17 Best Automated Business Ideas of 2025

The first time a friend introduced me to automated business ideas, I zoned out because I thought automation meant tech. 

But over the years, I realized I was wrong. You don’t have to be a tech expert to start and run a thriving automated business. 

Regardless of your area of expertise, there are numerous opportunities to generate passive income with little effort—that’s the whole point! 

Are you tired of your demanding job, which requires you to work all day and leaves little time to bond with your family?

Or perhaps you’re looking for something low-maintenance that you can efficiently juggle with your day job? This article covers some of the best automated business ideas you can start this year.

From turning clicks into cash through affiliate marketing to the repetitive selling advantage of digital products, you can easily leverage cutting-edge technology to increase your income.

Dive right in to discover how easy it is to make money while you sleep.

The Best Automated Business Ideas 

Automated businesses run independently, allowing you to concentrate on diversifying your income and building wealth. 

Think about making money while you sleep. An automated business is one of the best ways to achieve that.

If you’re looking to start a business that runs itself,  these options are worth considering:

1. Selling Printables 

Creating and selling printables is worth a try if you’re seeking an automated business venture. 

You must invest time and resources in creating the printables, but once they’re ready, you can sell them repeatedly without recreating them from scratch. 

Printables are a trendy commodity because they enable people to bring their ideas to life on a budget. 

For example, if one needs a budgeting template, one can purchase one online without investing much time and effort. 

If you want to sell printables for a living, you can leverage free online design tools like Canva. However, some Canva templates aren’t for sale, so it’s wise to read the T&Cs beforehand. 

Once you have a few designs, create an Etsy store and list them to land potential customers. Here are some of the best-selling printables on Etsy:

• Planners 
• Wall art 
• Fitness trackers 
• Journals 
• Budgeting sheets 
• Printable games 

Printables are one of the easiest ways to make money on Etsy. Grab this free ebook to find out why.

2. Real Estate Crowdfunding 

Real estate is one of the best low-risk investment options in the world today, making it an excellent source of passive income. 

While traditional real estate investing is capital-intensive, you can join crowdfunding platforms that lower the barriers to entry. 

This is how crowdfunding real estate platforms work: Firstly, they pool funds from investors, allowing you to invest as low as $10. 

After pooling the funds, the crowdfunding team identifies and purchases a suitable property. They maintain the property and share dividends among the investors according to their share capital. 

Fundrise allows you to invest in property shares for as low as $10. Another excellent crowdfunding platform is Arrived, which has a minimum investment of $100. 

These platforms ask questions about your investment goals, portfolio, and risk tolerance upon signing up. They use this information to prepare the best portfolio that aligns with your needs. 

They also spread the risk by diversifying your portfolio. Furthermore, the crowdfunding platforms manage the properties on behalf of their investors. 

Therefore, you only need to deposit your capital and wait to receive dividends as per your agreement. 

If you’re looking for a low-risk way to make your money work for you, look no further than real estate.

Get started with Arrived!

3. Sell Your Unused Internet

While selling your unused internet has a lower income potential than the other automated businesses on this list, it’s still an excellent way to make free cash. 

Apps like Honeygain allow you to share your unused bandwidth with companies needing to collect consumer habits data. 

Rest assured that Honegain has strict security measures to protect your data from unauthorized access.

Start by installing the Honeygain app on your phone or computer. Then, set it up and run it in the background while you use your devices as usual.

Generally, you’ll earn about 20 cents per GB. If you have unlimited data, you can easily rack up a few dollars. According to the Honeygain website, their users earn about $30 monthly on average.

Honeygain lets you maximize your earnings through the daily lucky pot, hitting milestones, and content delivery. You’ll also earn a 25% lifetime bonus for every friend you invite to the platform. 

Honeygain has a 24/7 support desk and pays you via PayPal or crypto.

4. Print-On-Demand  

Imagine a situation where you create different products to sell in your store but are unable to sell all of them.

For instance, if you’re selling trendy T-shirts, the remaining pieces may not sell after the trend ends, leading to a waste of time and resources. 

Print-on-demand eliminates wastage since you only manufacture an item when a customer orders. 

With print-on-demand, you’ll need to create a design that you can print on various items, such as hoodies, mugs, and totes. 

From there, market your designs on Pinterest and other social media platforms to land customers. 

