Man, sometimes you just need a clear signal on whether all the sweat equity you’re pouring into a side hustle is going to pay off. I’ve been kicking around this idea for a while—setting up a small-scale consultancy helping people optimize their home workshops, specifically for vintage electronics repair. Not glamorous, but niche, and I figured I could charge a decent hourly rate once I nailed the process.
I had all the gear, I had the knowledge, but I was stalling. Analysis paralysis, you know? How do I structure the pricing? How do I even get the first client without spending a fortune on marketing? I decided to pull a single outcome card on the whole venture: “What immediate practical success does this consulting idea promise?”
I drew the Page of Pentacles.
I looked at that card, and the message was loud and clear: Stop overthinking the grand opening. Stop waiting for the perfect moment. This isn’t about huge cash flow right now; it’s about planting the seeds, getting organized, and doing the necessary groundwork and learning. The Page is a student, a messenger of new, tangible possibilities—but they are small, grounded starts. So, I took that message and immediately began mapping out the bare-bones Minimum Viable Service (MVS).
Establishing the Practical Foundation
My first practical step, following that Page energy, was ditching the complex multi-tiered pricing model I had drafted. Too fancy. The Page demanded simplicity.
I streamlined everything:
- I set one flat, low introductory rate for a 90-minute virtual consultation. It was low enough to attract people but high enough to make me take it seriously.
- I identified the absolute core resource I needed to build: a simple, five-page PDF checklist called “The Essential Bench Layout.” This wasn’t selling time; this was selling a physical, tangible resource related to the pentacle element.
- I grabbed a cheap domain name and spent maybe three hours hacking together a basic landing page using a free template. No fancy graphics, just a breakdown of what I do and the buy button for the checklist.
I realized I needed to act like a student again, too. I thought I knew everything about workshop safety standards, but running a business means liability. So, I actually went and dedicated two full evenings to pouring through liability waivers and local business registration requirements. Boring, but absolutely necessary groundwork that the Page requires before the real money can flow.
The Messy Implementation Phase
Once the digital groundwork was laid, I had to manifest the physical proof—the pentacle itself. I decided the best marketing wasn’t ads, but proof of concept. I started documenting my own workshop optimization process intensely.
I bought an inexpensive action camera and I filmed myself doing the hard, tedious setup work:
- I meticulously cleaned out a corner of my garage that was just a disaster area.
- I sourced used steel shelving from a closing restaurant supply store (saving cash, very Pentacles).
- I documented installing specialized ESD matting, which is crucial for electronics work, talking through the practical steps, the cost, and why it matters.
This wasn’t polished video production. It was rough, fast cuts, explaining why I was placing the multimeter here, or why the soldering station needed to be exactly 30 inches from the edge. It was pure, raw process documentation.
I posted these rough, practical videos onto a few niche electronics forums, not selling my service directly, but offering the resource—the checklist—as a free download for feedback. This was the study phase in action: testing the market, getting direct feedback on my core concepts.
A few guys messaged back saying the checklist was solid but they had specific spatial layout issues I hadn’t covered. I didn’t get defensive; I took notes. I used their issues to refine the consultation script, making sure I could address common bottlenecks. That’s the Page learning, absorbing, and getting ready for the big leagues.
Verifying the Outcome: The First Tangible Success
The turning point happened about four weeks after I launched the basic landing page and started sharing those rough videos. It wasn’t a flood of cash, which is exactly what the Page suggests—steady, not sudden, wealth.
My first client, a guy named Rick in Michigan, booked the 90-minute consultation. He paid upfront using the PayPal button I’d hastily configured. That was the practical success. A tangible transfer of resources for knowledge. It was proof of concept. The Page of Pentacles delivered the small, concrete starting success that validated the entire setup.
During that first consultation, I walked Rick through optimizing his existing space using a video call, focused entirely on practical, cheap fixes—reorienting his workbench to better utilize natural light, and implementing a small tool shadow board I had learned about only a week prior. Simple stuff, but game-changing for him.
He sent me a picture the next day—his new setup was clean, organized, and effective. He even threw me an extra $50 via Venmo for the specific tip about the lighting. The Page promises the fruit of your labor, but only after you’ve diligently tilled the soil, and that small bonus was the first harvest.
What I realized through this whole thing is that the Page of Pentacles isn’t about the grand payoff. It’s about committing to the first few feet of the journey, making the necessary study, getting your hands dirty, and ensuring the foundation is solid before you try to build the skyscraper. I started small, used inexpensive tools, and documented every messy step. Now I have a viable side income stream, all because I stopped waiting for the perfect plan and started acting like the diligent student that card demanded I be.
