These Friends Used ChatGPT to Grow a ‘Niche’ Side Hustle — It Hit $10,000 Immediately and Is on Track for $700,000 a Month
Jeff Taylor Yauck and Ben Glick set out to bring an innovative product to life.
Key Takeaways
- Yauck found the inspiration for his side hustle during a 2014 trip to Japan.
- He and Glick teamed up on the protein-packed pancake sandwich idea in 2024.
- Now, the side hustle sees $45,000 a month and is expected to grow considerably by year’s end.
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Arizona-based entrepreneurs Jeff Taylor Yauck, 38, and Ben Glick, 36. Yauck and Glick are the co-founders of protein-packed pancake sandwich brand PancakeNow. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
Yauck: I still own and operate a CBD company, Premium Jane, a sub restaurant called Sub Shack and also own and manage many investments.
Glick: I’m the CFO of Honeycomb Wax Company, which provides waxing supplies for professionals.
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When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
Yauck: I started the side hustle in June 2024. I got the inspiration for my side hustle brand when I was visiting Japan in 2014. They have a very tasty pancake in convenience stores out there that blew me away.
The idea of bringing something similar to the U.S., but made with only real ingredients and added protein, kept me up at night to the point that back in 2016, when I was running my first startup, Oats Overnight, I bought the PancakeNow domain. I was extremely eager to launch the brand for almost 10 years before I finally did. Years have gone into perfecting every single detail of these ready-to-eat pancakes. Now, seeing our first consumers enjoying our initial four flavors (Classic Maple, Cookies & Cream, Cinnamon Bun and Chocolate Peanut Butter) as much as I do is a dream a decade in the making.
Glick: I started helping in June 2024. Jeff and I were speaking about the idea and how he really wanted to get it going. I thought it was a great idea and encouraged him to get started on it. In October 2024, it became clear that Jeff could use a second person to get this off the ground, and I officially started working heavily on the project in December 2024.
I’m always looking for snacks for my four kids that I feel good giving them, so being such an integral part of PancakeNow has been incredible, as they absolutely love our pancake sandwiches. As PancakeNow truly lives at the intersection of taste and nutrition, I feel great that they go nuts over our pancakes that provide the indulgent flavors and textures they crave while still being a balanced, protein-packed breakfast or snack.
For me, I’ve been a bit of a health nut since high school, and it’s a constant challenge to find good things that really satisfy on all fronts: taste, texture, flavor, convenience, etc., all while helping me hit my protein goals without anything artificial, and PancakeNow does it all.
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
Yauck: I first found a designer who had a style that fit my vision for the brand. Then I had the branding, packaging and logo designed first thing. I always find this to be the best first step, as it creates a ton of excitement and momentum to get more tasks done. For a good seven months, I spent a few hours a week on the side hustle while working on all my other investments and companies. Next, I invested around $45,000 in a food scientist to work on formulas and flavors for us. Then, soon after that, I put in another $150,000 for a custom machine out of China to make our pancakes.
At this point, the side hustle became my main focus, and I started pouring a lot of money into the company to get a large warehouse (10,500 square feet) and hire a team to operate that and do customer service and marketing. After about a year and a half, I have invested $1.4 million to get where we are today.
Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
Yauck: ChatGPT has been a lifesaver for us, especially when it comes to food science. Our PR agency has also been an amazing paid resource.
Glick: Honestly, AI has been an incredible resource. There were so many things we didn’t understand about shelf-stable formulation with pancakes, and being able to have a resource that could at least guess at the problem and a solution has been a game-changer.
If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
Yauck: I would have definitely waited to hire a large portion of our team. We had tons of issues with machine setup and machine malfunctions. Formula issues caused us a good seven to eight months’ delay on actually having a solid product we were confident with. Had we waited to hire some key team members, we would have a lot more money to grow the company. We underestimated how difficult a ready-to-eat, moist pancake would be to get right.
Glick: I would have gotten the formula done and flown to the manufacturer before ordering the equipment. It was difficult to reformulate because of things that the machine could and couldn’t do. For example, we wanted chocolate chips in our pancakes, but found out that they would get stuck in the machine and prevent us from having the same-sized pancake every time.