When a customer places an orders, you pass the baton to a POD supplier like Printify, who manufactures the product, print your design, and delivers it to your customer. 

While you’ll need to invest significant time in researching your target audience and creating your design, your POD supplier takes manufacturing, customer service, and delivery off your hands. 

That way, you can concentrate on improving your existing designs, creating new ideas, and marketing. Plus, you can sell one design repeatedly without tweaking or recreating it. 

5. Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn passive income since you can do it regardless of your area of expertise. 

It involves earning commissions for promoting a brand’s products. Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

You join an affiliate program that interests you. Then, generate an affiliate link for marketing through your social media, website, or blog. 

You’ll receive a commission when someone purchases a product through your link. Most programs pay commissions between 2% and 30%, but some offer as much as 50%.

The best part? You don’t have to create the products. You simply market someone else’s products or services. 

If you have a large following on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or X, you can leverage it to earn money as an affiliate marketer. 

It’s wise to pick an affiliate program that aligns with your niche since your target audience will resonate with that more. 

6. Dropshipping 

Another non-techie way to make passive income is through dropshipping. Ecommerce has opened doors to automation through dropshipping. 

This business model allows you to sell goods without holding inventory. 

The most crucial step is finding a reliable supplier who will focus on manufacturing and shipping, leaving you to concentrate on marketing and customer service. 

Dropshipping automates logistics since the supplier manufactures and fulfills an order once made. 

Start by identifying a niche and target audience. From there, choose the products to sell and select a reputable supplier like Shopify. 

Finally, market your products through social media, ads, or email marketing to land clients. 

7. Subscription-Based Business  

Another automated business that’s bound to be successful is starting a subscription-based business. 

You can offer exclusive content like videos, articles, apps, and pictures on platforms like Patreon, Gumroad, or Substack. 

You can offer different subscription tiers for your content to appeal to subscribers on a budget and those willing to spend a little more. 

The higher subscription tiers could have access to premium content, access to a community, or one-on-one sessions with you. 

Start by identifying your target audience and understanding their pain points. Then, create content that addresses their needs. 

8. Creating and Selling Online Courses 

Online courses are excellent digital products that make for a good automated business since you can resell them several times without recreating or tweaking them. 

You don’t have to be an expert to create a successful online course. You can always make a short online course to guide beginners through something you’re conversant with. 

For instance, you can create a beginner blogging course if you’re a blogger. It doesn’t have to be complicated. 

Creating a detailed online course is time-consuming, but you can always make a crash course focusing on major things rather than the details. 

Brad Merill offers a blogging course at $74.99 on Udemy. Over 55,000 students have enrolled for the course. This shows how profitable selling online courses is. 

Research your target audience to determine the kind of information they would benefit from. Once you curate and compile your course, employ effective promotion strategies. 

While an online course can still sell without tweaks over several years, it must be updated regularly to remain relevant to current affairs and trends. 

9. Email Marketing 

Do you have a knack for marketing and persuading people to purchase certain products or subscribe to certain services?

If yes, consider creating an automated email marketing service to pitch campaigns to different clients when necessary. 

Creating automatic email campaigns enables you to manage your email list with little manual input. 

For example, you can create an automatic welcome email for new subscribers or generate a thank-you email every time someone purchases your product. 

Platforms like Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Convertkit offer templates you can use to create automated email marketing campaigns.

Automated email marketing campaigns help you save time and improve customer service through consistent communication.  

10. Stock Trading 

Have you shied away from the stock market because you fear you have insufficient knowledge to make it through? I’ve been there too.

Before I started stock trading, I was always envious of people who made thousands of dollars in dividends, but I feared losing my money because I didn’t know anything about the market.

Thanks to robo-advisors like SoFi, you don’t need to be an expert in the stock market to trade. When you sign up, the robo-advisor asks questions about your investment goals, capital, and risk tolerance. 

The AI uses your answers to create and manage a stock portfolio, helping you generate passive income. 

You can set up your robo-advisor to monitor market conditions, diversify your investment, and manage risk based on the information you provide about your risk tolerance and investment goals. 

Knowing your way around the stock market is crucial as an investor, but with a robo-advisor in your corner, you can automate the process and concentrate on other things.

Additionally, here are common investing mistakes to avoid in the stock market.

11. Self-Service Car Wash 

Another automated business worth considering is a self-service car wash. 

