This Couple's Weekend Side Hustle Began With a $50 Facebook Marketplace Purchase — Now It Earns Millions of Dollars a Year: 'You Don't Need Money to Start' Doug and Sara Taylor just wanted to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie — but it led to multimillion-dollar dessert business.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Doug and Sara Taylor turned a simple side hustle into a booming dessert business. It started when they purchased a $50 mixer on Facebook Marketplace to make cookies and make a little extra money with it. Little did they know, they created a multimillion-dollar business. Here's how they did it.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Taylor Chip
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Doug and Sara Taylor, founders of Taylor Chip, a Pennsylvania-based dessert company that ships nationwide. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What was your day job (or other sources of income) when you started your side hustle?
Sara: When we started our side hustle, I worked as a server and bartender, so I was already immersed in the food industry.
Doug: At the same time, I had a job doing real estate inspections. I would drive around Philadelphia and New Jersey, inspecting properties for issues and writing reports for real estate companies preparing to bid at auctions. Additionally, I ran a recording studio. I'm a drummer, and I used my skills to record and produce music for various artists. I also created album art and worked on video projects, which is how I developed my graphic design and video production skills.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
Sara: We started our side hustle kind of by accident. It was just something fun that Doug and I would do together on date nights. I was very focused on using better-for-you ingredients, influenced by how I grew up. My parents were divorced, and we didn't have much money, so my mom saved by planting a garden. We had a huge garden and ate what she grew. My parents emphasized natural and clean ingredients; in Lancaster County, butter was preferred over vegetable oils. I was determined to make cookies using these natural ingredients, so Doug and I bought a $50 mixer on Facebook Marketplace and started baking and experimenting with recipes.
Doug: Our baking adventure began with a desire to create cookies using cleaner, natural ingredients typical of Lancaster County. The inspiration for our cookies came from my enjoyment of chocolate chip cookies my friend's mom used to bake, which unfortunately had Crisco in them. When Sara and I started dating, I discovered the Crisco content, and she urged me to stop eating them due to health concerns. It took us about a year to perfect our recipe. We decided to use these cookies as wedding favors because of our $5,000 budget and the need to make all the cakes and cookies ourselves.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Taylor Chip
After the wedding in 2017, we started doing small events on weekends and evenings. It was a fun way to enjoy each other as newlyweds while building our passion together. Initially, it was just a side hustle, but opportunities kept arising. We were invited to open a market stand, and by August 2018, after doing it part-time for about a year, we had quit our full-time jobs and went all in on cookies, ice cream and coffee.
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
Sara: One of the first steps we took to get our side hustle off the ground was getting our kitchen approved to sell cookies legally. We had a 900-square-foot apartment in Lancaster City, and fortunately, it came with a one-and-a-half-bay sink. A kitchen typically needs a two-bay sink to be approved for limited retail in Pennsylvania. Thankfully, the inspector agreed that our sink looked like a two-bay sink, so we got lucky with our apartment. This was a crucial step in allowing us to start selling cookies.
Doug: From a business standpoint, we registered our website, taylorchip.com, and spent over a year working on our cookie recipe — product development was key. We also set up an LLC with the help of our accountant. We found a local distributor that allowed us to buy ingredients in bulk, which was essential for managing costs. We started with a combination of Costco and this distributor for supplies.
We also launched a Facebook page and committed to posting regularly. Social media has been a major driver of our brand's growth. From the beginning, we prioritized daily posts on all our social media platforms, which has continued to be a core value of our company. It helped us build a community and attract customers, even before we had a product to sell.
Initially, Sarah and I managed everything ourselves while we still had full-time jobs. We only hired our first employee, my little sister, when we opened our market stand in August 2018.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle, and how did you navigate them?
Sara: In the early days of our side hustle, one of the biggest challenges was logistical. We had to drive an hour and a half to get our ingredients because we didn't meet the minimum order requirements for delivery. That was a significant time investment. Another challenge was space. Our kitchen was small, with limited counter space, and we had to mix large batches of cookie dough in a small six-quart mixer. To manage this, I would prep the bags the night before, so on Fridays, I'd spend the whole day mixing dough and baking for events that night or the next day.
