Notes from Chris

Episode 1646

For TV and film producer Jim Serpico, baking bread had always been a hobby that he and his family took seriously. Growing up, he spent most of his weekends cooking with his parents, both of whom made it a point to involve him in their Sunday rituals of making rigatoni and bolognese.

Jim loved this and made a habit of cooking over the weekends, but headed down his own path of baking the perfect bread over time. That bread became a staple at every social gathering. A Serpico family tradition of baking on the weekends soon began.

As they baked more and more, the family joked that they should start selling their goods, and created an Instagram account called Side Hustle Bread (@sidehustlebread) just for laughs.

What they didn’t expect was that within a week, they would start receiving direct messages from strangers asking if they could order some of the bread. Out of curiosity, they fulfilled these orders thinking that they were one-offs, but found that the orders didn’t stop but were instead growing. Little did they know, this would be the start of a thriving family business.

It helped as well that the family baked artisanal bread and tried flavors that you couldn’t find in normal bakeries. This naturally led many people to be curious, which also helped with the popularity of their Instagram stories and posts. Within three months, they had built a loyal following, and today they have over 2,500 followers on Instagram. (Side note: hundreds of orders every week from a relatively small following. Engagement is everything!)

The family has been rewarded financially as well, with Side Hustle Bread grossing over $100,000 in sales last year. He’s now shopping a television pilot about his experience selling bread in the time of COVID.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• If you’re in NY, see if you can snag yourself a loaf or learn more about Jim and his business at his website, SideHustleArtisanalBread.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Woman on Food Stamps Earns $86,000 Teaching People to Bake Bread: In the face of adversity, a woman creates a series of online courses teaching the art of baking sourdough bread. Stop loafing around! If she can do it, you can too.
• Counselor Cakes in the Money with Baking Biz: When her world is turned upside down from covid-19, a grief counselor turns to her old hobby of baking. But where will the inventory go?
• Corn Syrup Allergy Leads to Booming Baked Goods Biz: After a doctor diagnoses her husband with a corn syrup allergy, a healthcare analyst mixes up a line of healthy, sweet baked goods that turns into a stable second income.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution,

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