- Money flipping works by adding value (or perceived value) to your original investment.
- When flipping money, there are several variables to consider. They are divided into two categories; what you have to give and what you have to gain.
- You can build wealth through progressive money flips, starting from zero by selling something you already own (as just one example), and reinvesting your profits into progressively larger flips.
How Money Flipping Works
A good example of flipping money, and the one most people are familiar with is flipping houses. You buy a home, fix it up, and sell it.
The key elements that make house flipping profitable are the added value of renovations and the potential increase in consumer demand. As a formula, it looks like this…
Money + (added value) = More Money
But flipping money is not limited to houses. You can flip anything for a profit by adding value (or “perceived” value) to your original investment.
The added value can be something you control, like adding time and effort to improve the condition of something. Or, it can be something you do not control, like market conditions, consumer demand, or the performance of a business you invest in.
But that's not the kind of money flip everyone is looking for. Money flipping has another definition…
Money Flip Meaning
A common definition of “money flipping” (also known as cash flipping), is to exchange a sum of money for a greater sum of money at a later date.
However, when someone refers to this kind of “money flip”, what they are often talking about is a scam, and here's why…
A money flip scam uses this promise of a greater sum of money in the future as an incentive to give a stranger money now (described by the stranger/scammer as an investment).
Behind the scenes though, this “stranger” gains access to your bank account in the process, often for the purpose of money laundering in which giving criminals are able to transfer money in and out of your account.
These scammers also steal your original investment.
The other definition of money flipping is the one described in the previous section; exchanging a sum of money for a greater sum of money by adding value to your original investment.
This honest version of flipping money is the one I'm going to discuss here.
I don't think there's any confusion here, but just in case…
- Money flip + added value = legit or worth looking into
- Money flip + no added value = scam, casino, lottery, etc.
Money Flip Variables
A money-flipping “machine” that spits out more money than you put in would be amazing, but no such machine exists. Or at least, an accessible one does not exist. It can't…
What makes money valuable is its relative scarcity.
If everyone could print it (or flip it with no additional effort or knowledge) and have as much as they wanted, it would have no value. The entire system would collapse.
So, those who are looking for a way to flip money for more money without doing anything, without learning anything, or without taking any risk (investing in the stock market for example) will struggle to find what they're looking for.
In other words, to flip money for more money, you must do something more. There is another step in the process. That additional step opens a door to countless money flipping strategies ranging from buying and selling to flipping art shares, and these strategies introduce several important variables.
These variables are categorized into two groups; cost (or personal expenditures) and benefits.
Personal Expenditures
- Budget
- Effort
- Skill Level
- Risk
- Discomfort
Benefits
- Flip/ROI Potential
- Flip/ROI Velocity
- Scalability
- Sustainability
- Passive Income Potential
Money Flip Personal Expenditures
Flipping money isn't free. By definition, you must have money to flip it in the first place. But your costs are not limited to just money.
The time and effort you put into your flip are costs. The level of risk and discomfort are also costs.
Here's a quick overview…
Budget
You can't flip money you don't have (or can't borrow). Once you have an idea of what you'd like to do, determining the size of your budget to get started is your next step.
Effort
How much effort is required, and how many hours per day/week/month, etc., can you commit?
Skill Level
What skills do you have, and what skills are required?
Risk
Profits are never guaranteed. How risky is your money-flipping venture?
Discomfort
How far outside of your comfort zone should you go?
For example, are you an introvert or an extrovert? Do you avoid confrontations?
Are there any physical limitations you have? What are the environmental conditions of the flip (eg. sanding dusty drywall to flip a house is not the same as flipping stocks with your computer).
Benefits
The benefits of your chosen flip should justify the costs.
One significant benefit of course is a return on your investment (ROI). How much money can you make? Does it have high or low potential?
How quickly can you make money? Can you scale it to something bigger?
Reviewing the benefits and potential gains will help you determine your next steps.
Flip/ROI Potential
Under ideal circumstances, how big of a return will you see on your investment?
Flip/ROI Velocity
How quickly will you see a return on your investment?
Scalability
Can your money flip be scaled into something bigger or is there a limit to how far you can take it?
Sustainability
Is your money flip sustainable? A lot of jobs, businesses, and side hustles have become obsolete due to changes in technology, politics, social behavior, competition, and so on.
Passive Income Potential
Are you simply “trading hours for dollars” with no future benefit, or are you contributing to an asset that will pay you many times over?
These variables provide a guide for your quick assessment, but they are subjective.
For example, your level of discomfort in certain situations will be different than someone else's. Or a skill that's difficult to acquire for some might come easy to you.
35 Legit Money Flipping Ideas
As you go through the following ways to flip money, there are some considerations to think of in addition to the variables listed above.
For example, flipping houses sounds like a great way to make money (and shows like Flipping Vegas even make it look sexy). It might even meet the criteria you're looking for, but that doesn't mean it's the right choice for you.
If you have a bad back, for example, zero home renovation experience, or maybe you hate physical labor, house flipping might be incompatible with your situation even if it looks good on paper.
So consider what you like to do, and what you are most able to do.
Are you creative? Do you like working with raw data and spreadsheets? Do you enjoy working alone or with other people?
Is your credit score good?
Do you know how to check your credit score or what a good credit score is?
These are all things to consider.
Many of these money-flipping strategies are their own side hustles, so you'll need clients and customers. And to find clients and customers, you'll need to market your side hustle, products, or skills.
In other words, there are no “best” strategies that apply to all people. Some are certainly better than others when it comes to particular criteria, but the path you follow will ultimately be your own.
With that, here are 35 money-flipping ideas:
1. Flip Stuff You Own
The fastest way to make money is to flip something you already own. Tools, small kitchen appliances, clothing you no longer where or games you no longer play… it's all fair game for a quick profit.
You can use free websites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and eBay to make quick sales, sometimes within hours of listing your items. The effort required and the risk levels are both low, and aside from negotiating and potential in-person transactions, the comfort level is high.
This is an easy way to flip money you've already spent (on items you no longer use) for the money you can spend on something else.
