The $5 Side Hustle That Let Me Quit My Day Job (12 Years Later)

Twelve years ago, I was editing videos for five bucks each on Fiverr.

Not because I had some grand plan. Because I needed the money.

My day job barely covered expenses. I had zero business experience. No connections. No special talents that I knew of. Just wondering how I could edit videos better and make some extra cash on the side.

I wasn't trying to build an empire. I was trying to make an extra $200 a month.

But here's what happened: those $5 gigs taught me things my day job never could. How to deal with difficult clients. How to deliver on time. How to ask for what I'm worth (even when "what I'm worth" was five dollars).

Twelve years later, I run Content Clinic full-time, plus leadership development programs and multiple other ventures.

I'm not telling you this because I'm special. I'm telling you this because I'm not.

I know people who've done it much faster. Built bigger. Achieved more in a shorter time. To each their own journey.

But maybe something here relates to you too. The struggles you might resonate with. The uncertainty. Trying to figure out when to quit. When to go full-time. Not sure if you could really do it.

If the guy who refreshed his Fiverr notifications hoping for orders can figure this out...

maybe you can too.

The Beginning (2013)

I'd come home from my regular job exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was edit someone's wedding video for the price of lunch. But expenses were tight, and my paycheck wasn't enough.

So I'd sit there trying to figure out why the audio wasn't syncing properly. Googling basic editing questions late at night. Redelivering projects because I missed something obvious.

Some nights I made nothing. Some nights I made $15. Sometimes $35, and I felt like I'd struck gold.

The work was tedious. The clients were demanding. The pay was peanuts.

But something was happening that I didn't notice at the time.

I was learning how business actually works.

The Accidental Education (2013-2014)

Every $5 gig was a masterclass I didn't know I was taking:

Client Communication 101: How to set expectations before someone gets upset. How to deliver bad news without losing the client. How to ask for clarification without sounding clueless.

Deadline Management: How to estimate time realistically. How to build in buffer time for revisions. How to juggle multiple projects without dropping anything.

Quality Control: How to deliver work that exceeds expectations, even when expectations are low. How to catch mistakes before clients do.

Psychology of Pricing: How to position $5 work as premium within its category. How to upsell additional services naturally.

My day job taught me to follow instructions and show up on time. Fiverr taught me to solve problems and create value.

Guess which skills mattered more when I started my own business?

A lot of it was trial and error. Figuring things out as I went. Making mistakes and learning from them.

The Video Company Years (2014-2017)

About a year into the Fiverr grind, something shifted.

I started getting repeat clients. People who'd come back for more videos. They'd refer friends.

That's when I realized: this wasn't about video editing anymore.

This was about building relationships. Creating trust. Solving problems consistently.

So I started a proper video production company. Same services, better positioning. Instead of competing on price, I attempted to base it on reliability and quality.

The clients I found through Fiverr became testimonials for the video company. The skills I learned editing $5 projects prepared me for $500-$1000 projects.

By 2016, something interesting happened.

A client flew me to Bali, all expenses paid, for a business retreat.

For the guy who...

used to check his bank balance before any purchase – sitting in a resort discussing strategy with entrepreneurs around the world.

Three years earlier, I was googling "how to export MP4 files" at midnight. Now I was advising business owners on their content and video strategy.

But frankly, I was still uncertain about the future. Still not sure if I could really make this work long-term.

The Digital Marketing Transition (2017)

By 2017, I'd learned enough about business to land a role as a digital marketer.

But here's what no one tells you about the entrepreneurial journey: it's not a straight line up.

Around this time, I had to close the video production company. It wasn't profitable enough to sustain. I also shuttered Salaam Store SG and exited several partnerships that had started with such promise.

I even exited a music production company that I'd been running for 7 years. Seven years of performing, recording, releasing tracks on radio and TV. Seven years of building something I was passionate about. But it wasn't sustainable either.

I've also been fired a few times in my career. Retail sales. A sales consulting role. Then voluntary resignations at two other companies when I could see the writing on the wall.

