Do you want to make money while you sleep, hang out with friends, or do whatever you love, then you can start a business or side hustle that can make you passive income. Passive income means earning money without having to work all the time. You need to set the money making system once, then you can make money with very less to no effort at all. Sounds awesome, right? If you’re asking me, then it sure does!
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So, in this post, I’m going to share 10 simple business ideas to make passive income. To start these businesses, you don’t have to be rich or have special skills. I’ll try to explain everything in as simple words as possible that anyone can understand. So, let’s get into it.
Please Note: This post contains affiliate links to products I use, trust, and recommend. If you choose to purchase a product using these links, I may receive a small commission for referring you – at no extra cost to you. These funds help me keep this blog up and running.
1. Real Estate Investing
Real estate is a great way to earn passive income. This is the industry that has made the most millionaires throughout the world. You can buy a house, apartment, or building, and then rent it out to someone. Every month, the person who rents your property will pay you money as rent. This can be a great passive income idea if you have some money to start with!
It takes some work to find the right property and manage it, but once everything is set up, the rent comes in every month. Plus the value of the property goes up over time so, if you have to sell it, then you can sell it for more money than what you bought it for! Real estate is probably the safest and most reliable way to make money even when you’re not actively working.
2. Create an Online Course
Do you have good knowledge of a certain topic or skill? Maybe you’re good at cooking, drawing, or playing an instrument. If you do, then you can make money by sharing your skills with others through an online course. Once you create the course, you can sell it over and over again, as much as you want. Platforms like Udemy and Teachable make it easy to make money selling your course.
Creating a course will take some time at first, but once it’s done, you can earn money from it without doing much. You do need to keep updating time and again, but that takes very less amount of time. People will keep signing up for your course, and you’ll get paid each time. So, it can be a great way to make money passively.
3. Invest in Dividend Stocks
This might be one of the simplest way to earn passive income, but it needs some money to start. When you buy shares of a company that pays dividends, you’ll get a small amount of money every few months. This money popularly called as dividend.
You don’t have to do anything after you buy the stocks. You just sit back and collect the money. But remember, the more shares you buy, the more you earn. It’s like earning interest on your savings, but from stocks instead of a bank account.
If you’re a beginner to investing, then I’d suggest you to learn the required skills first to start investing.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online, passively. To make money with it, you need to promote other people’s products. No, you don’t have to produce, package or ship anything! All you need to do is, tell people about the product, and when they buy it through your link, you get paid. You get a special link to promote affiliate products.
For example, if you have a blog, YouTube channel, or any other social media, then you can recommend the products you like to your audience and get paid. You’ll get a commission whenever someone buys the product from your link. This is a great passive income idea because once you set it up, you can keep earning money without putting in extra work.
5. Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is a huge platform, where you can make money by creating videos. If you can create evergreen videos that gets views for lifetime once you create it, then you can make good amount of money from ads that play before, during, or after the videos.
It may take time to build your audience, but once your channel starts getting noticed, you can earn money from ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and you can also sell your own products to make money. The best part about YouTube is, once a video is uploaded, it can keep earning money for months or even years, without you having to do anything. So, it’s a great way to make passive income if you enjoy making content and love sharing your knowledge and life with others.
Check out this Step-by-Step Guide if You Want to Start a Successful YouTube Channel in 2025.
6. Write an E-book
Do you enjoy writing? If you do, then writing an e-book can be a great way to earn passive income. You can write a book about something you know well and upload it to websites like Amazon or Gumroad. People can buy your book, and you’ll get paid each time someone purchases it. You can write story books, how-to books, novels, poems, and so much more.
It might take some time to write the book, but once it’s done, you don’t have to do anything else afterwards. The book keeps selling, and you keep earning money. E-books are great because they are easy to publish and sell over and over again.
Check out this free workshop that teaches you how to come up with ideas and step-by-step process to create a profitable ebook.
7. Sell Digital Products
Digital products are things you can create and sell online and doesn’t need to be produced, packaged or shipped everytime. These can be things like printables, templates, photos, or design files. Once you create a digital product, you can sell it as many times as you want without having to make it again.
For example, if you’re good at graphic design, then you can create and sell social media templates on websites like Etsy & Gumroad. You can also use a completely free tool like Payhip to create a simple storefront to sell your products. After someone purchases your digital product, they will get a link to download them immediately. So, there’s nothing like product shipping in this business.It’s a great way to make money online without spending too much time on the business.
Here are 16 Best Digital Products to Sell in 2025.
8. Peer-to-Peer Lending
Peer-to-peer lending is a way to earn money by lending money to people or small businesses. You can do this through platforms like LendingClub. You can choose how much money you want to lend, and then you earn interest on the money you lend.
The nice thing about this is that you don’t have to be a bank to lend money. You just need to find a reliable platform to lend through. This can be a great way to make money while helping others. Just remember, there is some risk involved, so it’s important to do your research before lending money.
9. Create a Membership Site
A membership site is a website where people pay a monthly fee to get access to exclusive and premium content. You can create videos, articles, or resources that only paying members can see.
Once your membership site is set up, you’ll earn money each month from people who pay to access it. This can be a great way to earn steady income, but for that you need to have something; skill or knowledge, that people are willing to pay for. The key to make money consistently with memberships is to keep adding value to your members, so they continue to pay you every month.
10. High-Interest Savings Accounts or CDs
If you prefer something low-risk, then you can earn passive income by keeping your money in a high-interest savings account or a certificate of deposit (CD). These accounts pay you interest just for keeping your money in them.
The great thing is, you don’t have to do anything after you open the account. The bank will pay you a small amount of money for letting them use your money. It’s not the highest-paying option, but it’s a safe and easy way to earn some passive income.
Wrapping it Up
So, these were 10 passive income business ideas to make money. Whether it’s through investing, creating content, or selling products, there are many ways to make money passively. You don’t need to be an expert, and you don’t have to work full-time to make money with these ideas. Choose one that fits the best for you, and start it immediately.
So, that’s it for today! I hope these ideas will help you get started with earning passive income.
