A simple Food tours idea born from her obsession → $75k/month.

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🏖️ Fun one-liner:

Why did the entrepreneur keep a globe on their desk? To remind them that their ambition has no borders!

Onto Today’s story….

Feeling trapped in a career that no longer brought her joy, Jessica Baumgart knew she needed a change.

Realizing that her true passions were travel and food, she started Delicious Denver Food tours.

She now makes an impressive $75k/month.

Here is how she did it.

Jessica Baumgart had a standard 9-5 job in marketing and communications.

But she felt unfulfilled in her 9-5 job.

She told her boyfriend about it.

They discussed and got the idea to quit their jobs and travel for a year.

They planned and saved over the course of two years and also got married during this time.

Right after their wedding, they sold everything they owned, quit their jobs, and went backpacking across 25 countries.

They wanted to do this for a year.

During their travels, Jessica began to question why she worked in a career that made her unhappy.

She started thinking about what her true passions were.

After some thinking, she realized her obsessions were travel and food.

The couple spent a summer working at a cooking school in Italy and

took food tours in each city they visited, igniting Jessica's passion for culinary experiences.

Upon returning to the states, they settled in Denver.

Jessica started teaching private cooking classes and

organizing annual cooking vacations in Tuscany, collaborating with the chef she had worked with in Italy.

Launching a food tour business seemed like a natural next step for Jessica,who initially saw it as a fun side hustle to provide extra income.

With a startup cost of around $3,000, Jessica built a simple website using Squarespace,

obtained commercial insurance, filed her LLC, and hired a photographer to capture high-quality images of her tours.

She approached local chefs and restaurant owners.

She pitched the idea of featuring their establishments on her food tours and bringing in customers during traditionally quiet times.

Despite some initial skepticism from restaurant owners who had previous experiences with failed food tours,

Jessica persevered and eventually partnered with 7 out of the 10 restaurants she approached.

She was quite scrappy when launching and used her own personal funds to get the business going.

Luckily, food tours were low in terms of overhead, and they were pretty lean businesses.

Her "launch" was just her, alone at her kitchen table, setting her website to live.

She had no expectations for the business being successful, so it didn't occur to her at the time to make a big fuss.

She posted about it on Facebook and then prayed that she might get a booking.

Three days after launching her website, Jessica received her first booking – a solo guest.

She thought it might have been a friend playing a prank, but it was a real guest!

She began leading small tours of two to four people.

As she got more practice, she increased the number of people.

As her business grew, Jessica strengthened her relationships with featured restaurants and received more positive reviews,

propelling her to the #1 spot on TripAdvisor for all tours in Denver and the #1 spot for food and drink experiences.

Marketing efforts included listing tours on third-party sites like Expedia and Airbnb Experiences,

optimizing her website for SEO, and

creating keyword-optimized blog posts such as "The Best Food Tours in Denver" and "Top 10 Must-Try Restaurants in Denver."

She also took ads in Google Adwords and partnered with the local Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

Jessica also focused on public relations, pitching her tours to food bloggers and journalists

from outlets like The Denver Post and 5280 Magazine, and offered free experiences in exchange for media coverage.

To retain customers, Jessica launched two new tours,

allowing for cross-selling and encouraging guests to return for fresh experiences.

By the sixth month, Jessica hired her first part-time tour guide, and within 1.5 years,

the business was generating $20,000 per month in revenue.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges, forcing Jessica to scale down operations and pivot to virtual experiences.

However, as revenge travel boosted the industry in 2021,

Delicious Denver Food Tours increased its average monthly guest count to 600 and began rebuilding.

Jessica's husband, a former marketing executive, joined the business full-time, focusing on corporate tours,

which now account for 30% of their total revenue.

In 2022, they hired their first full-time employee, a former tour guide who took on the role of Tour Manager,

allowing Jessica and her husband to focus on marketing and strategic partnerships.

She has learned a lot through trial by fire.

She says, "When I do interviews, I think people expect that you have all of the answers because you run a profitable business, but my education has been incremental."

"As I run into new problems, I work to find solutions.

I think it's mostly important for entrepreneurs to just keep taking baby steps."

"Eventually, they'll find that they've made huge progress."

In the first month of her business, she booked a large private corporate tour.

Over the phone, the client asked her to send over a contract by the end of the day.

She didn't have a contract and literally had to google a template,

but she made one up, sent it over, and the client booked right away.

Today, Delicious Denver Food Tours averages about 750 guests per month.

She now makes $75k/Month.

Jessica says…

"I often see young entrepreneurs hold back because they don't have all of the answers."

"I always try to impress upon them how little I knew when I started."

"You just have to take the first step and then the next."

10 reasons why she succeeded

1. Followed True Passions

• Jessica felt unfulfilled in her 9-5 marketing job and wanted a change.

• While traveling, she realized her true passions were travel and food experiences.

• This realization led her to start a food tour business in Denver upon returning.

2. Took a Career Break

• Jessica and her husband saved for 2 years to take a 1-year career break.

• During this break traveling across 25 countries, she re-evaluated her career path.

• This extended break provided clarity on pursuing her food/travel passions.

3. Started as Side Hustle

• Jessica initially viewed the food tours as a fun side hustle for extra income.

• Starting small with low expectations as a side gig reduced the risk.

• This allows validating the idea before going all-in on it as a full-time business.

4. Launched on Lean Budget

• Jessica launched with just a $3,000 budget for basics like website, insurance, and photography.

• Low overhead makes it easier to validate an idea before increasing her spending.

5. Just got It Live

• Her "launch" was simply setting her basic website live without fanfare.

• She didn't overthink it or wait for everything to be perfect to launch.

• Getting started by shipping an MVP is better than endlessly preparing.

6. Started Wherever she was

• Jessica launched the business working alone from her kitchen table at home.

• You don't need significant resources or an office to start; use what you have.

• Starting humbly with what's available is better than waiting for ideal situation.

7. Had Tenacity

• Some restaurants were skeptical of working with her food tours initially.

• But Jessica persevered through the rejections to convince 7 out of 10 to partner.

• The ability to handle rejection and follow up persistently pays off.

8. Used creative Low-Cost Marketing

• Jessica used affordable tactics like SEO, blogging, partnerships, Google Ads, and PR.

• With limited funds, she got creative with low-cost marketing channels.

• Scrappy startups must find clever ways to amplify their messaging.

9. Provided Free Value

• Jessica offered free tour experiences to media outlets for coverage.

• Giving away free value upfront generates attention and awareness.

• This allowed her to get featured in The Denver Post and other local media.

10. Figure it out mentality

• Early on, Jessica had to Google how to create a client contract.

• She continually faced new challenges and she figured out solutions.

• This allowed her to get featured in The Denver Post and other local media.

🍧

Hope you liked the story and the strategies which made them successful.

Keep Zoooming!

Yours “Making you Win” Vijay Peduru