Flip Your Own Stuff – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Low |
| Skill: | Very Low |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip Your Own Stuff – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Low – Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 0 – 5 Days |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Low |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
2. Flip Free Stuff
Flipping free stuff is another great way to make money, and it's more scalable than selling stuff you own because people are always getting rid of stuff.
Every time we move (and we've moved quite a bit), we've had to clear out things that are just taking up space. If we have time, we'll try to sell it, but when we're in a hurry or overwhelmed with other things (as people usually are during a move), we just need it out of here.
Sometimes, you'll find some people can't be bothered to list an item for sale and instead just leave it at the end of their driveway with a note.
And although I don't recommend climbing through dumpsters, you can often find all kinds of things that people leave in the back of apartment buildings or in lobbies.
You won't make life-changing money flipping free stuff on your own, and it's not as comfortable as selling something you already own, but it also doesn't require any special skills. You're also not investing anything besides your time and fuel, so the risk is very low.
Again, you can sell these items on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and eBay.
As far as scaling it to something bigger, it could potentially grow into a junk removal business.
Flip Free Stuff – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip Free Stuff – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Low |
| ROI Velocity: | 0 – 15 days |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Medium |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
3. Flip Stuff You Make (Great for Crafters)
Crafts, personalized gifts, birthday cakes, small wood furniture like stools and benches, jewelry… these are all great examples of things people are making and selling every day.
Anyone over the age of 30 will remember how difficult this once was. There were no DIY blogs or YouTube channels to learn how to make just about anything you can think of, and there were no free online marketplaces to list your products for sale and communicate with potential buyers.
Not to mention platforms like Etsy.
The only surprising thing about flipping stuff you make is that more people are not doing it.
Of course, it's not for everyone, but if you're in any way creative and you enjoy making things, the resources and online tools to do it are endless.
The skill required ranges from low to high, depending on what you're making, and if you're doing it on your own, it's not very scalable (you can only make so much stuff yourself). With a team, though, this side hustle has a lot of growth potential.
A couple not far from here started selling cinnamon buns online a couple of years ago, and because of their popularity, it quickly turned into a full bakery that people now line up for.
And if you blog/vlog about your process, you can even make money (potentially more than you can make “selling” your crafts, gifts, etc.) by building an audience online on platforms like Pinterest and YouTube.
As far as risk and how quickly you'll see a return on your money, it also depends on what you're making. It could be as soon as a few days for simple items that are easy to make (and people want to buy).
For expensive and complicated items with smaller audiences, it could take several weeks, and the risk is higher. You'll also want to give yourself some time to test markets and try out different product listings to see which ones get the most response.
Flip Stuff You Make – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip Stuff You Make – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6 weeks |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
4. Flip Stuff You Buy
You can buy stuff cheap at thrift stores, flea markets, and even big box/department stores like Walmart during clearance sales… and then sell them for a profit.
Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are also great places to find cheap items you can sell.
Buying and selling is a skill, and it requires some research, but it's not rocket science. You should have a good idea of the price you can sell something at before buying it.
You can also find many items online priced for quick sale. If you can wait a few weeks (maybe a few months) for the right buyer though, you can make a good profit buying and selling these items.
Another great strategy is seasonal buying and selling. Buy stuff cheap when it's out of season and hold onto it until it's a popular item again.
This flip takes a little more time to see a return on your investment, but the risk is relatively low. Buying and selling also have a lot of growth potential.
Flip Stuff You Buy – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip Stuff You Buy – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6+ Months |
| Scalability: | Very High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
5. Flip Spare Change
Through the magic of technology, flipping spare change or micro-investing is becoming a popular way to make money. It works by using an investment app like Acorns (US) or Moka (Canada) that provides a “round up” option.
When you make a purchase, these apps round up to the nearest dollar, and the spare change goes into your account. Once it adds up to a certain amount ($5 for Acorns), it is automatically invested.
It's effortless and requires no skill. If you're tech adverse or uncomfortable using investment apps or software that connect to your bank account, your discomfort will be understandably high.
This is also not a quick flip. Your spare change is invested in an ETF (exchange-traded fund), which is typically held for many years, if not decades. It has the potential for quick growth, but this is generally a get-rich-slowly strategy.
On the positive side, as your principal investment grows, the interest becomes a form of passive income.
Flip Spare Change – Personal Expenditure Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Very Low |
| Skill: | Very Low |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low – High* |
Flip Spare Change – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | Slow (10+ Years) |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | High |
6. Flip Your Time and Opinion (with Online Surveys)
Most of these money flips require some money or at least something you can sell to get started.
But what if you're starting with a budget of zero?
It's not my favorite way to make money, but doing online surveys is a good way to earn your first few dollars online. It's easy and comfortable (you can do it on your couch while watching TV).
Real survey sites like Survey Junkie and Inbox Dollars may not pay a lot of money, and it's not something you can scale… but they also don't require any up-front investment, and you can also start doing them today.
The biggest risks you're dealing with are scams. There are a lot of fake survey sites promising big money that never pay. They exist only to steal people's personal information. As long as you stay away from them and stick with legit survey sites, the risk is low.
Flip Your Time and Opinion – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $0.00 |
| Effort: | Low |
| Skill: | Very Low |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip Your Time and Opinion – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Low |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3+ Months |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Medium |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
7. Flip Your Feet (and Walk Dogs for Money)
Okay, you're not exactly “flipping” your feet here, but you are walking. Walking dogs for quick cash, to be exact.
I mentioned earlier that the fastest way to make money is to sell something you own. The second fastest way to make money is to knock on doors, put up flyers, and/or advertise for free on Craigslist and offer to take tedious tasks off your neighbor's plate.
Walking dogs is one of those tasks.
Of course, people love their dogs, and they may even love walking them (sometimes). But not everyone loves walking their dogs all of the time. If you already know someone with a dog, this can be a quick way to make money as soon as today.
If you don't know anyone, it might take a little time to find your first client.
You should be familiar with dogs and know what to do in certain situations, but generally speaking, this side hustle doesn't require any skills. It may also be outside your comfort zone because most people don't like selling themselves.
And picking up dog poop is probably not your favorite thing to do either.
