49 Passive Income Business Ideas: 2024’s Most Profitable Picks!
With the cost of living on the rise, many are looking to supplement their income with a few passive income business ideas. Passive income is the ultimate dream for many stuck in their 9-5. To be able to create something once and generate income forever from it is what most people want but few find. In this article, you’ll learn 49 different passive income ideas that you can start in 2023.
What Are the Best Passive Income Business Ideas?
Passive income isn’t anything new but it is a secret of the wealthy. Warren Buffet has been quoted saying, “If you don’t figure out how to make money while you sleep, you’ll work until you die.” Most today want to know how to create passive income because they’re stuck living paycheck to paycheck or they’re worried that by the time they retire, there won’t be any pension funds left. The guide below will show you 49 different ways to make passive income in 2023.
Create and sell courses
Gone are the days of having to be certified in teaching. Anyone can teach someone else, as long as they know more than their student. So think about what you’re really good at. What comes naturally to you? What skills do all your friends keep asking you about? That’s likely a topic you could teach. Then all you need to do is take that content you know, record yourself on camera, or if you’re camera shy you could simply record slides and your voice. Upload your videos to a platform like Teachable or Kajabi and then sell your courses to an audience.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you recommend products to other people and make a small commission from the sale. While that is considered active income the way affiliate marketing can become passive is by setting up a blog or leveraging sales funnels.
If for example, you are recommending a program that has a sales funnel with order bumps, upsells, and downsells you as the affiliate marketer didn’t have to do any of the selling, the sales funnel did. When your prospect buys any of those items you would be creating passive income.
The other option is to set up a blog, create articles on keywords that people search for, and recommend products and services in your blogs. This is one of the best passive income business ideas.
Buy stocks
Buying stocks can be a great way to earn passive income. Most believe that you need to have tens of thousands of dollars ready to invest in the stock market but that’s not true. What is critical for success is education. By understanding how to leverage options regardless of how the market goes (up or down) you can still earn passive income from it.
The best way to get started is to get a course on trading and sign up for a trading simulator so you can practice investing in the stock market without using any real money until you’re ready.
Email Marketing
Once you’ve attracted people to sign up for your email list you can send them affiliate links to other products and services. If for example, you have 100 people on your email list, you’re sending valuable content to your subscribers and you’re also including affiliate offers that are relevant for them, that means with 100 subscribers you should be averaging $100 a month.
Pick an email marketing software, create a lead magnet to entice people to sign up, and then start sending emails to your subscribers.
Youtube Channel
Youtube is a great way to either monetize through ads or put affiliate links in your video description. To start a channel choose a topic and audience you want to help. Maybe you’re really good at marketing or doing renovations. Build an audience around that topic, and create videos that showcase who you are and the value you bring.
Then you can either get paid by allowing people to place ads in front of your videos or you can put affiliate links in the video description and encourage the viewers to click the link below.
Build an Instagram Following
Maybe you’re into fashion and body positivity. You can create an Instagram profile and build an audience. Share stories of who you are in Instagram stories (think of it as behind the scenes) and then create valuable reels and carousels that keep your audience on the platform and consuming your content.
Before you had to have 10,000 followers to put links in your stories but now if you are advertising a physical product or affiliate product you can put your link in stories for the next 24 hours and your audience can go there to buy the item.
Sell physical products on TikTok
The #thingsiboughtontiktok or #thingstiktokmademebuy are all the rage. If you can create some videos with text on screen (you don’t even need to speak if you aren’t comfortable with that) and some trending music. Show a before and after of someone who didn’t use your product and now does.
Transformation videos are very successful. Think of products in the cosmetic or beauty industry. Those transformations can be seen in the same video and provide fantastic results.
Dropshipping
Find what products are trending on Amazon and go to alibaba.com to see what products you could get and sell them at a more competitive price or bundle those products with some free gifts that customers receive when they buy from you vs the competition.
