Business

The ‘Flavorful’ Side Hustle He Started While Working at UPS Made $30K a Month — Then 7 Figures a Year: ‘Completely Bootstrapped’

Reading in data-saving mode. Read full article from Entrepreneur website.

Published 10/16/2026 1:29:02 PM

Former UPS Employee's 'Flavorful' Side Hustle Hit $30K a Month

Key Takeaways

Ramlal and his wife, Yuvika Wadhwa, launched side hustle Protein Chefs in 2015.
Two years in, Ramlal left his UPS role and continued to build the business.
Protein Chefs saw consistent revenue immediately; now, it surpasses seven figures annually.

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Ronneil Ramlal, a 38-year-old entrepreneur based in Ontario, Canada. Ramlal is the founder and CEO of Protein Chefs, a gourmet and health-focused meal delivery service. He started Protein Chefs as a side hustle while working as a supervisor at United Parcel Service (UPS), then left that role to focus on the business in 2017.

Image Credit: Protein Chefs. Ronneil Ramlal.

When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
I started Protein Chefs in 2015 with my wife, Yuvika Wadhwa. I was always passionate about starting a business because I grew up watching my father, who is an entrepreneur. My wife was a pastry chef, and we met at the gym. Since we both are serious about our fitness, and with our respective backgrounds in business and hospitality, the food industry was naturally appealing to us. We specifically chose the prepared meal delivery business because in 2015, with our busy corporate jobs, we struggled to meal prep every week and couldn’t find healthful meal delivery options. We wanted to eat balanced, nutritious food that was also flavorful.

What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money did it take to launch?
I didn’t want to borrow money, so we completely bootstrapped the business. I used $2,500 from my savings to get a website developed, hire a chef on an hourly basis and rent a kitchen space. Then, we set up an Instagram account and started posting about the business and gradually getting followers. Next, we reached out to fitness influencers because initially we struggled to get orders. We cold-messaged people on Instagram who might want free meals in exchange for a review of our service. That’s how we got our first few customers.

Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
The only “resource” I turned to when I needed help to brainstorm ideas or discuss challenges was my dad. The first person I turned to was my wife because we made all decisions about the business together.

Invest early on in marketing, a website and SEO

If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
I would invest early on in marketing, especially in building a better website and SEO. At the time, we were so focused on running kitchen operations that we could barely afford to peep outside. This led to slow growth for the first few years. I wish I had invested more in automating some manual tasks such as customer database management and sending them email reminders to order meals, so I could free up more time for myself. I would have definitely spent more on marketing because that allowed us to hone in on our target audience of busy professionals who want to eat healthfully and update our messaging accordingly.

The value in customer service and transparency

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?
The food industry has multiple moving parts such as kitchen operations, packaging, delivery, customer service, partnerships, supplier management, marketing, website and so on. People in this business should be prepared to handle all these areas in unison and simultaneously for the business to be successful.

If your food is great, but no one knows about you, and your customer service doesn’t support your customers, it doesn’t matter how much time and effort you’re spending in the kitchen. If your website is avant garde, and your branding is on point but your meals aren’t what you promised they would be, you won’t get customers to stay. In today’s market, it’s easy to believe that a product can ride on a great social media or personal brand, but that’s a short-sighted strategy. For everything to work, you must be willing to get involved in everything.

Second, when it comes to food, people are especially cautious about how their food is prepared, so if you can show complete transparency about your behind-the-scenes operations, that can help build credibility. For example, when we started showing our chef creating meals from scratch on our social media and the standards that we adhere to, our customers’ trust grew. So, before entering this industry, you must be prepared not to cut corners.

Another challenge in the food industry is that margins are thin when you only have a few customers. Profits expand once you reach high-volume production and build credibility, which can take a few years. You need a lot of patience.

The importance of hiring the right people

Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong — how did you fix it?
The biggest mistake we made was early on hiring a chef who didn’t fully comprehend the role. He was a really skilled cook but not a chef. He made very flavorful food, but he couldn’t do costing, standardize the menu, manage inventory or oversee a team. When we grew our customer base and added more employees into the kitchen, he couldn’t delegate or train. That fell to me and Yuvika, and it held us back for a few years. But that’s what we could afford at the time, and his flexible schedule worked for us.