Having said that, it's not hard labor, and if you treat your client's dogs as you would your own, the risk is relatively low.
It is scalable with the potential of becoming a six-figure business, but be aware if you're walking dogs professionally, you'll need all the things businesses require, like licenses and even dog walking insurance.
Walking Dogs – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Walking Dogs – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 0 – 30 Days |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
8. Flip Other People's Filth (Remote Laundry Service)
Many people live in apartments and basement suites with no in-suite laundry, and while most are happy to lug bags of dirty clothes to the coin (or card swipe) machines down the hall, many love to have it picked up at their door and returned. Clean and folded.
Like dog walking, this is a relatively low-skill gig, and like many side hustles, it also has growth potential. It can also be a quick flip if you're motivated enough to get out there and knock on doors today.
For most people, though, getting started will challenge you to leave your comfort zone.
Remote Laundry Service – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium – High |
Remote Laundry Service – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 0 – 30 Days |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
9. Become a Professional Organizer
If there's one thing that overwhelms people, it's clutter. Specifically, their own clutter, which is surprisingly hard to have an objective opinion about. Whether it's an emotional attachment or a financial one, decluttering and organizing your own stuff is a painful chore.
As a professional organizer, you can help people organize both their physical spaces, such as closets and offices, as well as their digital spaces (if you're computer savvy).
You don't need a Master's or a Doctorate degree to be a professional organizer, but it is considered a skilled profession. Organizations like NAPO (National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals) offer courses and certifications.
That doesn't mean you can't post a free ad online offering to help someone clean out their garage or organize their home, office, etc. It's a quick way to make some money, and if you enjoy it, you can get certified and do it professionally.
Professional Organizer Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Professional Organizer – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 0 – 30 Days |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
10. Flip Stocks with Free Trading Apps
You can flip stocks fast or slow with free trading apps, but making money at it sounds easier than it is. It's easy to get set up, and with a few clicks, you start buying and selling. Knowing which stocks to buy and sell, and when you should buy and sell them though… that's the part that requires skill.
A long-term investment strategy buying safe securities like ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) is not difficult, and as far as flipping money with minimal effort, this is a great option. The flip velocity, though, is unfortunately slow. In most cases measured in years, not months or weeks.
Short-term trading is a lot faster, but it's also a lot riskier. You can make money at it, but you can also lose a lot of it. When researching another article, the successful day traders I found had only become successful after first losing money and learning through experience.
I recommend and follow a long-term strategy myself, but if short-term trading appeals to you, make sure you do research and proceed carefully. Learn with money you can afford to lose.
Here's a list of free trading apps (listed in no particular order):
Flip/Invest in Stocks – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Low – Medium* |
| Skill: | Medium – High* |
| Risk: | Medium – High* |
| Discomfort: | Low – High* |
Flip/Invest in Stocks – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – Very High* |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 10+ Years* |
| Scalability: | High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | High |
11. Flip Real Estate on a Small Budget (Buy and Sell REITs)
Can you flip real estate on a small budget? Yes, sort of…
Using free trading apps, you can buy and sell REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), which are companies that own, operate, or finance income-generating properties. These properties can be multi-family residential or commercial.
A REIT allows individual investors to buy shares without having to buy the actual real estate.
If you're starting out on a small budget and real estate investing appeals to you, this is a great way to get started. Like all investing, though, there is a level of skill required, so you shouldn't jump into it without doing your research.
It's a comfortable money flip you can do from home with minimal effort, but it's not a quick flip. You may get lucky if you time the market, but this is generally a long-term investment.
Flip REITs – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flip REITs – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | High – Very High (potential for loss as well) |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 10+ Years |
| Scalability: | High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | High |
12. Build and Flip Websites
There's an entire economy where digital assets (aka websites) are bought and sold, and most people are not aware.
Simple websites built with templates and generic content often sell for a few hundred bucks. It's not a lot of money, but you can build these websites for as little as $10 – $15 for a domain name (and $5/month for hosting until the site sells)
Professionals who do this can build sites that sell for six (and sometimes seven) figures.
With today's technology and the online knowledge base, the technical challenges of building a website have pretty much been eliminated. If you can point and click, you can build a website.
Having said that, choosing which kinds of websites to build is a skill. Things like topic and audience research are critically important, as well as knowing which domain names will likely be good sellers.
The turnaround time can also be slow, and some of your sites might never sell, so it's a numbers game. You might build a dozen websites and only sell one, but that one sale can easily pay for. Still, this is a good side hustle for someone who prefers working from home.
The knowledge and skills you acquire can turn flipping small websites into a scalable business. Many experienced site owners build teams that help them grow their portfolio of sites into million-dollar digital assets. This is a slow process though.
In the meantime, to put cash in your pocket sooner, you can use the skills you acquire to provide client services. Many small businesses don't have a website, as well as home-based businesses and professionals who are happy to pay someone a fee to build one for them.
Build and Flip Websites – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Medium – Very High |
| Skill: | Medium – Very High |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Build and Flip Websites – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 24+ Months |
| Scalability: | Very High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | High |
13. Flip Domains
Similar to flipping websites, flipping domain names is another way to make money.
Skill is required to learn which domain names are most likely to be popular sellers, but it's a skill anyone can learn.
Ultimately, it's a numbers game (like flipping websites). You can register 10 or more domain names for $10 – $15 each and only sell one. If you've done your research, though, that one domain can sell for several hundred dollars and on rare occasions, a few thousand.
This is a great money-flipping strategy for introverted types.
As far as flip velocity and risk, domain flipping comes with uncertainty. It's not impossible to be stuck with dozens of domains that don't sell, so you shouldn't jump into this without learning how to do it.
Domain flipping is an evolving industry, though, so its sustainability is questionable. The addition of new TLDs (Top Level Domains) such as “(dot)life” or “(dot)coffee,” which were made available in 2014, de-value popular TLDs like “.com” and “.org”… at least in theory.
On the other hand, new TLDs create new opportunities.
There is also significant money in flipping already established (and expired) domains, but getting started requires a bigger budget.
Flipping Domains – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Medium – High |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flipping Domains – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | High |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 24+ Months |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | Medium – High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
14. Flip Art Shares
Investing in art is traditionally a rich person's game, but technology and crowdsourcing have made it available to those with much smaller budgets.