Build a Brand on Amazon/Shopify
Choose an audience you want to help for the next 12 months. Think about their buying journey and what 3-5 items you can create to help them get from a to b. Let’s say you choose to help young moms who are into yoga.
What items would they need? Probably a yoga mat, a towel, a yoga block, maybe some affirmations they can download and use, and an app that teaches breathing exercises. You can find manufacturers on Alibaba or locally to create these items for you.
Sell Printables on Etsy
Create printables on Canva for a specific audience. Let’s say you chose to create a digital planner for people who want to plan their wedding. You create the planner on Canva, choose your colors and branding and upload it to Etsy.
Sell Physical Products on Etsy
Maybe you’re more into working with your hands. You could build an audience with SEO and through social media to redirect them to your Etsy store where you have handmade items ready for sale.
Rent out your car on Turo
If you don’t need your car all the time, perhaps you work from home, then you can leverage the opportunity to rent out your car to others who may need wheels for short local trips. This can be a great way to also rent out a second car and make money vs it costing you money to sit in your garage. Sign up on the Turo app to rent out your car.
Place ads on your car
Maybe you aren’t a fan of other people driving your vehicle, then you can get ads placed on your vehicle and drive around town advertising for local businesses.
Kindle Publishing
Create ebooks on different topics, get the cover art for the ebook created on Fiverr, or use Canava, and then once done, you upload it to Kindle. Keep in mind some passive income business ideas will require you to purchase a course or deep dive on Youtube to learn the how to be successful with your choice.
Rent out part or all of your home on Airbnb
If you have a spare room or travel for work you can rent out your home on Airbnb and other vacation rentals. Short-term rentals are ideal since you can make a higher return. Choose a theme for your rental, take some great photos, offer amenities to attract your customers, and get great reviews.
Lend your friends money on interest
Either lending money to people you know or using peer-to-peer lending forums can be a great way to gain passive money through interest. If someone is looking for a loan or needs some start-up capital for their business and you’re in a position to help then you can determine the interest to charge.
If you want to be competitive then stay away from charging 33% that 3rd party lenders charge, you’re much better off being in the 8-15% range for unsecured loans.
Start a podcast and get sponsors
Not a fan of the camera but still ready to share your voice with the world? You can start a podcast on platforms like Anchor or Google podcasts. Choose a topic your podcast will be about, and record your show in either an interview format or with yourself discussing lessons learned. Then once you have an audience you can reach out to different brands to sponsor your show.
Create an app
Are you great with technology? Have an app you’ve always wanted to create but have no time for? Create an app using a low or no-code site then find some beta testers to see how the app works in real life. Once it works for your beta testers, launch the app on the google play store or apple store.
Design T-Shirts
You can use a 3rd party printer to create your designs and have them printed on demand. Set up a funnel where you offer different types of print-on-demand for your customers. Then post photos on Instagram or videos on Tiktok about your t-shirts.
Create photos and videos for B Role
If you’re gifted with taking high-quality photos or recording different background videos then you might consider this option. Most YouTubers will use video when explaining something, otherwise known as b-role.
This is footage or photos that are of someone else, which is usually more interesting to watch than the Youtuber and their head simply explaining a concept. Other sites like Pexels will pay for high-quality photos and videos.
Put money in a high-interest savings account
You can get mutual funds or a guaranteed investment certificate from your bank.
Vending Machine
You can find vending machines on Craigslist, Kijiji, or eBay for sale or rent. Then place the vending machines in strategic locations and make sure you fill the machines with products people will consume often. Think chips and soda, not headphones.
Create and license music
If you have a knack for music then creating music and licensing it on youtube premium or other platforms can be a great way to earn income. When someone uses your music they either have to pay a royalty or they can sign up to a site where there are songs available and licensed for use.
Record audiobooks
Do you have that smooth talk radio voice? Do your friends tell you you were born for podcasting? You might try your hand at recording audiobooks. Sign up for acx, create a profile, and upload samples of you speaking. You can either make money per project or royalties when someone buys the book.