After about three or four years, we realized we weren’t growing, so we had to let him go and find someone more advanced. The next chef was a big step up. He standardized the menu, which let us add more dishes and meal plans. We had a few more chefs after that. Now we have a chef who is adept at everything: cooking, team management, menu innovation and development, paperwork and supplier management. It took some years to get here, but we learned how important it is to hire the right people for the job.

From $4,000 to $30,000 in monthly revenue — then 7 figures a year

How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
We struggled to get clients for the first weeks, but once that picked up, we had consistent revenue even initially, just not very high. At the beginning, it was around $4,000 monthly, which grew to $20,000 to $30,000 per month in the next few years.

What does growth and revenue look like now?
We plateaued for the first three to four years. After we invested more heavily in marketing and identified our main target audience as busy professionals and not only bodybuilders or fitness enthusiasts, our revenue doubled. Last year, we had 21% revenue growth, and this year, we’re at 30% growth, including our corporate partnerships. We reached seven-figure revenue in 2022 and have continued to maintain that.

Take risks to see what’s possible

What do you enjoy most about running this business?
For me, it’s the unknown. I like not knowing what the next day could look like because that challenge gets me excited and allows me to push my own limits. There are no caps on what you could achieve, which can be good and bad because the success or failure of the business depends on you. I choose to see it as a vehicle for growth.

What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
When things get tough, know that it’s your job to vouch for yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. Stop comparing yourself to others, and continue to believe in yourself no matter how long it takes to see the result you were hoping for. Also, take measured risks.

So, my advice is to be abundant when it comes to believing in yourself and calculated when it comes to taking a risk, but nonetheless, take risks, because that’s the only way to know what’s possible.

Key Takeaways

Ramlal and his wife, Yuvika Wadhwa, launched side hustle Protein Chefs in 2015.
Two years in, Ramlal left his UPS role and continued to build the business.
Protein Chefs saw consistent revenue immediately; now, it surpasses seven figures annually.

Effective product pages help online shoppers decide whether an item fits their needs and what buying it involves. A beautiful photograph gets attention. Product details such as dimensions, available sizes, delivery details, and a clear price help turn that attention into a purchase.

Even established retailers miss these basics. In its benchmark of leading U.S. and European retailers, updated in March 2026, Baymard Institute rated 52% of desktop sites and 62% of mobile sites “mediocre or worse” for product-page usability¹.

Product-page changes can affect revenue, too. In a 27-day test for Life Pro Fitness, agency Media Contour made product images, key details, and buying buttons visible without needing to scroll. Testing vendor Wingify reported that the revised page generated $0.67 more revenue per visitor than the original².

If you are building a new store, follow the five tips below as you create your product pages. Have those pages ready before running ads that send shoppers to them.

If you already have an online store, choose one product page to improve. Reference these steps to check whether it answers shoppers’ questions and lets them add the right item to their cart.

1. Answer shoppers’ questions in the product description

Identify the main question a shopper needs answered before buying. Look for questions customers ask repeatedly or misunderstandings behind returns. For a new product, start with fit, compatibility, or what is included. Confirm the answer against your product specifications, then put it near the start of the description.

For example, consider a pet-supply retailer selling a dog harness. Someone choosing their first harness needs measurements and adjustment details to judge the fit. Someone replacing a harness they already own needs to recognize the same model and size. The page should make both tasks straightforward.

Also, use consistent labels and units across similar products to make comparisons easier. Include limitations, such as incompatible models or items sold separately, so shoppers can rule out an unsuitable purchase.

In e-commerce platform BigCommerce, for instance, online sellers can use the product description and custom fields—additional facts such as material or compatibility—to present these details. Preview the product page to check that shoppers can find the information they need.

Then, use those same facts to help shoppers recognize the item in search results. In BigCommerce’s page title field, use the product name and a relevant detail, such as its model or material. Avoid repeating keywords or giving every product the same title.

2. Give every product image a question to answer

Plan your gallery around what someone needs to inspect. Show the whole product, a useful detail, and the product in use. For example, a lighting retailer could photograph a lamp beside a chair to show its scale and how it lights a reading space. A close-up of the switch shows how someone would operate it. Together, these images help shoppers picture using the lamp at home. Keep written dimensions available as well.

The same Baymard overview describes how shoppers use images to judge size and can struggle when photographs lack a familiar reference.

If you sell a bundle, make clear which pictured items are included. For products that need assembly or demonstration, you might even consider creating a short video. Add alt text: a short description of the useful information in an image. Screen-reader software can read that description aloud or present it in braille. Keep essential instructions available as text as well.

