about $5,500.
Then he expanded the range with homemade spiced peanuts and other items. He's now in his fourth year of doing this, and the demand is still strong. And at this point, he actually doesn't have to think much about it. This wasn't just an extra $5,000 a year for Tom. It felt extra special because he used that money for special purchases.
His family puts the cash toward one-off items like holidays, Christmas presents, a new washing machine, a rooftop cargo carrier for the car, all of these things that they use for family days out and other family experiences, while leaving his salary for what he calls the boring things of life. Now, this is a good story on its own and we could stop there, but we won't, because all of this experience gave Tom confidence that his ideas could be profitable, so he decided to open his own pub, which has now been running for seven months and is going great. This pub is called the Bumble Inn, and you might think opening a pub is a big business far beyond what we usually cover on the show, but there's an exciting trend in the UK called MicroPubs, where basically an individual opens up a pub in a closed-down hairdresser shop or butcher shop or chemist shop. It's kind of a revitalization effort, and then they benefit from not being tied to a pub company. It still takes a lot of work, of course, but it's a lot easier than the traditional method and involves far less investment.
Tom still sells his pork pies and bar snacks at the pub he managed for years, but now he also sells them at the Bumble Inn as well. So altogether, it's not just a side hustle anymore. It's now part of his own business and something that he continues building for his family. [Music]
So to start with, Tom is earning $5,500 a year with a side hustle, obviously doing something he enjoys. He enjoys it so much, in fact, that he started doing it only for fun and to help his boss before he realized, "Hey, I should benefit from this too." Now, as I mentioned, Tom had the full blessing of his employer when he was getting started, which definitely is a real benefit, and it doesn't always work out that way.
I hear from people who have a wide range of experiences with this, from having a very supportive employer like Tom did, to those that are kind of lukewarm about any kind of side hustle, and even sometimes employers who are completely hostile to the idea at all. And people navigate those experiences in different ways as well. Some of them might seek to come to some kind of agreement with their boss, perhaps show their boss the benefits that the side hustle is gonna provide. Maybe also make it clear, if that's the case, that they have no intention of leaving their job, they like their job, they just want to do something different, and sometimes that can work. In other cases, I hear from people who kind of go underground and operate their side hustle anonymously for a while, maybe not because it's completely against the rules, but it just might introduce unnecessary complexity to the employment relationship, and others might seek to change their employment situation entirely.
And also, I know we have listeners who are dissatisfied with their jobs and are looking to make a big change. So in all those situations and all those experiences, a side hustle can only help you. I don't believe everyone should be an entrepreneur, but I do think options are great. And as we saw in this story, sometimes your ideas and your vision expands as you gain experience. Tom may or may not have had the idea of opening a pub years ago, but it was only until he had the success of selling the pies, kind of managing that little business himself, that he was able to move forward and actually open that new pub.
So for you over there, I would love to know what your employment situation is, if you're able to share. And I know some people can't. I would love for you to say hi on Twitter or Instagram using #SydusWillSchool, and let me know if you're working on a hustle while you have a day job, and if you're able to say what that hustle is. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. I hope this is helpful to you.
If you want to find the show notes for today's episode, go to sidehustleschool.com/75. I'm Chris Guillebeau, this is "Sydus Will School," and I'll see you tomorrow. [Music]
