Passive income can be defined as income you receive regularly and requires little effort to maintain. It is “passive” because it keeps coming in even when you’re sleeping or doing other things with your life.
It is very different from the income you make from your medical practice because it is not correlated to your time.
In this article, we shall be looking at 20 profitable side hustles that can generate passive income for doctors. Although none of the ideas are within the medical field, they’re all fairly easy to start and manage.
20 Passive Income Side Hustles for Doctors and Physicians
1. Invest in the stock market
If you are willing to take risks with your money, investing in the stock market can be a great way to make passive income. Every quarter you’ll get paid dividends depending on the performance of your investments.
Make sure to always do substantial research before getting into the stock market. A less risky alternative would be investing in mutual funds. These are companies that pool money from investors to invest in multiple stocks and bonds.
2. Invest in REITs
“REIT” is an acronym for “real estate investment trusts”. These are companies or trusts that own, finance, or operate real estate projects. They can be traded publicly on an exchange, just like stocks.
The minimum investment to get started with fractional shares in publicly-traded REITs can be as low as $5.
3. Invest in crowdfunded real estate projects
Real estate crowdfunding enables companies to fundraise by pooling money from investors in order to finance a property. It’s a great way to get into the real estate sector with a relatively small budget.
Platforms like Fundrise and RealtyMogul allow you to get started with as little as $100. In exchange for your investment, you get a small stake in the project or a commission from the income it generates.
4. Invest in rental properties
A rental property is a great way to add passive income to your portfolio. You can take a mortgage from a bank to finance the property and then use the rental income to repay it.
5. Purchase an ATM
Although it may seem odd, owning an ATM can be a passive income source for doctors. Some companies will allow you to buy an ATM and have it installed in your office for as low as $5,000.
Before renting or buying an ATM, make sure it is legal in your area. You may also need to obtain a license. Once the system is installed, you won’t need to do anything other than collect money from transaction fees.
6. Purchase a vending machine
Similar to owning an ATM, you can also make passive income by purchasing a vending machine and having it installed in your office (or any other location with human traffic). To keep the machine replenished at all times, you may need to hire an attendant.
7. P2P lending
This is a fantastic passive income side hustle for doctors. Through P2P lending apps like Prosper, you can lend your money to borrowers with an interest of up to 30%.
Although lending is traditionally considered a high-risk business, Prosper does a great job at screening all its loan applicants to minimize the risk to lenders. It has a repayment rate of over 90%, which is pretty good.
8. Coworking space
It’s getting increasingly expensive for entrepreneurs to rent offices for their businesses. As a result, many are turning to coworking spaces as it significantly cheaper.
You can start your own coworking side hustle by renting a large office space, partitioning it, and then subleasing it to individuals. You can even offer additional services such as coffee and snacks.
9. Rent out unused space in your home
If you have some unused space in your home, such as in a garage or basement, you can rent it out to other people through Neighbor.
10. Rent out your parking spot
You can also make passive income by renting out your unused parking spot through Neighbor or Justpark. If you live near a popular attraction, you could easily make hundreds of dollars in passive income each month.
11. Rent out a room in your home
While this idea is not for everyone, if you happen to have some extra rooms in your home, you can make money by renting them out on Airbnb.
Alternatively, you can also rent out an entire house, furnish it, and then sublease the rooms on Airbnb. With this model, you can make thousands each month in passive income. It’s a fantastic side hustle for physicians.
12. Rent out your car
If you don’t plan on using your car for a while, or you have more than one car, then you can make passive income by renting it out on Turo. The more high-end your car, the more you stand to make in passive income.
Some people are even opting to purchase replica cars for the sole purpose of renting them out. You can easily find a replica Lamborghini for sale and make thousands of dollars each month passively.
13. Start a blog
As a doctor, you’re probably knowledgeable on a multitude of topics. If you enjoy writing, you should seriously consider starting a blog. It’s one of the best ways to make passive income online.
The blog can be on any topic of your choosing. Once you start getting traffic, you’ll make money through ads, affiliate marketing, or even by selling your own products. Wix has made it very easy to set up a blog from scratch even if you have no technical experience with the platform.
14. Publish an e-book
This is another great way to monetize your knowledge. Kindle Direct Publishing has made it very easy to self-publish an e-book and gain access to millions of Amazon users. Whenever somebody purchases the book, Amazon takes a small cut and pays you the rest.
If you think writing an entire e-book is too time-consuming, you can outsource the work to a ghostwriter through platforms like Upwork, and only provide guidance on what to write about.
15. Create an online course
Once again, this idea banks on your knowledge and experience. A lot of people have recently developed a craving for new knowledge.
You can create an online course on virtually anything through Teachable, even if it has nothing to do with health. For instance, if you enjoy cooking then you can create a cooking course.
The bulk of the work will go into creating the content, but once you upload it, students will be able to enroll without any further work from you. If your course costs $100 per month, and you have only 10 students, that’s $1,000 in passive income.
Now imagine the possibilities if you had hundreds or even thousands of students. This is one of the best side hustles for doctors and physicians.
16. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a great passive income idea if you happen to have a large following on social media or a blog/YouTube channel. In that case, you can find affiliate products to promote through networks like CJ Affiliate, Clickbank, or even Amazon.
Any time somebody purchases something through your link, you get paid a commission from the sale. The more expensive the products you’re promoting, the more money you can make from commissions.
17. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an e-commerce model where you partner with suppliers to fulfill your orders. You don’t keep an inventory of any of the products you’re selling, which makes it a fantastic low capital business idea for doctors.
To get started, create an e-commerce store through Shopify and then list a variety of products for sale. Whenever somebody buys something, you then order the item from your supplier and have it shipped to them. To automate the process, you can hire a virtual assistant to manage your store.
18. Start a podcast
If you love talking and people genuinely enjoy listening to you, then you should consider starting a podcast. It could be on healthcare or any other topic of your choosing. The only requirements to get started are a microphone, a computer, and a podcast host.
Once your podcast starts to get traffic, you’ll make money through ads, sponsorships, and even by promoting affiliate products.
19. Advertise on your car
If you don’t mind driving around in a moving billboard, then you can sign up on Wrapify or Carvertise and get paid to get your car wrapped in advertisements. You could make as much as $1,500 from just a single campaign.
20. Sell stock photos
A lot of people enjoy taking photos on their smartphones. If you happen to be one of them, you can start selling your photos on stock photo websites like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock.
It’s one of the easiest ways to make passive income. Any time somebody licenses your photos, you get paid royalties.
