Short Order Cook Turns Pancake Art Into Six-Figure Business

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Guess what everybody, this is Side Hustle School. I'm Chris Guillebeau and you're listening to episode 1000. That's right, 1000 episodes that we have made. I can hardly believe it myself. As I was working on the notes for this, I was like, wow, it feels like only yesterday, or maybe it was 999 days ago that we were getting started with this mission to bring you stories of people all over the world, creating freedom for themselves through the form of an income generating project.

What's different about Side Hustle School? Well, we're featuring real people, not people who are born entrepreneurs, people with jobs, people just doing regular stuff, but also want to make some kind of change, create more options or freedom for themselves. Okay, so you know what? Let's not waste time on self-congratulations because I really have an excellent story for you today. A short order diner cook working the graveyard shift turns his pancake art into an internationally loved art form.

He goes from putting smiley faces on late night pancakes into making them with the incredible likeness of figures like Katy Perry and many more. He's got all kinds of designs. Along the way, he does events with Disney. He and his business partner have turned this into an operation bringing in close to half a million dollars a year, half a million dollars a year all from pancake art. Now the purpose of Side Hustle School is to shine a spotlight on stories like these, just like this guy discovered, sometimes the best path to transformation is right in front of your griddle.

We're calling it short order cook turns pancake art into six-figure business. And this story is coming right up. Don't go anywhere. [Music]

How does a diner cook on the graveyard shift end up bringing in $450,000 a year as the co-owner of a brand that makes pancake art? It's a fantastic story and a great example of what happens when weird and wonderful talent comes together.

In the beginning, there was just Dan, a man with a pan but no plan. Dan is Daniel Drake, a short order cook in St. Louis, Missouri, who discovered one day that a smiley face pancake could bring in a $15 tip on an otherwise slow day at the diner. From that first funny flapjack came the revelation that would change everything. Pancakes don't have to be round and they can take on any kind of design and shape you can pour into a griddle.

A few layering tricks later, and Dan was the man of the diner, using colored batter to draw and create incredibly detailed characters and logos out of pancakes. It started when a customer asked if he could bring his pancake art to a party. Now at this point, Dan had never taken his edible art on the road, but he agreed to try. Then he turned to his buddy, Hank, and said, "Hey, I just promised to do pancake art at a party. Can you help me figure this out?" From there, Dan and Hank then did a bunch of house and birthday parties in St. Louis, learning along the way.

It was a messy process, literally. Hank also had a side hustle as a video producer and created music videos for bands. So it was natural for him to use his skills to make videos of the pancake art creations, which they began to post online. Images of Dan making a pancake in the shape of a Super Mario Brothers mushroom went viral and hit the front page of Reddit. That's when the Today Show came calling and the company they were now calling Dan Cakes was off and running.

By the time they de-planed from their appearance on the show, their phones were filled with requests for events. Birthday parties, weddings, trade show appearances, it was all part of making the Dan Cakes concept sell like, well, sell like hotcakes. What can I say? It was obvious. But how does a company like Dan Cakes make batter matter?

Heavy reliance on social media definitely helped. Dan Cakes are both food and art, so YouTube and Instagram images of Dan creating colorful pancake versions of Pokemon. And Disney characters definitely created buzz, both locally in St. Louis, as well as nationally, with celebrities like Gordon Ramsay and Katy Perry sharing their likeness in the form of a pancake. So what have they learned along the way?

Well, in the beginning, they would put some videos out and people would take them and repost them because they were cool videos, but they wouldn't give them credit. So nobody knew the videos were from Dan Cakes. Now they put subtle watermarks on those videos so that even if someone doesn't credit them, the source is obvious. Also, as a company creating edible reproductions of other people's images, Dan Cakes also had to learn the ins and outs of copyright laws, something that they only thought about after they'd made videos featuring Pixar and Disney cartoon figures. Fortunately, when they consulted attorneys, they learned that the pancake images constituted transformative use and is therefore allowed under US copyright law.

Best of all, the people behind the official blog of the Walt Disney Company became fans and wanted to film and show off Dan Cakes officially. They say the best lesson is get the right advice, but don't be afraid to go big. And when those big clients do show up, make sure your prices are appropriate. They have different pricing for a 20-person birthday party than a corporate Disney gig. Two years in, Hank and Dan were ready to leave their day jobs and launch Dan Cakes as a full-time operation, with Hank having the unenviable task of telling his dad that he was leaving the family construction business to go work with a guy who makes pancake faces.

Over the past four years, Dan Cakes has made an estimated 1500 appearances around the world. Hank had to learn to negotiate with companies. He had to figure out the right price for what they produced. And he says now, when you're talking with companies, if you have concerns, voice them. The worst they can do is say no.

As the business grew, the two held back on cashing in on the perks of fame, opting instead to invest back into the business for necessities like a studio for professional kitchen shots and better video equipment. Eventually, Dan Cakes was ready to bring on additional pancake artists. And their team has now made pancake art a go-to medium for the Major League Baseball and NFL networks. And they also have partnerships with Hulu and Netflix. They have traveled the world taking their pancake art to countries including Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.

Oh, and in 2019, Dan Cakes brought in $450,000. The company anticipates 2020 will be another banner year as a pancake art home kit hits the market, complete with a special pan. They have a licensing deal with a company that will produce and distribute the kit while they maintain full creative control. Dan and Hank have flipped over a new way of life. [Music]

Oh my gosh, it is an international fantastic pancake art sensation with more than 1500 events, several hundred thousand Instagram followers, and more than $400,000 in income just last year.

I don't know about you, but I think it's flipping amazing. Now here's some quick advice from the pancake man, Dan Drake. He says, "As we move forward, "I try to be mindful of two things. "First, be in the moment. "Everything is temporary and the joy right now "is the only joy there is.

"So soak it up. "Second, mistakes are delicious. "Play fun games, win fun prizes." I have nothing to add to that, except to say, let us build for the future while appreciating the joy of right now. Oh, and also inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, you'll never guess where they are, today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1000.

That is a one followed by three zeros, like, you know, one, zero, zero, zero. I'm gonna have to get used to that new format going forward, but I'm just as excited to make episodes for you as I was when I started, and I hope you'll continue to join in. Thank you so much for listening. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the "Onward Project."