It's not a quick flip, though. The potential is there, but you can't count on it. You may get lucky buying shares in an up-and-coming artist who bursts onto the scene, but experts recommend holding your art investments for 10 years or more.
At the very least, you should be willing to wait 5 or more years before seeing a profit.
The scalability of this strategy is low because a return on your investment can take a decade or more to be realized. Therefore, you're not likely to generate a significant amount of quick cash to build something that scales.
Knowledge of art and the art world isn't necessary, but it would certainly reduce your level of risk, which is still going to be high.
The benefits of flipping art shares, though, are low to medium effort requirements and very high RIO potential (if you know what you're doing). It's also a satisfying flip for those who appreciate art.
Flipping Art Shares – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Low – Medium |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | High |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Flipping Art Shares – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Very High (potential for 100% loss as well) |
| ROI Velocity: | 5 – 10+ Years |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
15. Flip Your Skills
Revisiting the definition of a legitimate money flip (exchanging a sum of money for a greater sum of money by adding value to your original investment)… using your skills to add value is the perfect way to do it.
How do you do it?
You buy a tool or equipment that utilizes your skills and use both (the tool and your skills) to multiply your investment.
Here are some lower-budget examples:
- Used Camera and Equip ($400 – $500) + Photography Skills
- Traveling Hair Stylist Kit New ($100 – $400) + Cutting and Styling Hair Skills
- Mobile Massage Table ($150 – $500) + Massage Therapy Skills
Higher budget examples:
- Bobcat or Skid Steer Heavy Equip ($10,000 – $50,000) + Excavation and Debris Removal Skills
- Van or Truck ($10,000 – $50,000) + Courier and/or Moving Skills
- Professional DJ Equipment ($5000 – $10,000) + DJ Skills
Whether you have a small budget or a big one, the return on your investment (if you follow through), is substantial. After just a few weddings as a photographer, you will have paid off your equipment. If you DJ two or three events a week, you will break even after a few months or sooner.
Of course, it's not that simple… I know. You must find gigs and market yourself, but those are just examples. You wouldn't go into the DJ world unless you were familiar with it already or at least had an interest in doing it.
Your thing might be drone photography or detailing vehicles. The point is to invest in the tools and/or equipment to utilize one of your skills and make money with it.
Flip Your Skills – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | Low – High* |
| Effort: | Medium – High* |
| Skill: | Medium – High* |
| Risk: | Low – Medium* |
| Discomfort: | Low – Medium* |
Flip Your Skills – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High* |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 12+ Months* |
| Scalability: | Low – High* |
| Sustainability: | Low – High* |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low – High* |
16. Flip Your Knowledge and Expertise
Similar to the skills you acquire, your knowledge and expertise are also an asset.
For example, if you were a safety officer for a large company, you have the skills and knowledge that a small company (that can't afford a full-time safety officer) needs. You can become an informal consultant.
Charge by the hour for one or two monthly consultations so they can ask questions and enquire about things they don't know. If you're fair, it won't cost them much, and it's only an hour or two of your time.
Just be careful how you advise. As an informal consultant, you're not giving legal or financial advice. You can point them toward the right legal or financial resources and professionals, though, which is what many small businesses are looking for. They just need a road map.
You can do the same with human resource knowledge, sales knowledge, management knowledge, and so on…
Teaching also falls into the category of flipping your knowledge and expertise. If you play guitar, you can teach guitar. If you play tennis, you can teach tennis. If you speak Spanish, you can teach Spanish… and the list goes on.
Flipping your knowledge and expertise is low risk. You are not only sharing something you already have, you're also NOT giving it away. Your knowledge doesn't leave you. You still have it to share with others.
It can also be a fast way to make money. Consulting is a service you can advertise today and get started.
Flip Your Knowledge and Expertise – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low – Medium |
Flip Your Knowledge and Expertise – Benefit Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | Medium – High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
17. Flip Services
Flipping services is often referred to as drop servicing.
What is drop servicing? Great question…
Drop servicing is similar to drop shipping. In the case of drop shipping, you flip physical products online using a website, social media, YouTube, etc. Instead of buying the products upfront and flipping them, though, you buy them AFTER someone places an order.
Once they pay for it, you use their money to buy the product directly from the manufacturer or wholesaler at a discount, and the manufacturer or wholesaler ships it directly to your customer (without you ever having to touch it).
Drop servicing works in a similar way, but instead of flipping products, you flip services.
The problems with drop shipping are long delivery waits, lost or damaged items, and cost. When you're dealing with services, however, those problems don't exist. There are no physical shipping costs or delays.
An example of drop servicing would be selling website design and development services locally for a retail price and then hiring a freelancer online to do the work at a wholesale price.
The freelancer doesn't have the ability to find local clients and liaison with them personally, so it's a win for them. The business owner, on the other hand, doesn't have the time or specialized knowledge to find and test freelancers.
Flip Services – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low – Medium |
Flip Services – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Low – Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium |
18. Flip Junk
Most people accumulate junk, and no one really wants to deal with it.
In fact, I have a growing pile of junk myself that I've been too busy (or too lazy) to get rid of. Fortunately, I have a big enough vehicle to do it myself.
But a lot of people don't, and that's an opportunity. If you have a van or truck, you can take that burden off their shoulders and start your own junk removal service. If you don't have a van or truck, you can rent one. If you have a few jobs lined up, it can still be profitable.
There's also a good chance you'll end up with stuff you can sell. People who pay to have their junk taken away are just happy to get rid of stuff. They don't want the hassle of dealing with it, which means they also don't want the hassle of going through their junk, fixing what can be fixed, posting it online for sale, and dealing with buyers.
So there's a dual opportunity here.
Sam Evans, a 23-year-old college graduate, earns $18,000 a month in gross revenue, getting rid of people's junk, so this is a scalable business. It's also a low risk because you can start small and grow it slowly, gradually re-investing your profits into better equipment, marketing, and hiring staff.
It's a people business, though, and it's a physical job, so there is some discomfort (relative to something you would do at home from your laptop). But it's not high-pressure sales nor a gig that would lead to consistently uncomfortable situations.
