Four days ago, Mynda Tracy released a YouTube video discussing how to turn Excel skills into a side hustle. In her video, she made a striking claim: there are only two ways to make money with Excel—by either providing a service or creating a product.
But what if there’s a third way?
Having worked extensively with Excel, I’ve seen it do far more than support products or services. In fact, my own clients have tripled my pay, not for a product I sold or a service I delivered, but for enabling a transformation. This goes beyond side hustle—it’s a paradigm shift.
The Power of Transformation
Let’s unpack this idea of transformation. Imagine an organization is operating under the assumption that things must work a certain way—that there’s no alternative. Then someone comes along and proves that assumption wrong, introducing a dramatically better way of working. That revelation, that transformation, is not a service or product. It’s a game-changer.
I illustrate this with what I call the “horse-drawn motor car” analogy.
The Horse-Drawn Motor Car Analogy
Imagine a world where modern cars exist—BMWs capable of 150+ mph, equipped with all the latest features. But despite that, most people still attach horses to them and treat them like carriages. It sounds absurd, but that’s essentially what’s happening in many businesses with Excel.
Even as engine technology advances, people cling to outdated practices—blacksmiths lobbying against change, drivers fearing the unknown. Eventually, horses are replaced by robotic ones just to keep up with demands. The car is more advanced, yes—but still pulled by “horses.”
Now imagine someone steps in and says, “You don’t need horses at all. There’s an engine under the bonnet. Just turn it on.”
They demonstrate this, and suddenly productivity jumps 10x. The entire paradigm shifts. Management is astounded. The value created is immense—not because of a new product or a service rendered, but because someone pointed out what was already there and enabled people to use it.
A Real-World Example: Amazon’s Delivery Vans
Picture Amazon’s fleet of delivery vans—thousands of them. But they’re all pulled by horses. One day, someone tells Jeff Bezos, “Hey, did you know there’s an engine under the hood?” They turn it on, and deliveries go from 10 per hour to 100. Stock prices soar. Value is unlocked.
Again, it’s not a service. It’s not a product. It’s a revelation—a transformation.
Excel’s Engine is Real—and Underrated
This is exactly what’s happening with Excel in the enterprise.
Most spreadsheets are built on the outdated assumption that Excel is just a digital version of a large sheet of paper. But Excel today is far more powerful. It supports architecture that enables real-time collaboration, centralized data storage, separation of data and logic, and scalable reporting—all the hallmarks of robust enterprise systems.
What we’re talking about here is shifting from a flat, siloed spreadsheet to a hub-and-spoke architecture—akin to a client-server model—where data lives in a central hub and processes are distributed across the spokes. It’s the foundation of cloud computing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and virtually every modern business system.
This Isn’t New—It’s Just Ignored
The principles behind this transformation have been around for 35 years. They’re not rocket science. But they’re often overlooked because people simply don’t realize the engine is there.
This isn’t about Excel skills—Power Query, VBA, or even formulas. It’s about business understanding and applying Excel in a way that enables transformation. You don’t need deep knowledge of databases or cloud servers; that’s IT’s domain. What you do need is domain knowledge, process awareness, and the vision to see what’s possible.
It’s Not a Service. It’s Not a Product. It’s a Capability.
Let’s clarify:
- It’s not a service, because services respond to demand. This transformation creates demand. It’s proactive, not reactive.
- It’s not a product, because there’s no packaged output for sale. It’s about know-how, a framework, a mindset shift.
This is what makes you indispensable. You’re no longer “just” someone with Excel skills. You’re someone who knows how to unlock value others didn’t even know was there. You’re not selling a spreadsheet—you’re revealing the engine and showing what it can do.
Dick Fosbury: A Historical Parallel
In 1968, Dick Fosbury revolutionized the high jump. Before him, athletes used the “Western roll” or “scissor jump.” Fosbury went over the bar backwards, arching his back. At the time, it was radical. Today, it’s the standard.
Why? Because the change was obviously better. It was a shift in technique and mindset. The same applies to Excel. Once you see the better way, you can’t unsee it—and you won’t go back.
The Real Opportunity for Excel Professionals
So, what’s the real opportunity Mynda Tracy hinted at?
It’s this: using your Excel skills not to offer another add-in or freelance service, but to unlock transformation in how organizations work. That’s how you step into roles that pay 2–3x more—because you’re not seen as a spreadsheet expert, you’re seen as a strategic enabler of value.
You’re the one who says, “There’s an engine under the bonnet. Let me show you.”
Author’s Note: This reflection is inspired by Mynda Tracy’s recent video on Excel side hustles and expands on a third, often overlooked pathway—transformation.
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