BigCommerce supports product images, images for variants such as different colors, and YouTube-hosted product videos. Check that your gallery presents the right item as shoppers change their selection.

3. Make choices, prices, and recurring charges clear

Keep size, color, quantity, and purchase options close to the buying button. Label them plainly, show the current selection, and make unavailable choices recognizable. If the size options fit on the screen, show them as labeled buttons, such as S, M, and L. This lets shoppers see which sizes are available without opening a menu, as the Baymard overview explains.

Place helpful links beside the choice it explains. For the dog harness, for example, consider putting a measurement guide beside the size selector so shoppers can check the fit before choosing. Keep it visible or provide a clearly labeled link that works by touch and keyboard.

In BigCommerce, online sellers can configure choices such as size and color through product variants and options. Then check that the displayed price and availability match the shopper’s selection. For multipacks, show both the pack total and the unit price. Make the full pack price easy to find so shoppers know what they will be charged.

If you offer subscriptions, let shoppers explicitly choose between a one-time purchase and a recurring order. Put the recurring charge, delivery frequency, and change or cancellation terms beside that choice so shoppers can compare the commitments before selecting. Confirm that these terms match how your subscription service works. Select a subscription yourself and verify that checkout shows the plan, price, and frequency you chose.

4. Make sure delivery, returns, and reviews are easy to find

A shopper who needs an item by a particular date wants to know whether it will arrive in time. Show a delivery estimate for their destination. Put a short explanation of shipping and returns near add to cart, with links to the full policies.

Show shipping fees or explain how they will be calculated. Clearly describe return windows, fees, and exclusions that matter for the item. If pickup is offered, distinguish stock at the selected location from stock elsewhere. Avoid presenting an estimate as a confirmed promise.

Also consider making reassurances that are specific to the purchase. Using the dog harness as an example again, you’d want to explain whether a shopper can exchange it if the fit is wrong and which conditions apply. That answers the practical concerns that a badge saying “Shop with Confidence” leaves unresolved. Use only promises your business can honor.

Customer reviews provide another way to assess the product. Show the review rating, text, reviewer’s display name, and date on the relevant product page. If reviews come from another service, name that service. These details help shoppers understand whose experience they are reading and how recent it is.

5. Test the path from product page to cart

Shoppers need to know that the page has registered their choices and whether adding an item succeeded. Open your chosen product page on your phone. If a required option starts unselected, try adding the item before choosing it. The page should tell you what to select or explain why “Add to cart” is unavailable.

If the product has options, choose them, then change one selection. Check that the price, availability, and any option-specific images match. Add the item. While the request is processing, the page should make that clear. Once it succeeds, a confirmation or the cart itself should show what was added. If an error occurs, it should explain how to continue without losing other selections.

From there, make sure to check the item’s quantity, options, and price in the cart. If you chose a size or color, return to the product page and check whether it still shows that selection. These checks help catch a wrong selection or an uncertain result before a shopper encounters it.

Shoppers who cannot use a mouse need to select options and add products using a keyboard. To check that they can, repeat the steps above on a computer without the mouse. Use Tab to move forward between controls and Shift+Tab to move back. A visible outline or other marker should show which control you are about to use. Press Enter to activate links and Enter or Space for buttons. In a drop-down list, such as a size selector, use the arrow keys to move through the options.

Shoppers who need larger text must still be able to read product details and reach Add to cart. Use the browser’s Zoom control to enlarge the page to 200% and try the same steps again. Check for overlapping text or controls that disappear. Across all these checks, record anything that prevents choosing the product, adding it, or correcting a mistake.

Keep improving one page at a time

Clear facts and images help shoppers judge the product; clear choices, terms, and working controls help them act on that decision. Choose one issue from your review to fix first. Give priority to a problem that prevents adding the correct item to the cart. If shoppers can add the correct item, address an unanswered question that could lead someone to buy the wrong product.

Record what you changed and when. If you have sales reports, compare purchases and revenue for the product over equal periods before and after the change. Note any promotions or changes in visitor numbers that could also explain the results. Customer questions, order corrections, and return reasons can help you check whether the same misunderstanding persists.

For more examples, explore BigCommerce’s product-page guide, then apply the same review to the next product page.

¹^{Product Page UX 2026: 10 Pitfalls and Best Practices}^{(Baymard Institute)
2}^{Media Contour uses split URL testing to improve the revenue from product pages}^(Wingify)