Flip Junk – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $500 |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Flip Junk – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
19. Flip Store Items (as a Personal Shopper)
Just as there are people who'd rather someone else deal with their junk, there are people who'd rather someone else do their shopping.
This is a variation of flipping money by buying and selling stuff with the advantage of having a buyer first.
A personal shopper gig can be as simple as buying groceries from a list of items, or it can be a skill (and reputation) you develop by getting to know your clients personally so you can buy things like clothes, accessories, and household items without their direct input.
The benefits of being a personal shopper are that it's low-risk and inexpensive to start. You can also see a quick return on your time and financial investment once you get your first client, which you can do by placing an ad on Craigslist or pinning up flyers in your neighborhood (in apartment lobbies or community centers, as examples).
Personal Shopper – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 or Less |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Personal Shopper – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Months |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Medium – High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
20. Flip a DIY Photo Booth
Every year my wife plans her company Christmas party, and in addition to a DJ, a crowd favorite has turned out to be a photo booth. I must admit, the first time she told me about it, I thought it was a bad idea. With as many cameras as there are people in the room, who needs a photo booth?
But I was wrong. People love the photo booth.
It's not about the camera. It's about the props, the background, and the designated area that gives people permission to be goofy. It turns out the photo booth is popular.
You can buy a selfie kiosk that holds an iPad for several thousand dollars, or you can build one for much less. Add a printer, some props, a background, and a photo booth app… and you have a photo booth business.
With a little effort and creativity, you can put together an amateur photo booth for under $1000 and charge between $150 – $400 per event plus travel expenses, depending on the size and duration of the event.
It may take you a month or two to get fully set up and start booking events, but if you can do two events per week at an average event rate of $300, you could earn as much as $2400/month. In six months, you could potentially earn $14,400, and either upgrade to a professional set-up (charging higher rates and doing bigger events) or use that money for higher budget flips with more profit potential.
You can also flip these kinds of businesses.
Because it's hands-off (unlike a DJ, for example), you can build a photo booth business so that it has some momentum and then sell it. You can also grow it by adding more booths and events or offering additional services such as karaoke and other event-related entertainment.
The risk is low to medium, depending on your follow-through, and landing your first client might take some time. Also, discomfort is potentially high if you're uncomfortable in crowds.
On the other hand, it doesn't require a lot of skill (especially if you buy your equipment or pay someone to make it for you), and it's scalable.
DIY Photo Booth – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $500 – $1,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
DIY Photo Booth – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6+ Months |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | Medium |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium |
21. Flip Public Park Areas (with a Luxury Picnic Business)
Here's a unique way to flip money. Put it into a luxury picnic business.
That's what Jocelyn Chin and Coco Chan did, and they are now earning up to $15,000 per month doing it. Their business, Picnic ‘N Chill, plans as many as 60 picnics per month.
I had never heard of a luxury picnic before until recently when my family and I visited Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, BC.
We came down a hill that opened up into a grassy field to find a family spread out on white blankets, sitting on pillows surrounded by baskets of food and flowers. There was a foot-high table that ran down the middle with placement settings and centerpieces as fancy as any high-end restaurant I've ever been to.
It looked like a high-society gathering from the 1800s.
Of course, you don't have to start out planning elaborate period pieces. There's a more accessible luxury picnic market for couples, small group gatherings, and parents planning birthdays.
The start-up costs are relatively small, and as long as the weather is nice, the turnaround time from investment >> profit is short.
Luxury Picnic Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $500 – $1,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Luxury Picnic Business – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6+ Months |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
22. Roll (Instead of Flip) Ice Cream
You can flip money by rolling ice cream. I first discovered this amazing treat at a local garden center when my daughter pointed it out to me.
She picked her flavor, and I paid. The guy working the kiosk poured a milky liquid over a cold pan and spread it out, folding it and flattening it until it froze into what looked like a square crepe. As he scraped it up, it came off the cold metal surface in rolls that he put into a cup, topped with chocolate sauce, cookie crumbs, and gummy bears… and then handed it to my daughter.
If I remember correctly, I paid about $5 for the cup of ice cream, which cost roughly a dollar to make (minus the machine).
Rolled ice cream machines range in price from $1,500 – $3,500 plus shipping.
Another $2,000 will cover the cost and shipping for 2 cases of mix, a variety of mixes, toppings, cups, and spoons for roughly 2,500 six oz cups, which you can sell for an average of $5 each, depending on your location.
Doing the math, that's $12,500 in gross revenue. Of course, you'll have location costs and labor as well (let's call it another $2,000) as well as transportation/shipping-related expenses (another $1,000), so all in, you're in the ballpark of flipping $7,500 for $12,500.
You can limit your risk by negotiating high-traffic locations before buying equipment. Also, you can practice your craft at home (by pouring your mixture into a metal pan and putting it in the freezer for several hours).
This is not an effortless flip, but once established, you can hire someone to run your kiosks and potentially scale your business to multiple locations.
Rolled Ice Cream Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Rolled Ice Cream – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 12 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium |
23. Flip Inflatables (buy and rent)
If you have a decent-sized budget, an inflatable rental business (bouncy castles are the most common example) might interest you. There's a passive component to all rental businesses because your asset earns money while you do something else.
This allows you to scale operations in ways other hustles don't permit.
Bounce houses range in price from $1500 – $3000 (plus shipping), and you can rent them out for $100 – $300 per event, such as birthday parties, fundraisers, special church gatherings, family reunions, and so on.
Excluding transportation costs, you're looking at roughly 10 – 15 events to break even for each castle, slide, etc. It's a slower flip as it could take 6 – 12 months, depending on how many events you can book, but beyond that, your profit margins are high.
You can also expand your services to include things like catering, carnival games, face painting, as well as tent, table, and chair rentals.
Because of the initial cost, there is some risk involved. While it's an easy flip, in theory, you must follow through with booking gigs that might not happen immediately. It might even be frustrating at times, depending on your competition and the local economy.
To mitigate your risk, check your local competition and learn as much about the market as possible. Call around for price and availability on short-notice requests. You can also let them know you're not certain about the date.
