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AFTER getting let go from his job at Meta, Scott Goodfriend decided to take his company, Ultimate Food Tours, full-time.
What started as a side hustle and a fun little challenge from his friends has now made the entrepreneur over $140,000 a year.
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Goodfriend began selling his famous food tours in 2019 while working in communications.
HOW IT STARTED
The business owner attended the University of Colorado Boulder and graduated in 2007 with a degree in journalism before going on to work in reality TV.
Goodfriend grew up in the Calabasas neighborhood of Los Angeles where his parents would introduce him to various different cuisines.
“My parents would always love to take us out to different ethnic foods in L.A.,” he told CNBC.
“My dad really likes Persian food. My mom always really likes sushi and Japanese food,” he added.
When Goodfriend first moved to New York, “I would pick different neighborhoods to kind of explore,” he said, including various eateries in the area.
Eventually, his friends found out about the tours and demanded he do the same for them.
“They were sending me little goals to challenge me to make these food tours,” he said.
The food tours took consumers on a journey through the city’s boroughs – from Brooklyn neighborhoods like Borough Park with its Hasidic population to Sunset Park with its Chinese community.
But, in 2023, after getting let go from his job at Meta, he decided to take a chance on his company.
Goodfriend gave these kinds of tours for about eight years but hesitated to charge New Yorkers. He enjoyed giving them to friends and didn’t feel the need to build up a website or market the idea.
Then a friend let him know about Airbnb experiences, or opportunities to sell local tours through the site. In the fall of 2019, he finally decided to post one.
“The first dollar I made from my Chinatown Food Tour was in October of 2019,” he said.
By 2021, he’d added his Iconic Food tour and given his business its name: Ultimate Food Tours.
Side hustles and tax implications
The extra income made from side hustles may need to be reported to the IRS.
If you receive more than $600 in gross payouts from a selling platform like eBay, the site will issue you a Form 1099-K to use in your tax return.
Individuals should calculate their adjusted gross income, taxable earnings, and deductions for the year.
Once they have that, they can use the 1040-ES form to calculate estimated taxes.
“I was like, how do I have something that sounds big and fun?” he explained.
GROWING A FOLLOWING
In December 2021, he built his website, and began adding more and more tours to his repertoire there.
His Instagram page (@ultimatefoodtours) has over 8,500 followers – many enthusiastic foodies eagerly await updates.
When he was first starting, Goodfriend built the business while working full-time and giving tours over the weekend.
Between 2021 and 2022, Goodfriend said he was “probably putting in about 10 hours a week for two tours a week” to sustain the business.
The side hustle brought in more than $30,000 in 2022 alone.
Between May 2023 and May 2024, he brought in more than $145,000.
FULL-FLEDGED OPERATION
Currently, Ultimate Food Tours offers six different food tours throughout the week at $90 per person, including food. The tours average about six to eight people per tour.
UFT also partnered with local restaurants and added private cooking classes for interested consumers and corporate clients looking for a unique experience.
The classes go for $150 per person, according to UFT’s website.
The entrepreneur admitted that starting up the business hasn’t been an easy road – he regularly works an 80-hour week and makes significantly less than he did working at Meta.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“This is absolutely my dream job,” he said.
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