That's when it hit me: maybe it would just be better if I started a business. Have control over clients instead of depending on a single paycheck from a single boss who could decide my fate.

It wasn't pretty. But it was enriching to learn.

Each failure taught me something the successes never could. What markets actually wanted versus what I thought they needed. Which partnerships worked and which ones drained energy. How to recognize when to pivot versus when to persist. How passion alone doesn't pay the bills. How employment security is often an illusion.

The uncertainty was real. When to quit the day job? When to go full-time? Could I really do this?

But maybe the bigger question was: could I really keep doing the employee thing when it clearly wasn't working for me?

Here's what's interesting: all those experiences, even the failed ones...

transferred directly to my marketing role. The video production taught me visual storytelling. The music company taught me creative marketing and audience building. The partnerships taught me collaboration and conflict resolution. The Fiverr skills gave me client management fundamentals.

But now I was seeing marketing from the inside. Learning how campaigns actually worked. Understanding the psychology behind what made people buy.

The Copywriting Discovery (2018-2019)

Soon, I was working on campaigns for international speakers. Tony Robbins events. Jay Abraham masterminds. Robert Kiyosaki seminars. Stuff that would have intimidated the 2013 me.

Working with these industry titans taught me something crucial: the words mattered more than just the production value.

That realization led me deeper into copywriting.

I started studying sales letters. Reading every marketing book I could find. Analyzing what made some messages irresistible and others forgettable.

I started learning directly from copywriters who were already where I wanted to be. People generating six-figure campaigns. People with proven track records.

By 2018, I was working full-time as a copywriter. Writing emails that generated six-figure revenue. Creating landing pages that converted visitors into customers. Crafting social media content that built audiences and drove sales.

Each new skill built on the previous one. Video editing taught me storytelling. Client work taught me business. Marketing taught me strategy. Copywriting taught me persuasion.

Even the failed ventures taught me valuable lessons. The video company showed me the difference between doing work and building systems. The partnerships taught me the importance of aligned vision and clear agreements. The music company taught me that creative passion needs business fundamentals to survive.

But the real acceleration came from learning from people who'd already figured out what took me years of trial and error.

The Side Hustle Return (2020)

2020 changed everything for everyone. For me, it was the push I needed to start freelance copywriting on the side.

But now instead of editing videos for five dollars, I was writing campaigns that generated $100K+ for clients.

The foundation was everything I'd learned from those early Fiverr days...

and everything I'd learned from the failures in between. How to communicate clearly. How to meet deadlines. How to exceed expectations. How to build long-term relationships. How to spot red flags early. How to know when something wasn't working.

But also everything I'd learned from studying people who already had the results I wanted.

The only difference was the scope and the pricing.

The COVID Corner and Global Opportunity (2021)

2021 was when everything crystallized, though not how I'd planned.

COVID pushed me into a corner. The comfortable corporate job felt less secure. The world was uncertain. But that same crisis opened doors I never expected.

The question haunted me: when do I take the leap? When do I go full-time? Can I really do this?

Suddenly, everyone was working from home. No more hours lost to commuting. No more geographic limitations on who I could work with.

Business owners around the globe were jumping on Zoom calls...

desperate for marketing help as their worlds shifted online.

That's when Content Clinic officially launched – not from a position of strength, but from necessity mixed with opportunity.

My first clients weren't from Singapore. They were from the US and Australia. People I'd never have met if not for a pandemic that forced the entire world online.

The same crisis that made everything uncertain also made everything possible.

Here I was, building a global business from my bedroom, using skills I'd learned editing $5 videos eight years earlier. The client communication. The deadline management. The quality control. The lessons from previous failures about what not to do. The shortcuts I'd learned from people who'd already been where I wanted to go.

All of it mattered now more than ever.

The Partnership Expansion (2022)

In 2022, I started Mulacan with Nazreen. Two heads, more capabilities, bigger impact for clients.

We weren't just writing copy anymore. We were building complete marketing ecosystems for businesses trying to navigate the post-COVID world.