When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
Yauck: A CPG food product is a tough industry in general, but being a healthy, moist, ready-to-eat baked good that needs to maintain moisture and have no flavor shift or mold issues is a science and a complete nightmare, it turns out. I didn’t have the experience, and there was really nothing on the market to look at for guidance. We don’t use any synthetic preservatives, antioxidants or sweeteners, which adds even more complexity. If you want to enter the CPG space, be prepared to try hundreds of different formulas and wait for months to get real results and feedback on how your product ages.
Glick: They call it food science for a reason. I thought that was more of a fancy way to say “I make food.” We found out that a 1% change to the formula, as small as that might sound, can have dramatic consequences for your final product. Another aspect is processing the ingredients themselves. Some have to be added at specific times rather than just mixed in.
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
Yauck: We trusted our food scientist, who assured us that after our product is packaged, it’ll lock in the moisture. After making thousands of pancakes to fulfill pre-orders, we realized our formula got hard in days and lost almost all its flavor in a week. We had to email all customers and spend a good four to five months after this trying to reformulate with another 50 iterations of the original formula. Customers were waiting for literally months to get their orders. This is just one of the dozens of major problems we faced. Many pre-orders were from close people who know me or followed my previous success and were expecting something delicious from me. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, so there was a lot of pressure.
Glick: Our machine, when it first turned on, had an issue where it would basically smoke up and fry our controller. We thought maybe the controller was bad, but the next one had the same issue. Our first thought was to have our maintenance tech run through the electrical and make sure everything was plugged in properly. As far as we could tell, it was fine, except for the smoking part. The next thing we did was hire a local company that did work on machinery like this. After their technician came in, we were able to trace back the power to the machine and figured out that two “hot” lines were connected (sent this way from the manufacturer), which caused a short circuit in our control panel. We were so relieved when he figured that out for us.
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How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
Glick: Honestly, not too long. Jeff and I have both run multiple ecommerce businesses, so we were able to do about $10,000 in month one. Meta has been a great tool for getting new customers. Google has been a hard one to crack because we have such a new, niche product.
Yauck: We have only been really marketing and shipping orders since October. The side hustle has not generated any return yet, as the business is still losing money, but now we are in a position to finally really start growing.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
Yauck: We sold $10,000 our first month and $20,000 our second month, and now in January, we are looking at doing around $45,000. By the end of 2026, we expect to be doing $700,000 monthly.
Glick: Growth is really just getting in front of more eyes as fast as we can. We are using Meta primarily with some TikTok and some Google. Revenue should hit the $45,000 mark this month, which will be amazing.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
Yauck: I enjoy the challenge most. Bringing an idea that I’ve envisioned for almost 10 years to life with an amazing partner and team is priceless. Also, doing something that doesn’t exist currently on the market brings me a lot of excitement.
Glick: The team we have is incredible. Everyone is willing to help and do whatever it takes to help get the job done for the day.
What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
Yauck: The number one piece of advice I have is to create a great product and focus 100% on making sure your product is stellar. If it’s anything less, you won’t have a sustainable business or any returning customers. Nothing else matters if you don’t have a product that people love. If you do, the growth process becomes so much easier. This is true for both a product or service company.
Glick: Analyze what KPIs drive your success and create projections, but be cautious about them. They are only a tool — and they are mostly incorrect. You might think you’ll do nothing, or you might think you’ll blow up. It’s best to be prepared for either case.
Key Takeaways
- Yauck found the inspiration for his side hustle during a 2014 trip to Japan.
- He and Glick teamed up on the protein-packed pancake sandwich idea in 2024.
- Now, the side hustle sees $45,000 a month and is expected to grow considerably by year’s end.
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Arizona-based entrepreneurs Jeff Taylor Yauck, 38, and Ben Glick, 36. Yauck and Glick are the co-founders of protein-packed pancake sandwich brand PancakeNow. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
Yauck: I still own and operate a CBD company, Premium Jane, a sub restaurant called Sub Shack and also own and manage many investments.
