Growing a business with recurring income is great because you do not need to be constantly chasing a new sale to make money. You’ll have a foundation and a stream of income you can rely on for months or years to come. With less financial stress of finding one off sales you can focus on growing the business. Here we are going to talk about some business ideas for recurring income. Find inspiration for your next business venture!
1. Insurance Agent
Insurance sales can be tough but also very lucrative. You would need to be able to handle rejection and it is not for everyone. However there is high earning potential and the ability to make recurring income.
There are a number of insurance products to sell such as property, casualty, life and health insurance. You are helping people stay protected and have a peace of mind in case the unfortunate happens. As an Insurance agent you can either be captive, meaning you only sell one insurance company’s products or being independent and can work with multiple insurance carriers. You will need to check with your state with what licensing requirements are needed depending on the type of insurance you sell.
Where the money is in the insurance industry are the renewals. Typically an agent is paid on commission on each policy they sell and each time their clients keep that policy the agent will earn commission on those renewals. If you are able to build and maintain a huge book of business, which takes time you can be sitting on a hefty annual residual income.
2. Digital Marketing Agency
Starting a digital marketing agency can be rewarding and can bring in recurring income in the form of monthly retainers. Digital marketing experts offer marketing services such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Advertising, Social Media, Content and Email Marketing. If you are able to learn these skills and can do a good job at helping clients bring in more revenue through setting up their marketing strategy, they may keep you on for years.
Many marketing agencies charge a monthly retainer or maintenance fee for creating ads, posting content or SEO. As you know, marketing is a long term effort to see consistent and great results.
Check out my blog on how to start a digital marketing agency.
3. Cleaning Business
Love Cleaning? A cleaning business is a great idea to start due to the low overhead costs and high earning potential. You can focus on either residential or commercial cleaning. Cleaning is an essential service and will always be needed. You won’t have trouble finding a customer. Many residential cleaning businesses provide bi-weekly or monthly cleaning. Sign onto a commercial cleaning contract for years. If you do not want to do the cleaning you can hire professional cleaners or subcontract the work out to fulfill the service.
Many start out doing the cleaning themselves but this ends up taking too much of their time to focus on growing the business. To scale up you want to work ON the business not IN the business. You will be responsible for the operations of the business and if you are able to set systems in place to make everything seamless you will be on your way to running a successful cleaning business making over six figures.
4. Creating a Membership Site
Do you have skills you would like to monetize? For example, if you are an online fitness trainer, coach or business consultant, consider creating a membership site and delivering exclusive quality content to your clients. Clients can sign up for your membership site for a monthly or annual subscription. They will enjoy the benefits of being a part of a community with other members of your program. You can offer many services or benefits to joining which many include:
- Webinar training, 30-day challenges, recorded video modules, Q&A discussion, weekly coaching sessions.
- If you are a digital marketer who works with a specific niche (ex: dentists) you can offer a group exclusive to dentists and offer them free marketing tips.
- Try having a free version of your membership site that allows users to get some familiarity with your program and you get the opportunity to provide great value. Once they see the value you bring you can offer them a paid version for more higher level content or services.
5. Start a Virtual Assistant Business
Virtual assistants can offer many administrative support services to local businesses. Some tasks you might perform include customer service, appointment scheduling, answering phones, blog writing and publishing, social media posting.
Tasks vary depending on the business you are servicing and their needs. If you start a virtual assistant business, consider niching down. By niching down you can focus on targeting your service to specific industries. Example, being a virtual assistant for a realtors, e-commerce company or a blogger. By niching down you will get familiarity with how that industry works and you can position yourself as an expert in that field.
Virtual assistance services are typically ongoing and not a one time sale. Many are contracted for extended periods of time or forever. There are low overhead costs. Usually there is no formal license or education needed as most tasks can be trained.
6. Start a Bookkeeping Business
Bookkeeping is essential to any business. Every company should have their financials in order. As a bookkeeper you may be helping with accounts receivable or payable and generating financial statements. If you have a good eye for details this might be the business for you! Bookkeeping can be quite profitable because of the low overhead expenses.
All you need is a laptop and reliable WiFi. You may need to get experience in common bookkeeping software if you don’t already have any. If you are a reliable bookkeeper, your clients will keep you on a recurring basis for quite a while. It is also a hassle to replace a bookkeeper, as they would know all the details about your finances.
7. Become a Personal Fitness Trainer or Coach
Do you love fitness and helping clients with their fitness journey? Becoming a fitness trainer may be for you! This is a great recurring business model because many clients book multiple sessions. Achieving fitness goals can take at least a few months and you will have an opportunity for recurring income while building your clientele.
Fitness trainers can incorporate this with their membership site or online course for supplemental income opportunities.
8. Create Digital Products
Creating digital products can be a scalable business if you like creating products. The great thing about creating a digital product is that you do not have to worry about any inventory. The product can be sold an infinite amount of times. You will need to put in the upfront work on creating a quality product that customers would be willing to download and purchase.
Digital products can be in the form of online courses, software plugins and more. You will need to have a funnel that will continue to drive repeat online sales. For example, if you sold online courses then you could create multiple courses that build upon each other or offer a promotion that incentives other courses you offer.