All side businesses
🎓
Professional skills

Online Courses

Income / yr

$1,000-$50,000

Startup cost

$300

Time

6 hrs/wk

First dollar

4-10 weeks

Package something you know into a course you build once and sell repeatedly. The most passive option here once it is made.

Why it fits shift work

Record on your own time. Income continues while you sleep and work shifts.

How to launch it

  1. 1Pick a specific outcome students want (not a broad topic).
  2. 2Outline 5-10 short lessons and record with your phone.
  3. 3Publish on a course platform and price it.
  4. 4Drive traffic with short social clips that tease the lessons.

Where to start

Teachable / UdemyHost, sell, and (on Udemy) tap an existing audience
TikTok / YouTubeFree top-of-funnel that points to the course

The tax win

Once this earns 1099 income, these expenses become deductible on Schedule C, lowering the tax on your day-job income too.

Recording equipment
Course platform fees
Software
Home office
Marketing
See what that saves you

Honest reality check

Passive only after a real upfront build. Most of the income goes to whoever markets it best, so plan the promotion, not just the content.

Time to first dollar: 4-10 weeks: building the course is the work; sales come after.

Want RyzeFi to set this up for you?

Join the waitlist for the done-for-you version: EIN filing, sole-prop registration, and expense tracking wired to this exact business.

Join the waitlist

Educational starting point, not legal or tax advice. Confirm licensing and scope-of-practice rules for your state and profession before starting.