Jonathan Stark says the key to side hustle success — for consultants, at least — lies in finding an expensive problem, and solving it.
Jonathan’s a pro at finding these expensive problems, having run a successful online consulting business for several years, focusing on mobile-ready web development.
At the recommendation of two-time Side Hustle Show guest, Kai Davis, he dropped by to share some of his insight on how to get a side hustle consulting business off the ground. We chat idea generation and validation, pricing, and growth strategies.
Free Bonus: Download Jonathan’s Top Tips For Starting A Consulting Business
Download the Free PDF Highlight Reel
Inside you'll find all of Jonathan's top tips for starting a profitable consulting business from scratch.
Tune in to Learn
- How to find a laser-focused niche you can serve, and hone your one-sentence elevator pitch. (“I help ______ with _______.”)
- Jonathan’s selection criteria to see if a niche or industry is “big enough” without being too big.
- His recommendations on how to start a business-to-business side hustle even when your own availability during business hours is limited.
- How to perform market research and idea validation to uncover expensive problems on the cheap.
- How to earn your first testimonials.
- The 3 and 4-tiered pricing approach he recommends after landing your first clients.
- Why your ultimate goal should be to “sell your brain and not your hands.”
- Jonathan’s #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation.
Links and Resources
- ExpensiveProblem.com/sidehustle
- JonathanStark.com
- ModernSoapMaking.com
- John McIntyre – The Autoresponder Guy
- Ben Krueger – AuthorityEngine (now Cashflow Podcasting)
- Join.me
- Drip
- Salesforce Consulting
Download the Free PDF Highlight Reel
Inside you'll find all of Jonathan's top tips for starting a profitable consulting business from scratch.
Want More Side Hustle Show?
The award-winning Side Hustle Show is a
Top 10 Entrepreneurship podcast
with over 1,200 5-star ratings!
Listen in your favorite podcast app or directly in your browser.
Nick, this podcast starts out like two minutes into the conversation after your intro. I streamed it from ITunes and had to listen the opening twice to make sure. You may want to double check this and see if you have a good back up.
Bill
Hey Bill,
Thanks for the note. Checked again on my side and I’m not hearing the problem. The first thing Jonathan says is to pick a laser-focused niche, yes? (Lately I’ve been cutting out the part where I say, “Hey Jonathan, welcome to The Side Hustle Show,” to get into the content faster.)
Are you hearing dead air or a repeated audio loop?
That makes sense then, that’s what I heard…it was just a weird effect- just wanted to let you know.
All my best,
Bill
I’ve listened to this twice now, great podcast Nick! I love what Jonathan is saying about pigeonholing and finding a specific problem that a specific audience has. It really does make everything so much easier to define. I think that if you can tell people what you do at a party without having to explain it past one sentence, you’ve probably made it specific enough.
So relevant to where I’m at. Terrific, concise advice.
This is my favorite episode. Jonathan’s plan for a cold email, ‘asking for advice’ campaign, is brilliant. Reminds me of Justin Wilcox. Excellent step-by-step blueprint to go from zero to hero in any kind of consulting business.
I just listened to this episode it was exactly what I needed to hear at the time I needed to hear it! It’s so bizarre, every last detail applies to my situation. I’m starting a product/ service that is focused on dentists and should bring in new business and reduce missed appointments due to fear and anxiety related to dentist visits.
I have actually been listening to your podcast trying to get ideas on what steps to take next and your guest on this episode basically just spelled it out for me.
Happy to hear it, Wes! Thanks so much for tuning in!