Following the accurate strategies, breaking free from your 9-to-5 routine job, seems like a task, as building a steady income flow is harder than it sounds. That is exactly what happened when a person used guidance from Mark Cuban for his side hustle, earning $2,800 monthly from it.
Hence, this article contains a blueprint, mindset, and how one can replicate and work as per Mark.
Why Does Mark Cuban’s Advice Still Resonate?
Mark Cuban, an investor, founder of the Dallas Mavericks, and television personality on Shark Tank, is widely known for his no-nonsense mindset and ground-level wisdom.
Firstly, he mentions every time that if he were young today, he would master tech tools like AI. It’s not for glamour, but because these technologies provide solid marketing skills.
Also, he emphasizes to start small, developing on your strengths, and using skills, effort, along with consistency, instead of just being dependent on big capital or luck.
As a billionaire investor, he looks for real needs, provides services and not just products, without expecting quick results. Thus, he believes that side hustles require a lot of discipline and persistence.
These are not just quotes, as illustrated by a Los Angeles-based writer, Tim B, who was unemployed for over 6 months and ran out of his savings.
During that time, he started watching Shark Tank episodes, figuring out what could be done to build a side hustle. As he states in his own words, “I used Mark Cuban’s side-hustle strategies and now make $2,800 extra every month.”
The Real-Life Case: From Jobless to $2,800 Per Month
This article is inspired by Tim B’s story. He is a 35-year-old Los Angeles writer who exhausted his savings. As noted, he then started learning ways to build a side-hustle by watching Mark Cuban on the Shark Tank show, rather than job-hunting.
After binge-watching, Tim realized that he had nothing to lose, and that’s when he started to act. He mentioned, “What’s the harm? Worst case, I fail.”
As a result, within a three-month period, Tim started earning $2,800 every month just from his side work. This amount was enough to help him while he was looking for a stable income.
The Three Side-Hustles He Ran With Cuban’s Idea
Let’s have a closer look at the three side hustles that he developed with the help of Mark’s idea.
1. AI Consulting for Small Businesses
According to recent reports, Mark Cuban started encouraging people, including teenagers, to learn prompt engineering and AI. Basically, he taught individuals to offer AI-based services to companies that are still running in an old-fashioned way.
Moreover, Tim B spent almost two weeks learning prompt engineering through free online courses and tutorials. After learning, he started practicing the same, and then pitched the concept to a friend’s small business.
He charged $200 from the client for templates and coaching. At that point, because of the word-of-mouth publicity, he got five more clients within a month. Every client was paying somewhere between $150 and $400, further stabilizing his income at around $1,400.
2. Marketplace Listing Improvement
Tim B followed Mark’s lesson that you should search for value where others do not, starting from collectibles and undervalued listings. Furthermore, he searched Facebook Marketplace and used-goods listings with ugly pictures and weak descriptions.
Also, he mentioned that he would provide listing copies and reshoot the photos for $50. Because of his presentation and pitch on Facebook, many items got sold quickly, and he managed almost 4 clients per week, bringing in $800 per month.
3. Writing & Editing Services
Consequently, Tim B tapped a valuable market space: writing and editing content. He offered to polish and rewrite college essays, resumes, and business pitches and proposals for $75 per hour.
This task was especially relevant for his experience as a writer. So, he began working for over eight hours every month on this, roughly earning $600.
All of this was not a full-time job, as he was working for 25 hours every week. But it was enough to support him and relieve financial stress.
Key Principles Behind the Success and What You Can Learn
Here are some of the key principles behind Tim’s success and what you can learn from him.
1. Use What You Already Know
To apply Mark Cuban’s strategies and advice, it’s not necessary to have a product or unique innovation. Rather, you can provide a service based on your skill set. Cuban refers to side hustles as the services that you can offer with zero capital requirements.
2. Solve Real Problems for Real People
Tim’s side hustle worked because there is a demand for such services currently in the marketplace. Small businesses and startups need AI-based content and templates, while students and professionals also need help with writing and editing.
Also, e-commerce platform sellers need better pictures with listing copies to sell items faster. Side gigs are mostly to address a real-world problem; it isn’t about getting rich quickly.
3. Keep Overhead Low, Invest Time, Not Money
Tim’s side gigs do not require huge capital; instead, they just need time and effort. That is where the core logic of Mark Cuban’s strategy lies: begin with sweat capital in case you do not have funds.
4. Be Consistent, Even If Results Are Slow
One of the Cuban’s initial pieces was persistence wins over instant gratification. Tim’s efforts showed the same, as his first few pitches got rejected, yet he kept on going.
5. Diversify Hustles And Don’t Put All Hopes On One
Tim also stood up to one of the oldest sayings, which says not to keep all your eggs in the same basket. He did not risk everything on just one side hustle; instead, he ran multiple side gigs. Due to this strategy, the risk got spread.
Takeaway
If you are reading this article from the US, India, or any other country, you can apply the same principles because the core strategy isn’t geographical. It includes skills, demand, and hustle. Some actionable ideas are: use your existing skill set, whether it is writing, designing, or tutoring.
There is always a market space for useful skills. Do not just depend on one hustle; run two to three side gigs altogether. The secret to succeeding with a side hustle is not magic, but it is about being consistent, helping people solve real problems, and doing tedious tasks.