This time, the partnership lessons from earlier failures served me well. Clear agreements. Aligned vision. Complementary strengths.

The Teaching Chapter (2023)

2023 brought something I never thought I'd do.

I started teaching what I'd learned.

Not because I felt qualified. Because people kept asking how I'd made the transition from employee to entrepreneur. How I'd built skills without formal training. How I'd found clients without connections.

The first cohort was 10 people. I had no idea if the content would be valuable. No idea if anyone would implement it. Not sure if I could actually help people replicate what had taken me years to figure out through trial and error.

Now, hundreds of students later, I've watched people quit their day jobs. Build six-figure pipelines. Hit $10K months. Create the lifestyle flexibility they dreamed about.

Not because they're special. Because they stopped waiting to feel ready and started taking small actions consistently.

Leadership Development (2024)

2024 brought another expansion.

I started Caliph Creator, a leadership development community.

Again, same pattern. Start with what I know. Help people get results. Build something sustainable around that value.

And more around building a diverse, capable, and unique talent pool of experts working together, collectively.

Today (2025)

So here we are in 2025. Reflecting on how else I could help others, based on how I was guided by others along the way.

Last week, a friend told me I ranked #1 in content marketing and copywriting on Favikon for Singapore. Twelve years ago, I couldn't have told you what a content marketing agency even was.

What's different between the guy editing $5 videos and the guy running several ventures?

Not much, actually.

I still feel like I'm figuring it out as I go. Still have days where I wonder if this whole thing will collapse. Still wake up some mornings feeling like an imposter.

Every new project feels like Day 1. Every new cohort. Every new client. Every new venture.

The only thing that changed is that I stopped waiting to feel confident before I started. And I stopped being ashamed of the failures along the way.

I learned that you don't build a business by having all the answers. You build it by getting comfortable with not having the answers and moving forward anyway. You build it by learning from what doesn't work as much as what does.

Those $5 Fiverr gigs didn't just pay for extra income. They paid for an education in how business really works. How to serve clients. How to solve problems. How to build something valuable from nothing but effort and attention. How to pick yourself up when things don't go as planned.

What This Means for You

If you're reading this from your day job, wondering if you could ever make the jump to entrepreneurship, here's what I want you to know:

You don't need a revolutionary idea. You don't need startup capital. You don't need connections or credentials or special talents.

You just need to start somewhere. Anywhere.

Maybe it's $5 Fiverr gigs. Maybe it's freelance writing. Maybe it's consulting in your current field. Maybe it's selling something you make on weekends.

The specific thing doesn't matter. What matters is that you start learning how business works while you still have the safety net of employment.

Every small project teaches you something. Every difficult client prepares you for the next level. Every late night working on your side hustle builds skills your day job never could.

And yes, you'll probably fail at some things along the way. Close some ventures. Exit some partnerships. Maybe even get fired a few times. That's not a bug in the system – it's a feature. Each failure teaches you something the successes never could.

But here's the shortcut: find people who already have the results you want and learn from them. Don't spend years figuring out through trial and error what someone else has already figured out.

The uncertainty will always be there. When to quit? When to go full-time? Can you really do it? Those questions don't have easy answers. A lot of it is trial and error. But you don't have to do all the trial and error yourself.

Sometimes the world will push you into a corner. Sometimes that corner becomes the launch pad for everything you never thought possible.

The goal isn't to get rich quick. The goal is to get competent slowly.

Competent at communicating. Competent at delivering. Competent at problem-solving. Competent at building relationships. Competent at recognizing when something isn't working and pivoting gracefully.

Those competencies compound. Today's $5 client becomes tomorrow's $500 client. Today's side hustle becomes tomorrow's main hustle.

Only if you stop waiting to feel ready and start getting ready by doing.

Twelve years feels like a long time when you're planning. It feels like nothing when you're looking back.

The question isn't whether you'll be successful. The question is whether you'll start.

And the only way to find out is...

to begin.

-Rusydi Rozalli