by Aman Bhangoo, co-founder of Uber Driver Forum
Everyone wants to make money without working for it; this is why gambling is so prominent. However, there are many of us that don’t like to gamble and prefer to earn our income through more conservative methods. One of those methods is “work,” a four-letter word that can be either back breaking hard and cheap or lucrative while sitting around a pool with a coke. Choosing which way, we make our money is a personal decision, in most cases we don’t have many choices, but for some of us, we can make decisions that will be life changing.
Here are five proven methods for generating passive income; some require a financial base to start with, others just require a lot of gumption and a desire or will power to succeed.
Some statistics about the average US citizen is that 60% have less than $1,000 in our savings, or in any form of cash. Most Americans survive from one day to the next, some working two and three jobs to make ends meet.
In many cases, households earning income tend to spend more than they make or buy a lot on credit and end up having to work to pay off the payments while forgoing savings. The younger generation has a harder time starting out today and current trends in employment show how certain markets dictate academic requirements that many youngsters cannot afford to buy.
So, in order to make some sense out of earning money while sleeping, I decided to list the five proven methods for generating passive income. Each method requires a specific starting point, and I will describe each method with the starting point and the return on investment ratio (ROI) and risk factor involved.
1. Invest in Stocks.
I will start with the most obvious and least attractive of the five methods. This is a proven method and has varying degrees of success based on the investment portfolio and the investor’s patience levels. There are three lucrative investment types that can make a lot of money; the first is investing in penny stocks which is highly risky but with a high ROI. The second is investing in dividend stocks, and going the compound interest route, this is a very safe investment route with a solid annual ROI but takes years. The final investment route is to just follow stock movements by giving your money to an investment house and asking them to invest in the market based on specific levels of exposure.
This method is only for people with money to start off with, and the more you have, the larger the investment and the greater the ROI. Personally, I don’t suggest taking his route if you have less than $10,000 to start off with. Unless you want to gamble with options and penny stocks, and that is not a passive investment, that’s active gambling.
2. Be an Angel Investor.
This is a highly risky passive investment option. It’s not for everyone and it demands a high investment base. So, if you have spare money, let’s say between $10,000 to $50,000, this would be the route for you. If you don’t have this money, then no matter how wonderful the sales pitch is made, never take a loan out to invest. That is the golden rule of investment; rely on cash on hand and not cash you will owe.
The ROI on certain investments can be in the thousands of percent, such as investing in Uber back in 2011, or in Microsoft back in 1976. However, most of us (less than 0.10%) get a chance to invest at the ground level, and we rely on investing in various ventures that mostly faze out of existence.
The best way to be an angel investor is to join a group, and work in a combined collaboration, where every investment is viewed by all the investors and a vote is taken on which ones to invest in and by how much. As a percentage of the investment, you are safer in numbers than by going it alone. Also, when investing as an angel in a group, there are always individuals that recognize specific ventures from a professional angle and not just a speculative one.
Finally, being an angle does not mean you sleep and earn, it means you are always checking up on your investment and worried about your cash. So, it’s a semi sleep while you earn method.
3. Rent Out Your Vehicle.
This is a proven method of income; it is passive, but still has its levels of concern. Specifically, your concern for the safety and integrity of your investment (your car). Having said this, renting out your car to a rideshare driver or as a rental on a platform such as Hyrecar, will generate income without much work.
The two options are equally beneficial.
If you take the direct rent option, you need to know your driver, so it would have to be someone you trust. Having said this, you would need to make sure that they pay you on time, every time. The problem with renting to friends or family is familiarity. When someone is too familiar, they tend to take exceptions, and you end up waiting for money owed leading to a fight.
With Hyrecar, you rent to someone that Hyrecar has screened, and you get your money on time as your car is hired out. Hyrecar can generate income around $1,000 a month for a standard vehicle. However, you should make sure the vehicle is a rideshare standard vehicle, which means it meets all the Uber and Lyft requirements for a basic ride.
Hyrecar offers a loan option for people that don’t own a car, I personally don’t like this, because it brings us back to the “owe” money to invest scenario, which is bad. However, if you have some spare cash and want more than one car on the road, then rent out your own car and take a loan for the second one from Hyrecar. You increase your income and lower your exposure. You can become a fleet owner this way, and that’s a business to build in this new gig economy.
4. Try Dropshipping.
Dropshipping is a relatively new e-commerce habit where you open an online shop that sells products that are supplied by another online shop or supplier. For instance, you would open up an online shop that sells products from AliExpress or Amazon or even Lazada (Asia). You can also find specialist producers that are seeking outlets online and offer your site.
All you do is take a percentage (commission) from each sale. Your site is basically a conduit, where once a purchase is made, the system automatically transfers the order to the company you are posting for, and you just take your commission without actually doing much more.
A dropshipping site requires setting-up and maintenance, so you cannot really claim it is a full passive income generator. However, you can sleep and earn while the site is active 24/7. You don’t need to limit yourself to any geographic location and provide a service to everyone everywhere around the globe.
You can use Shopify as a base of operations or use a standalone adoption such as Wix or Amazon reseller using WordPress. Whichever option you choose, you will need to set up the site, make sure you have a paypal or other acceptable mode of e-wallet and if you want to be really successful, you will need to integrate social media and referral marketing and even consider investing in online marketing through Google.
5. Advertise on your car.
True passive income is the latest car owner craze. It grew up from taxi’s and buses onto rideshare and is now becoming a really lucrative business. Basically, if you own a car, you go to a site such as Wrapify, and they pay you a monthly income for allowing them to use your car as an advertising medium.
If you rent your car out through Hyrecar, you should Wrapify it, add also digital advertising inside the car and include the latest new craze of selling times while driving via GoCargo. All three options when combined will generate around $1,500 a month! This is pure passive income; you just let someone else drive the car, pay you to rent, get income from advertising, and if you can use GoCargo then even better.
Aman Bhangoo is the co-founder of Uber Driver Forum who helps rideshare drivers and riders to find answers to their most pressing questions. With over 3.5 years of experience, Aman brings a vast amount of knowledge, style, and skills to help fellow drivers. He has given over 18,000 rides with Uber and more than 6,800 rides with Lyft.
