He Grew His Facet Hustle to twenty-five Places, $15M in Earnings

Jeff Perera, 48, describes the method of beginning his trade as a “love tale.” It began with him looking to make the easiest bagel for his spouse, Danielle, at a transition level of their lives.

Perera, who had labored in retail for over 20 years for giant manufacturers like Goal, Apple, North Face and Adidas, went to paintings for a senior dwelling corporate and used to be laid off in August 2019. On the similar time, Danielle, who were staying domestic with their daughter and son, used to be able to rejoin the personnel and steered that Perera be the stay-at-home mother or father.

Perera agreed to the alternate, which labored out smartly. Earlier than Danielle rejoined the personnel, the pair discovered themselves ceaselessly riding “a actually lengthy solution to get bagels,” Perera tells Entrepreneur.

“She mentioned, you recognize, you will have to simply discover ways to make me one,” Perera says. “And in order that’s how I began making bagels.”

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Speedy-forward six years, and Perera’s bagel trade, Jeff’s Bagel Run, has 25 places and is on target to exceed $15 million in overall earnings this yr. He has plans to open no less than 40 shops subsequent yr.

Jeff’s Bagel Run began in Perera’s kitchen in Florida. He says his first bagel used to be “horrible” and “seemed extra like a biscuit” as a result of he didn’t know the way to roll dough — however he caught with it. Perfecting his bagel recipe was an obsession.

“I spent months simply looking to get it proper,” he says. He attempted several types of bagels and other combos of components. His kitchen started to resemble a science lab, with recipes written on notes on most sensible of dough saved in glass jars. Perera went via many iterations to land on a vintage New York-style bagel.

“In the end, the bagel that I were given, which is the only we make in our shops lately, is identical recipe,” Perera says. “We simply scaled it as much as make it at a better manufacturing price as opposed to the only dozen that I used to be making at domestic.”

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During the method, he documented his adventure on Instagram and Fb and shared footage with family and friends. In November 2019, he posted a menu on his social media pages, announcing that he used to be promoting bagels if somebody used to be . Jeff’s Bagel Run used to be formally in trade.

“I were given one order [and] offered seven bagels,” Perera says. “It used to be actually unhappy. However I did that.”

Despite the fact that pastime used to be tepid to start with, Perera saved at it, and the orders saved coming in. By means of 2021, the operation had a ways outgrown his domestic kitchen, with bagel dough overflowing to fridges saved in his storage. At that time, Danielle used to be “all in” at the trade, quitting her six-figure company task to assist with orders. She steered taking a chance that many would draw back at — promoting their area to be able to have a money cushion and assist finance the trade.

Perera agreed, and in the summertime of 2021, the Pereras offered their area, which they’d bought in 2016, to finance the soar from domestic bakery to storefront store. They didn’t have buyers, nor did they tackle debt to rent their first house; as a substitute, they cobbled in combination startup capital from financial savings and promoting their domestic. In addition they introduced a community-driven Kickstarter marketing campaign, which raised greater than $23,000 in one day, to pay for ovens and small apparatus.

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In July 2021, Perera opened the doorways to Jeff’s Bagel Run’s first retailer in Orlando, Florida.

“It used to be frightening and loopy,” Perera says. “Some folks idea we had been nuts, however I don’t know. We idea we had one thing.”

As soon as Jeff’s Bagel Run’s doorways opened, the traces by no means stopped forming, consistent with Perera. The trade used to be open 5 days per week, Wednesday to Sunday, and used to be winning from the start.

A part of the trade’s good fortune got here from original social media advertising and marketing. Moderately than crafting slick commercials, Perera let word-of-mouth and network sharing energy the logo.

“I used to be a large believer in now not looking to create content material,” he says. “I simply concerned with documenting what I used to be doing. I believed that if I shared sufficient of my tale and used to be original in who I used to be whilst we had been development the trade, then I might achieve success in rising the logo through the years.”

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On account of Perera’s social media efforts, the trade skilled expansion fueled through repeat consumers.

Jeff’s Bagel Run temporarily expanded, first through taking a possibility on obtaining a suffering native bakery for its 2d location, after which through attracting the eye of skilled franchise buyers. The trade’s first franchise location opened in 2024.

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By means of the tip of 2024, Jeff’s Bagel Run had 10 shops. Now, the franchise has 25 overall shops throughout Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Illinois. Perera says the unique location continues to peer 20% annual expansion, whilst new shops flourish within reach.

If Perera may alternate something about his entrepreneurial adventure, it could be beginning faster.

“I don’t assume I noticed how a lot urge for food for chance and for the problem of entrepreneurship I had,” he says. “It used to be all the time in me.”

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Jeff Perera, 48, describes the method of beginning his trade as a “love tale.” It began with him looking to make the easiest bagel for his spouse, Danielle, at a transition level of their lives.

Perera, who had labored in retail for over 20 years for giant manufacturers like Goal, Apple, North Face and Adidas, went to paintings for a senior dwelling corporate and used to be laid off in August 2019. On the similar time, Danielle, who were staying domestic with their daughter and son, used to be able to rejoin the personnel and steered that Perera be the stay-at-home mother or father.