1081
10 min 11 sec

Sales Rep Seasons the Day with “Bad Spanish Tacos”

When a soft drink sales rep starts bringing cooked lunches to work, his co-workers fall in love with his food—so he seasons the day and tacos a chance on his own pop-up kitchen.
Food Product Tacos

Subscribe Now For A Free Five Step Tutorial

What It's About

We're spilling the beans on this taco pop-up concept.

Business Model
Product
Skills Required
Cooking & Marketing
Complexity
Low
Profit Potential
Medium

Words of Wisdom

Looking to start a similar hustle? Billy has the following advice; "Immersion is key. If you wanna sell tacos, it needs to be your life. Get to know the people who eat like you and like what you like. Avoid people who don't get it and think it's just a product. You better love what makes you hungry or you're just chasing money."

Fun Fact

Americans eat A LOT of tacos. This delicious Mexican treat first came to America in the early 1900’s when Mexicans started to move to the USA en masse. Today, estimates have the number of tacos eaten at 4.5 billion per year.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1081

It took Billy Flores a long time to discover his passion in life. All he knew was that he wasn’t finding it at his day job working in sales for a huge beverage company. Still, he believed it’s best to be grateful for what you have, so he never complained. He was a husband and father so, while the job wasn’t fulfilling, it provided a place to live and put food on the table.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t explore possibilities and look for fun outside that day job. And over the years, he spent a lot of time doing that through various hobbies and hustles.

The one that appealed to him the most was cooking. He loved it! It helped that he liked eating. Best of all, he could indulge in his favorite activity up to three times a day.

He put particular effort into his work lunches. Far from the standard sandwich, Billy often brought himself smoked brisket or ribs. His co-workers would salivate over his food and started requesting he bring in extra to share, which he was happy to do. He soon became a regular Gordon Ramsay at his workplace, their own celebrity chef.

He used the lunches as an opportunity to try new flavors, seasonings, herbs and spices. He’d debut new recipes and see what worked and what didn’t. After a while, he started receiving requests to prepare meals for personal parties and functions. And of course, they paid him for the privilege.

The real benefit, though, was that Billy felt his love for cooking bubbling over. So much so that he decided to take a second job working in a local restaurant, a BBQ joint! He says now that working there was a great experience.

Beyond learning more about cooking and preparing food, he was able to gain exposure to the restaurant industry. He realized you could do well by offering simple food, well made. He also saw first-hand the value of hard work. Success in the food biz came to those who hustled.

As the months went by, Billy kept learning more until eventually he had the opportunity to impress his extended family in his own home. They asked him to make some tacos with a new tortilla press he’d acquired.

They were dazzled by the flavors and encouraged him to have a red hot go at venturing out on his own… and he didn’t burrito around the bush. There and then he decided to start a taco side hustle.

To be clear, he didn’t want to take the risk of opening a restaurant or building out a food truck. No, Billy envisioned that he’d first offer a pop-up taco store. The kind you see out the front of bars and clubs late at night. He could try his idea with minimal risk and expense. But, he needed permission to set up outside someone’s business, so that was the next step.

Luckily, Billy frequented a local brewery and was friendly with the staff. He convinced them to let him set up his shop on the sidewalk by promising that every patron in the place would be well fed if they wanted to be.

From then on, multiple nights a month Billy would be outside the local brewery slinging tacos to hungry beer drinkers all night, and loving every minute of it. As word spread and he improved the recipes, he realized he was doing too much.

Billy’s pop-up taco shop has kept growing. He is now making more than enough to afford him and his family a humble but enjoyable lifestyle which he is totally comfortable with.

For now, he enjoys the pop-up life. A bigger operation means a bigger kitchen, more money and thus more risk. While he isn’t sure if he’ll go down that path yet, for now he is just seasoning the moment.

 
  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:


SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter


Download Episodes By Months:

Season 6 (2022): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 5 (2021): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 4 (2020): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 3 (2019): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 2 (2018): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 1 (2017): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!


Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️


Learn More

Quote of the Day
"If you wanna sell tacos, it needs to be your life. Get to know the people who eat like you and like what you like."
—Billy Flores #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.


Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!





To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau