He Grew His Side Hustle to 25 Locations, $15M in Revenue

Jeff Perera, 48, describes the process of starting his business as a “love story.” It all started with him trying to make the perfect bagel for his wife, Danielle, at a transition point in their lives.

Perera, who had worked in retail for over two decades for big brands like Target, Apple, North Face and Adidas, went to work for a senior living company and was laid off in August 2019. At the same time, Danielle, who had been staying home with their daughter and son, was ready to rejoin the workforce and suggested that Perera be the stay-at-home parent.

Perera agreed to the change, which worked out well. Before Danielle rejoined the workforce, the pair found themselves regularly driving “a really long way to get bagels,” Perera tells Entrepreneur.

“She said, you know, you should just learn to make me one,” Perera says. “And so that’s how I started making bagels.”

Related: This CEO Took a Cult-Favorite Bagel Brand National. Here’s the Top Lesson He Learned.

Fast-forward six years, and Perera’s bagel business, Jeff’s Bagel Run, has 25 locations and is on track to exceed $15 million in total revenue this year. He has plans to open at least 40 stores next year.

Jeff’s Bagel Run started in Perera’s kitchen in Florida. He says his first bagel was “terrible” and “looked more like a biscuit” because he didn’t know how to roll dough — but he stuck with it. Perfecting his bagel recipe became an obsession.

“I spent months just trying to get it right,” he says. He tried different types of bagels and different combinations of ingredients. His kitchen began to resemble a science lab, with recipes written on notes on top of dough stored in glass jars. Perera went through many iterations to land on a classic New York-style bagel.

“Ultimately, the bagel that I got, which is the one we make in our stores today, is the same recipe,” Perera says. “We just scaled it up to make it at a higher production rate versus the one dozen that I was making at home.”

Related: This Viral Bagel Brand Grew From a Backyard Experiment Into a National Franchise on Track for 300 Locations

Throughout the process, he documented his journey on Instagram and Facebook and shared pictures with friends and family. In November 2019, he posted a menu on his social media pages, saying that he was selling bagels if anyone was interested. Jeff’s Bagel Run was officially in business.

“I got one order [and] sold seven bagels,” Perera says. “It was really sad. But I did that.”

Though interest was tepid at first, Perera kept at it, and the orders kept coming in. By 2021, the operation had far outgrown his home kitchen, with bagel dough overflowing to refrigerators kept in his garage. At that point, Danielle was “all in” on the business, quitting her six-figure corporate job to help with orders. She suggested taking a risk that many would balk at — selling their house in order to have a cash cushion and help finance the business.

Perera agreed, and in the summer of 2021, the Pereras sold their house, which they had purchased in 2016, to finance the leap from home bakery to storefront retailer. They didn’t have investors, nor did they take on debt to lease their first space; instead, they cobbled together startup capital from savings and selling their home. They also launched a community-driven Kickstarter campaign, which raised more than $23,000 in a single day, to pay for ovens and small equipment.

Related: This Kickstarter Campaign Just Broke the Record for Making the Most Money Ever

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

“It was scary and crazy,” Perera says. “Some people thought we were nuts, but I don’t know. We thought we had something.”

Once Jeff’s Bagel Run’s doors opened, the lines never stopped forming, according to Perera. The business was open five days a week, Wednesday to Sunday, and was profitable from the beginning.

Part of the business’s success came from authentic social media marketing. Rather than crafting slick ads, Perera let word-of-mouth and community sharing power the brand.

“I was a big believer in not trying to create content,” he says. “I just focused on documenting what I was doing. I thought that if I shared enough of my story and was authentic in who I was while we were building the business, then I would be successful in growing the brand over time.”

Related: These Dads Figured Out What Kids Want and Built a Business Bringing In Over $100 Million This Year: ‘We Grew Very Fast’

As a result of Perera’s social media efforts, the business experienced growth fueled by repeat customers.

Jeff’s Bagel Run quickly expanded, first by taking a chance on acquiring a struggling local bakery for its second location, and then by attracting the attention of experienced franchise investors. The business’s first franchise location opened in 2024.

Related: This Popular Food Critic Was Once on SNAP Benefits – And Now Has 17 Million TikTok Followers. This Was the Moment That Changed His Life.

By the end of 2024, Jeff’s Bagel Run had 10 stores. Now, the franchise has 25 total stores across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Illinois. Perera says the original location continues to see 20% annual growth, even as new stores flourish nearby.

If Perera could change one thing about his entrepreneurial journey, it would be starting sooner.

“I don’t think I realized how much appetite for risk and for the challenge of entrepreneurship I had,” he says. “It was always in me.”

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Jeff Perera, 48, describes the process of starting his business as a “love story.” It all started with him trying to make the perfect bagel for his wife, Danielle, at a transition point in their lives.

Perera, who had worked in retail for over two decades for big brands like Target, Apple, North Face and Adidas, went to work for a senior living company and was laid off in August 2019. At the same time, Danielle, who had been staying home with their daughter and son, was ready to rejoin the workforce and suggested that Perera be the stay-at-home parent.