If they have inflatables readily available for multiple dates, there's a chance the demand is not very high.
On the other hand, if none are available and they are booking 3 or 4 months in advance, that's a good indicator that the market is hot.
You can also ask them directly about the market if being secretive makes you uncomfortable, but the information may or may not be accurate. Encouraging new competition is usually not in their best interest.
Flip Inflatables – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $2,000 – $5,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Flip Inflatables – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 12 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium |
24. Fix and Flip Bicycles (or Buy and Rent)
There are a couple of ways you can make extra money with bicycles. You can buy new bicycles and rent them, or you can buy used and broken bicycles, fix them, and sell them for a profit.
And if you're fixing bicycles, you might as well offer bicycle repair services as well.
Making money with bicycles is the simpler, less expensive version of making money with cars. You can start with a much smaller budget, and you don't need a Ph.D. in rocketry to fix them.
Fixing bikes isn't hard, but it does require some knowledge and skill, even better if you're mechanically inclined.
Even if you choose just to rent bikes, though, you'll have maintenance and repair to deal with, which you'll want to do yourself to maximize profit.
For the right person, fixing and flipping bicycles can be a good side hustle.
If you have tools and a place to work, your starting budget will be minimal. Your biggest expense will be replacement parts in advance of your customer paying. If you're planning to rent bikes as well, your capital requirements will be significantly higher.
Fix and Flip Bicycles – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $1,000 – $5,000* |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Low (Fix and Flip) – Medium (Rent) |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Fix and Flip Bicycles – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6 Months* |
| Scalability: | Medium* |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
25. Flip Used Cars
Flipping used cars is the apple pie of side hustles. It has filled the pockets of many backyard entrepreneurs.
It has become more difficult in some ways, though. Vehicles are more advanced, and dealers today offer no-credit-low-interest financing.
In other ways, flipping used cars is much easier. Free online marketplaces and dedicated buy and sell platforms like Tred.com provide more ways to find buyers, and because new cars have become so expensive, used cars are getting more attention.
There are also endless tutorials on YouTube for just about any vehicle, so if you buy a car that requires minor repairs, you have more educational resources than ever.
It's low risk for smart flippers because your money is going towards an asset you can sell. You might not get as much as you hope, but as long as you know what you're doing, you won't lose everything either.
As far as skills, you should have some mechanical knowledge, as well as a good understanding of your local vehicle market, including state/provincial laws and taxes. It can also be scalable if you grow it into a used car dealership, although that's a big leap from flipping a few used cars for extra cash.
Flip Used Cars – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $3,000+ |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium – High |
Flip Used Cars – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6 Months |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
26. Flip a Spare Room or Basement
For a passive income gig, renting out a spare room is one of the best. Of course, you'll need a spare room (or a basement, garage, etc.) before renting one.
If you have one, though, after your initial set-up, it's a great way to earn passive income month after month.
Inviting a stranger into your home to live is not the most comfortable thing to do, I know. And it can go both ways…
The right person can add joy to your life. The wrong person can bring misery. So the most important thing is to find the right person. Set specific parameters such as age and gender. Do a background check, find out who their employer is, and make sure to contact their references.
You will also want to set strict ground rules up front and make sure you and your tenants are compatible.
Another option if you have a little more room, is to start a bed and breakfast for overnight and short-term rentals. Or, if you have a full suite available (or the space and ability to build one), Airbnb makes it easy to find and approve short-term tenants quickly without the hassles of finding your own tenants and committing to long-term leases.
How quickly you'll make money depends on where you live and the season. In some areas, you might have potential tenants lining up within hours of posting an ad, and in others, it could take several weeks if not months.
Either way, giving someone a place to lay their head is not only a great source of passive income, but it doesn't require any special skills on your part, and it's low risk financially. It's also scalable for those who reinvest their rental income into additional rental properties.
Flip a Spare Room or Basement – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100 – $5,000* |
| Effort: | Low – High* |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low – Medium |
| Discomfort: | Low – Medium |
Flip a Spare Room or Basement – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium – High* |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6+ Months |
| Scalability: | Low – High* |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium – High* |
27. Flip Records (Start a DJ Business)
Alright, DJs are not really flipping, spinning, or scratching vinyl records these days, but metaphorically speaking, investing in DJ equipment and blasting tunes at clubs, weddings, and other events is a legitimate money flip.
It's a skilled gig, though, and requires some experience.
If you're just starting out, it'll take some time before you're profitable, but it's a passion hustle. If you're creative and love music, there's more than just money to be made as a DJ. It's potentially a way for some to escape the rat race by doing something they love.
There is some risk here and a relatively slow ROI because equipment costs are high. They can range from $5,000 to $10,000, and there are no guarantees you'll be booking events right away.
A good way to start is with virtual DJ software for home, and a mentor might give you some stage time in exchange for helping him or her with set-up and breakdown.
This is a good example of a gig that doesn't look great on paper but demonstrates that it's not always about money.
It's expensive to start, it takes a long time before you're profitable, it's not scalable, and it has no passive income potential.
However, if you love music and the energy of the crowd, this may be the long-term flip you prefer over everything else.
DJ Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $5,000 to $10,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
DJ Business – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1+ Years |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | Medium |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
28. Flip Furniture and Home Décor (with a Home Staging Business)
Another way to cash in on the buying and selling of real estate is to start a home staging business. Statistics claim that 44% who sold their staged home made more on the sale than they would have if it was not staged.
Another 28% said they were unsure, but it's possible that home staging had increased the sale value and/or reduced the number of days their home was on the market.
The average amount spent by home sellers was $400.
So there is definitely an opportunity here if you have an eye for interior decor, especially if you live in a big city.
Like starting a DJ business, Home Staging is also a passion hustle.
It's not a quick-money gig, but for the person who loves interior decorating, it can be tremendously satisfying. The best place to start building a portfolio of staged homes is with your own home (which is why you need a decent-sized budget to start).
You can also offer your services for free to a friend or real estate agent. As you build out your portfolio and gain credibility (as well as industry contacts such as painters, plumbers, furniture rental companies, movers, etc.), you can begin marketing yourself and charging a fee for your services.