When we opened our first market stand, it was only 12 feet by eight feet, and we wanted to offer gluten-free options. To do this, we made our home kitchen a dedicated gluten-free one, running between the stand and home to prepare these cookies. Our apartment was also tiny, with the second bedroom used entirely for storing ingredients like flour and chocolate.
Doug: Another major challenge was capital and scaling up. When we had the opportunity to take our side hustle to the next level, it required an investment of around $15,000. At that time, we only had $5,000, and our parents weren't in a financial position to lend us money. We had to figure out how to come up with the rest of the funds, so we applied for several zero-percent introductory interest rate credit cards. We ended up getting three cards to cover the $10,000 we needed. It took a while, but eventually, we gathered enough money to buy equipment and build the stand. We managed to pay back the credit cards in less than three months.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Taylor Chip
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
Sara: When it was just a side hustle, we were earning maybe a couple of hundred dollars a month. That was fairly consistent. Once we opened our market stand, we saw an increase to around $400 a week.
In the beginning, there were months with no events or just one event. Finding and getting into events was challenging, and building our pipeline took time. During this period, we were able to manage the ups and downs because we still had our full-time jobs.
Doug: We didn't start seeing consistent monthly revenue until we opened the market stand. Before that, it was pretty variable. We both quit our full-time jobs a year in, and it was a bit scary when we made only $100 on some days while having an employee to pay. But on other days, we'd make around $400. It was in mid-August 2018 when we started the market stand, about a year after we began doing small events.
We got married in May 2017, and by August 2018, we had been doing events and building our business for about a year before we decided to go full-time.
You've since transformed the side hustle into full-time business Taylor Chip. What does growth and revenue look like now?
Doug: The growth has been incredible. This year, Sarah was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for the food and beverage category, which is amazing. Over the past three years, we've grown by 2,000% and are on track to more than double our revenue this year. We currently have seven retail locations and over 200 CPG retail partners. Our ecommerce presence is strong, and we ship nationwide.
In our first year as a full-time business, we earned around $200,000. Now, entering our sixth year, we're projected to generate about $8 million in revenue. We're also in the process of raising our first round of venture capital, with a valuation of $25 million.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Taylor Chip
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
Sara: For me, the most enjoyable part of running this business is building relationships and impacting people's lives through something as simple as a cookie. It might sound corny, but most people love cookies, and it's rewarding to see their happiness when they get one. Whether it's our customers, team members or managers, I love making a positive difference in their lives.
Doug: I'm excited by the constant challenge and growth, both personally and for the team. We're always pushing to be better and expand. One of the things I'm particularly excited about is our new 20,000-square-foot centralized manufacturing facility. We're fully vertically integrated and omnichannel. This year, we introduced a line of coffee drinks in our retail stores and are working on ice cream, which we've been developing for four years.
Our ice cream is made from our own base, using raw milk to create value-added dairy products. By 2025, we'll be able to produce 40 pints of ice cream and 200 dough balls per minute. This will greatly support our CPG and retail expansion. Our goal is to grow our retail presence in prime locations, like next to Sweetgreen or Shake Shack, while saving on costs through centralized manufacturing. This approach allows us to maintain high quality and standards.
What's your advice for others hoping to start successful side hustles or full-time businesses of their own?
Sara: Be prepared to work incredibly hard and dedicate yourself fully. You might miss family gatherings and social events, but in the long run, it will be worth it. Many entrepreneurs don't fully anticipate the time, energy and sacrifices required before starting a business. It's important to be ready for that reality.
Doug: Make sure you're doing something you're genuinely passionate about. I don't believe you can excel at something unless you love the process. So, it's crucial to pick something you truly love and are excited about. Be prepared to make sacrifices along the way. You don't need money to start; you need sweat equity, a willingness to work and a good attitude. If you have those qualities and find something you're passionate about, even if you don't reach millions in revenue, making a profit and supporting yourself is a great start.
