Jacob Cooper started Pizza Bagel NYC in February, and it's now bringing in more than $20,000 per month. Cooper started the business shortly after leaving his six-figure tech job without any experience in the restaurant industry. He also went all-in on the startup and raised the initial funds by tapping into his equity.
"I sold my equity back to my previous company," Cooper told CNBC.
Cooper shared what goes into operating a pizza bagel business in New York City and how he grew it so quickly.
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Leaving The Tech Job Behind
Cooper told CNBC that he was the CTO of a startup that he started in college before launching Pizza Bagel NYC. That position didn't teach him about commercial kitchens, but it gave him a lot of experience with managing people and working with teams.
"I managed engineers, I wrote a ton of code, I reviewed code, and I met with other teams," he said to CNBC.
However, the spark faded after doing the same thing for almost a decade. He said that he wasn't as excited and that he and the CEO were fighting a lot toward the end.
"We both kind of said, ‘This is not really working,'" he said.
He admitted that the first few weeks of being unemployed were difficult, but he eventually came up with the idea to start Pizza Bagel NYC and ran with it. He said that he made $120,000 per year at his former tech job.
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Scaling Up To $20,000 Per Month
Pizza Bagel NYC made $3,000 in revenue in February and jumped up to $4,000 in March. After a slowdown in April, the business got a lot of momentum in May when he got a car.
"I finally got a car, which meant I could hit way more events without relying on the subway or delivery services, so we scaled up the pop-ups and catering gigs big time,” he said.
Pizza Bagel NYC brought in $6,000 in May, rallied to $13,000 in August, and saw a big surge in September, which was the company's first $20,000 month. However, that's not all profit. Cooper said he brought home $5,500 in September after accounting for payroll, kitchen, food, event fees, and other expenses.
Cooper said that most of the company's revenue comes from pop-ups, catering, and farmers' markets. Weather plays a big role in total sales, as he told CNBC that the farmers' markets don't attract as many customers during cold and rainy days. He said that the business made $22,800 in October.
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Staying The Course
When Cooper started Pizza Bagel NYC, he knew he was taking a big risk. He didn't have any experience in the industry and hoped that people's childhood memories of pizza bagels would be enough to generate momentum.
"I'm competing on people's memories of pizza bagels," he said.
He went into the business with a backup plan in case the business didn't make it. This mentality made it easier for him to take a chance on his idea and turn it into a successful business.
"If this business doesn't work out, I can go get another tech job or do something else," he said.
The biggest thing that took him by surprise was the amount of physical labor involved with the job, but he has gotten used to it. Cooper told CNBC that he enjoys what he does, especially when customers rave about his food. He believes it is critical to enjoy what you do so you avoid burnout.
"One of the things that I think causes burnout is when you lose your joy in what you are doing," he said.
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