It's a skilled money flip if you can call it a “flip,”… and it's certainly not a quick way to make extra money. But the risk is low (your biggest expense early on is decorating your own home), and your potential ROI is greater than just money. You may end up with a business you love which is infinitely better than a job you hate.
Home Staging Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $1,000+ |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Low |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Home Staging Business – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 6+ Months |
| Scalability: | Low |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
Budget $10,000 to $100,000
29. Flip Land and/or Houses
Flipping land and houses is what many think of when they think of flipping money. Quick flips and $40K to $50K profits (or more) are not uncommon.
It's not as easy as it looks on TV, though. Even when they crank up the suspense with scripted catastrophes, 12-hour days of painting and ripping up floors is a hard reality to swallow if you've never done that kind of work before.
There's a lot more stress when it's your money, and everything always costs more than you expect it will.
Still, there's a reason flipping real estate is a popular side hustle. When you get it right, the profits are big. And there's a certain “status” to it that other gigs lack. Flipping bicycles just doesn't sound as cool as flipping real estate.
And you're not limited to buying distressed properties, fixing them up, and selling them. You can build houses and sell them too. While a full-scale construction project is more than most want to do, there are prefab homes you can build and sell, tiny homes, and even shipping container homes.
Newbies will often find themselves outside their comfort zones. Flipping houses usually involves both physical and mental stress. There's also a decent amount of risk when you're buying a home that needs work. Once you start pulling things apart, you never know what you will find.
The ROI potential is very high, though it's scalable, and your time from investment to profit is relatively short, within a few months in some cases.
Flip Land and/or Houses – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $10,000 – $100,000 |
| Effort: | Medium – High |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Medium – High |
Flip Land and/or Houses – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | High – Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 3 – 12 Months |
| Scalability: | High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low – Medium |
30. Buy Rental Property
Instead of flipping real estate, you can rent real estate. The title “landlord” has just as much status as the title “real-estate flipper”… maybe more. Buying rental properties is more than just flipping money, though. It's how you can build true wealth.
Your risk is lower than it would be if you were just buying, renovating, and selling. Long-term rental income will, in most cases, make up for the short-term risks of fluctuating property values and unexpected repairs.
The downside, though, is that it is long-term.
If you're looking for a quick flip, this is not it. On the other hand, if you're looking to build long-term wealth, buying rental properties is one of your best options.
It's scalable and has high ROI potential. It's also beginner-friendly with relatively low effort required because you're starting out with move-in-ready properties (or near move-in-ready) rather than properties requiring a lot of work.
Buy Rental Property – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $10,000 – $100,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | Low – Medium |
| Discomfort: | Low – Medium |
Buy Rental Property – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | High – Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 5 – 10+ Years |
| Scalability: | Very High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Very High |
31. Flip a Vending Machine Business
Vending machines earn money 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And they do it when you're not even there, which means you can run a vending machine business while also working full-time or pursuing other ways of making money.
Machines need to be restocked, but you can hire someone to do that.
You can also flip a vending machine business by getting it set up and established and then selling it, either as a stand-alone business or a franchise.
The work involves researching and securing locations, determining which products sell best, and how often they need restocking. You'll also negotiate with businesses and other establishments, such as ice rinks, rec centers, tourist locations, etc., regarding payment and/or profit-sharing.
And while that sounds like a lot, there's also a lot of value in it. Your vending machine business, once set up, is worth far more than the cost of the machines alone. It's a turn-key business you can sell for significantly more than the financial investment.
Or you can continue to run it yourself and collect money from your machines indefinitely.
Your risk with this type of business will be higher than some other money flips because the initial cost can be high, depending on how many machines you start out with. No location is guaranteed, either. It may or may not turn out to be a moneymaker, and you may have to move some machines to new locations.
Sustainability is also questionable because of rapid technological advances and how those advances affect society. For example, telecommuting is growing in popularity, which means fewer people in offices and schools.
Will people still be using vending machines in the near future? Of course. Maybe even more than they do now, but when you're investing thousands of dollars into something, these are the kinds of things you need to consider.
The advantages to starting a vending machine business, though, are that you can start slow with a single machine, it scales well, and it provides passive income.
Vending Machine Business – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $3,000 – $10,000 |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Low |
Vending Machine Business – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Years |
| Scalability: | Medium |
| Sustainability: | Medium |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium |
32. Flip Commercial Real Estate
With a bigger budget, you can chase bigger returns by graduating from flipping houses to flipping commercial real estate. It's the same basic principle; finding undervalued properties, renovating and/or remodeling, and selling at a higher price.
It's a different market, though, so not all of your knowledge and experience in residential real estate will cross over to commercial real estate. There are some additional risks.
The biggest difference is necessity.
People need a place to live, so even when an economy stumbles, residential properties stay in demand. It's just a matter of price. You might not be able to sell it for as much as hope, but someone always needs a place to live.
That's not the case with commercial property.
In a bad economy, commercial property can stay empty for months, even years, with zero demand. It sounds risky, and it is… but that's also an opportunity for savvy real estate investors.
Buying commercial real estate when low demand is how you get it cheap. But you can't buy it when demand is so low that you have no tenants.
So timing is key, and that's the skill set required to successfully flip commercial real estate.
A background in areas related to economics is good to have. With greater risk comes greater reward though (at least in this case), so your potential ROI is significantly higher.
You can also lease your property for long-term revenue.
If investing in commercial real estate appeals to you, platforms like Crowdstreet are a great place to start.
Note: Money flips at this scale (including those listed below on the list) can be started on a budget that's smaller than $100,000, but I've set $100,000+ as a suggested budget because of the substantial capital required. When investing such large sums of money, it's a good idea to have additional cash (or other investments) available for unexpected circumstances.
Flip Commercial Real Estate – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100,000+ |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | High |
| Risk: | Medium – High |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Flip Commercial Real Estate – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 3 Years (or longer if leasing only) |
| Scalability: | Medium – High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium – High (if leasing only) |
33. Flip Multi-Unit Housing
Another step up from flipping houses is to flip multi-unit houses. Your initial investment is higher, but these types of dwellings give you leverage over things like economies of scale and uninterrupted rental income.