Create a membership site
Do you have a skill that brings people together? Know how to train dogs or share the best tips on raising a newborn for first-time parents? Creating a membership site on WordPress, tell your members what value they’ll get by signing up to pay monthly. Is it, Community?
Is it special training? Be sure to advertise your community and the results that other members have gotten to entice others to sign up.
Sell PLR Products in a Funnel
If you don’t have the time to create content, PLR or private label rights might be right up your alley. PLR is when someone else creates the content and you purchase it to use as your own. Some PLR products have rules as to how the content can be used so be sure to check the resale rights. You don’t want to download something that you can’t use to sell to your audience.
Invest in a Franchise
If you have a serious amount of cash to invest in a system that’s already proven a great option is investing in a franchise. You can get a gym franchise or look at a Mcdonald’s. Be sure to read reviews of franchise owners, ask a lot of questions and be comfortable with not calling the shots. Franchise owners who want to run their own show differently from the system that’s been proven don’t last.
Host websites for businesses
If you’re super techy, this can be a great way to offer to host for businesses. You would need to buy a server and then simply offer businesses website hosting.
Lead generation for businesses
If you’re good at digital marketing and you know how to set up a funnel you can approach local businesses to do lead generation for them. The great thing about setting up a funnel with an email responder is once it’s done all you have to do is send the leads over to the business and get paid!
Rent out storage
Got enough space to offer a boat? Or a few Harley-Davidsons for the winter? Renting out storage can be very lucrative. You can advertise on Craiglist or Kijiji and if you’re able specialize in the type of storage you offer and any added perks to get people to rent from you and not someone else.
Invest in REITs
If you don’t have the funds to buy your first rental property you can invest in a REIT. A REIT is a Real Estate Investment Trust, which means a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate. You would invest as a shareholder and when the properties in the REIT appreciate in value you would receive passive income as a dividend.
Become a Brand Ambassador
If you’re a fan of certain products and you’ve built an audience on social media you can earn income from the products you recommend. On TikTok, you can start to work with brands if you have around 10,000 followers, so the good news is you don’t need a million people to follow you. Many influencers are having great success in the micro-influence niche.
Invest in other companies as a silent or active partner
If you have the funds to invest in start-up businesses, this can be a great way to get a return on investment. Think royalties and equity. Think Shark Tank and how they create deals. If you have a bit of business knowledge and would prefer someone else do all the hard work it’s a great way to earn passive income.
Lease or buy an ATM machine
Do you know of some stores that have great foot traffic? Bringing in an ATM can be a great way to collect passive income. You would earn income from the fees and if you can have multiple machines in different locations it’s another great way to increase your income.
Buy and sell domains
This is pretty straightforward. You purchase domain names that other people will want to have for their businesses. List your domains on sites where they can easily be found and when someone finds out that the perfect domain they want is available for sale, you can begin a negotiation.
Sell products or affiliate links using Pinterest
The best part of Pinterest is the majority of people who use it plan on making a purchase. It’s not a social media platform, it’s a search engine. Statistics show that people who use the app are predominantly women and have higher household incomes. Pinterest is also designed to bring people from the app to a website to make a purchase.
Car wash
Car washes are known to be a million-dollar business so if you have the funds to invest in an established car wash business, you could easily hire someone else to manage the day-to-day operations.
Make money with Alexa skills
Do you have a skill you want to monetize? Are you good at creating fun and interesting content? You could sell your skills and knowledge on Alexa (Amazon). Think games, affirmations, meditation scenarios, or premium content for just a day.
Network Marketing aka Multi-Level Marketing
Have you heard of Avon? Amway? Doterra? Network marketing is one of the best and most profitable ways to create passive income. All you need to do is find a company with good products that can be consumed monthly and start recommending the products to your audience on social media.
Buy a laundromat
Investing in a laundromat is an excellent passive income business. You could purchase a few locations around your city in high-traffic areas. Similar to a vending machine all you would need is to maintain the washer and dryers and collect the cash from your business.