For example, you can collect rental income from some units while renovating others which is not possible when renovating a single-family home.
When it comes to major renovations like the roof or heating system, you only have one system for the entire building, rather than many if you were flipping multiple single-family homes.
You also don't have to drive between locations or manage several teams in different parts of the city.
When you add the cash flow from current renters with the savings of renovating single items (versus several), your ROI potential is significantly higher.
The knowledge and budget required to flip multi-unit real estate make it less realistic for newbies, although still possible. House hacking… making your investment property your primary residence while renting out rooms and/or other units allows you to get into these types of properties on a smaller budget.
It's not always possible to house hack, though. If you're starting out the “traditional” way, flipping single-family houses will teach you many of the skills required to flip multi-unit homes, as well as give you first-hand knowledge of the real estate market and the overall industry.
Like any real estate flip, there's an element of risk involved, and the effort required is substantial if you're doing the renovations yourself. The benefits, however, include high-profit margins with acquired expertise that leads to true wealth building.
Flip Multi-Unit Housing – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100,000+ |
| Effort: | Medium |
| Skill: | Medium – High |
| Risk: | Medium |
| Discomfort: | Medium – High (if house hacking) |
Flip Multi-Unit Housing – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | High – Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 24 Months (longer if renting only) |
| Scalability: | Very High |
| Sustainability: | Very High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Medium – High (if renting only) |
34. Peer-to Peer Lending
Let's revisit the definition of a legit money flip again… an exchange of a sum of money for a greater sum of money by adding value to the original investment.
Here's the thing…
That definition implies that YOU must add the value… but that's not the case.
When you lend money to someone else, the added value comes from them.
Similar to investing, where the added value is produced by the businesses you invest in, money loans generate returns by the added value produced by the borrower.
The difference with lending is that your returns are fixed at a specific percentage.
In theory, your returns should also be guaranteed, but of course, you can never count on your borrower to pay you back. There are legal pathways that can help you recover your investment, but they are not free, nor are they guaranteed.
Because of the risks involved with being a private money lender, it would be wise to have a decent-sized budget to work with.
Even if the amounts you lend out are much less than the money you have on hand, it's good to have the financial resources and contacts in place to recover money legally if it ever comes to that.
And, with a chance of losing a large portion of your investment, as I mentioned above, your financial situation should be healthy enough that a situation like that would not be devastating. You can definitely get into peer-to-peer lending on a relatively small budget, but it's a lot safer if you're starting out with a budget of $100,000 or more.
Despite the risks, the advantages are significant as well. Lending is completely passive, and when borrowers pay on time, it requires very little effort other than vetting applicants.
The back office logistics and transactions are handled by Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms such as Upstart and Peerform.
Peer-to Peer Lending – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100,000+ |
| Effort: | Low – Medium |
| Skill: | Low – Medium |
| Risk: | High |
| Discomfort: | Low – High* |
Peer-to Peer Lending – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Medium |
| ROI Velocity: | 1 – 5+ Years |
| Scalability: | High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | High |
35. Flip Businesses
In most cases, it's easier to fix a home than to build a new one, and that logic also applies to businesses. It's easier to fix an existing business than it is to build a new one.
Flipping businesses involves buying, fixing, and selling them or breaking them up and selling the individual assets at a higher margin… so it goes without saying you should have some experience building and running businesses.
This is not a simple flip, nor is it cheap, but the ROI potential can reach into the six and seven-figure range.
That's because businesses are in part valued by their future earnings. In other words, you are leveraging the future value of a business, and the future value of a struggling business can be near nothing.
Even when a business has tremendous potential (which is the kind you're looking for), if the owner has exhausted their funds, they'll have no way of turning it around.
They are highly motivated to sell as the longer they wait, the worse their situation becomes.
Likewise, when you sell a business, its value is based partly on its future earnings… so you don't need a business that already makes a million dollars to sell it for a million dollars.
You just need to set it on a trajectory that its future earnings have that kind of potential.
The downside to his kind of flip though is the knowledge and experience required to do it, as well as the financial resources. That doesn't mean it's not a good flip. It's just that it's not usually a good first flip.
Flip Businesses – Personal Expenditures Estimate:
| Budget: | $100,000+ |
| Effort: | High – Very High |
| Skill: | High |
| Risk: | Medium (depending on experience) |
| Discomfort: | Medium |
Flip Businesses – Benefits Estimate:
| ROI Potential: | Very High |
| ROI Velocity: | 6 – 24+ Months |
| Scalability: | High |
| Sustainability: | High |
| Passive Income Potential: | Low |
Progressive Money Flips to Build Wealth
If you've ever looked at a wealthy real estate investor or business owner and wondered how they got where they are, you can be sure that most of them didn't start out that way.
They started with something much smaller.
Most entrepreneurs will tell you they had the entrepreneurial bug from an early age. They may have sold lemonade as a kid or traded sports cards with their friends.
Shoveling driveways in the winter was my childhood hustle. I'd drag my shovel down the street and knock on doors, one by one, until someone hired me to throw snow.
That's the brilliance of progressive money flips. You can start from zero by selling something you already own. If you don't have anything to sell, you can usually find something. One person's trash is another person's treasure.
With the money you make from that sale, you can buy something with even more value from a thrift store, yard sale, flea market, clearance sale, etc., and sell it to make an even greater profit.
In time, your seed money grows.
If you like buying and selling, you can continue with more expensive items. Bicycles, then cars maybe, and eventually houses.
If that's not your thing, there are dozens of other paths you can follow. I have one friend who started a wedding and family photography business, and she's been doing that successively for more than 20 years. Another friend started a home cleaning service.
But they both started small.
As your income grows, you can reinvest it into your business (if a business is what you started) or put it into other assets such as real estate, stocks, or education.
Through progressive money flips, starting from something small and simple, you can build real wealth.
Related Side Hustles and Money Flipping Strategies
Side Hustles for Math Teachers
Side Hustles for English Teachers
Side Hustles to Pay Rent
Side Hustles for Accountants
Do Side Hustles Work? Facts and Statistics