Run ads on a blog
If you have a blog that’s already up and running and you have significant amounts of traffic who visit your blog every month you can leverage ads on your blogs. Reach out to different brands and let them know for a fee you’re willing to display their ad on your blog.
Depending on what you negotiate and the amount of traffic you have visiting you could earn hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.
Buy a website that’s already successful
Don’t have time to write? If you have a knack for improving businesses that are looking to sell you might consider buying a website/blog that’s already getting paid traffic to it. All you would need to do is further optimize the website/blog to increase conversion or income.
Subscription service on your Youtube channel
By offering exclusive content to your subscribers on Youtube you can charge anywhere from $0.99 to $99.99 a month. This would be content that your regular subscribers want even more access to. Or maybe your membership sells exclusive stickers and emojis for your channel. Be creative and have fun with it!
Become a content creator on Only Fans
Another platform you could leverage is Only Fans. This is a subscription-based service whereby creating exclusive content you can charge anywhere from $4.99 to $49.99 a month for your fans to get access to your content. You can also upcharge for private messages but in order to make that part passive you would have to hire a Virtual Assitant to respond on your behalf.
Build a following on Twitch
Are you a gamer at heart? Does your pulse quicken when you hear the words, World of Warcraft? If video games are your thing then consider building an audience on Twitch. You can charge between $4.99 to $24.99 per subscriber/month for your content. With a big following you can also do brand collaborations and feature their products on your live stream.
Digital Agency
If you’re great at running Facebook ads, Instagram ads, or Google ads you could offer your services to local businesses for advertising. How you would make this passive is outsourcing the work to a Virtual Assistant and you would be the face of the company.
Make sure you share your standard operation procedures (SOPs) with your Virtual Assistant on the processes to follow for advertising so your clients can get the best results.
Invest in scooters or bikes to be used around the city
If you’re based in a large city, consider investing in scooters or bicycles for rent. The younger generation is all about reducing their carbon footprint and not owning a vehicle. While many may take public transportation bikes and scooters are all the rage during the spring, summer, and fall months. Set up multiple locations around your city to get the best of your scooters or bikes being rented.
Get Cash Back from everyday spending
There are everyday purchases you are already making; gas, groceries, clothing, makeup, etc. instead of just buying them and continuing with your day you can download an app on your phone and buy the same items through the app.
When you do, the app sends you cash back. Other apps ask you to upload your receipts and will give you cash back on gasoline or groceries. Since you’re already buying these things might as well get paid!
How would you turn this into a business? Offer a subscription service to people or join a network marketin business that offers cash back rewards and income for getting more customers to sign up.
FAQ
Which passive business income idea can I make $1000 a month with?
The best option is high-ticket affiliate marketing where you recommend a course that has a commission of $500. This way you only need 2 sales a month.
Which passive income idea can I start with no money?
There is a lot of free software and email marketing tools that you could use to start your business. Aweber has a free plan until you have 500 subscribers, for example.
You wouldn’t need to invest in any sales funnel software either, as long as you can find a high-ticket affiliate marketing course that pays out a minimum of $500 per sale, all you would need to do is build an audience on social media, create a pdf guide for free using Canva and this will build your email list, then you can send emails to your subscribers with your affiliate links included.
What is the easiest passive income business idea to start?
High ticket affiliate marketing is easiest. You don’t have to create the product. You aren’t responsible for customer support. You just need to recommend the product to your audience. Build an audience using social media and put the link to your affiliate product in the URL bio of your profile.
How Can Passive Income Benefit You?
As you can see passive income business ideas are plenty but they do take hard work. There is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme and if you are finding promises on the internet that do say that, run away!
In 2023 most people are still living paycheck to paycheck. It’s no secret that inflation is on the rise, and the raises companies give don’t keep up with the cost of living. Passive income is a protection against job loss, against relying on your job to pay for everything and it also helps to give you a better quality of life.