Incorporating automated payment points and washbays enables the clients to serve themselves, eliminating the need for you to attend to them constantly. 

Another perk is that a self-service car wash can operate 24/7, increasing income potential. It’s also efficient since it can handle multiple customers within a short time. 

Incorporating timed machines to handle equipment, such as automatic soap and water dispensers, ensures resources are used efficiently without wastage. 

While a self-service car wash is an excellent automated business, it still requires routine maintenance and customer support. 

12. Stock Photography 

Still looking for automated business ideas to try this year? If you’re good at photography, you can generate passive income by selling stock photos on platforms like:

• Shutterstock 
• Getty Images 
• Adobe Stock 
• Etsy 
• Foap 

Simply take your photos and videos, edit them, and then upload them to the sites above to earn royalties when someone downloads your images. 

You can also sell pictures of yourself.

Most platforms offer 15% and 45% royalties, with minimum withdrawal amounts ranging from $20 to $100. 

You must accumulate the withdrawal threshold to access your cash via PayPal, Skrill, Payoneer, or direct bank deposits.

Continually research new trends and keep your portfolio diverse to appeal to a broader audience. Consider cross-listing your photos on different stock photography sites to increase your income potential.

13. Selling Subscription Boxes 

Providing your clients with what they want precisely when they want it is an excellent way to make extra cash. 

As the name suggests, a subscription box service requires your customers to pay a fee to receive a box at a regular frequency, such as monthly or quarterly. 

The subscription boxes usually contain surprise items per your client’s preferences and tastes. 

For example, if they’re passionate about haircare, each subscription box introduces them to new, high-quality products they wouldn’t have purchased otherwise. 

You can automate your subscription box business using platforms like Cratejoy to process orders, software to manage inventory, and a third party like Amazon FBA to handle packaging and fulfillment. 

However, you must still add a personal touch to the automated subscription box service by sourcing personalized products and ensuring quality control. 

14. Selling Digital Products 

The most significant perk of digital products over physical ones is that you can resell them several times without making any significant changes.

Some examples of digital products you can sell for passive income include:

• Music 
• Art 
• Webinars 
• Printables
• Website themes 
• Newsletters 
• E-cards 

Begin by researching your target audience to determine the best product to venture into. From there, search for a specific platform to sell your items. 

For instance, you can sell digital art on Etsy, music on SoundCloud, and website themes on Creative Market. 

Some sites like Etsy let you sell your products directly, while others like SoundCloud allow you to license them so that you earn a percentage of the royalties when people download your products.

Stacking several platforms is an excellent way to maximize your income. You should also consider leveraging your social media presence to increase sales. 

15. Online Coaching or Consulting 

According to ZipRecruiter, an online coach in the US makes $31 per hour. However, this depends on your area of expertise. 

Life coaches can make $100-$150 hourly, while more experienced ones can make up to $500 hourly. 

If you’re already an expert in a particular field, you can set up a consulting or coaching business to make extra cash.

The following are some excellent fields to start your coaching career:

• Life Coaching 
• Career Coaching 
• Business coaching 
• Health and wellness 
• Fitness Coaching 
• Relationship Coaching 

You can automate your coaching experience by generating automatic welcome messages for new clients, using scheduling tools to book sessions, and incorporating chatbots in your website to answer customer queries. 

While online coaching and consulting are excellent automated jobs with all the tools available, you must maintain a personal relationship with your clients to help them reach their potential.

16. Vending Machines 

Vending machines are an old automated business idea, but they are still an excellent way to make money with minimal effort. 

Vending machines are pretty popular, but you can maximize your income by finding strategic locations for them and having fast-selling products. 

Imagine the thrill of being away for a whole day only to find your vending machine full of money. 

Food and beverage vending machines are the most popular and competitive. The best part is that the average American snacks a lot, so you’ll likely make significant cash despite the competition.

You can also cater to a specific audience through specialty vending. This involves selling non-conventional items like personal care or laundry products. 

It all boils down to a strategic location. This can be a deal-maker or breaker for your vending business. 

A vending machine with laundry products will work well in a college dorm room. Conversely, personal care products can potentially perform well in transit stations, hotels, and airports. 

17. App Development 

Before you stop reading because of the challenging nature of developing an app, hear me out. Sure, it takes a village to build an app, and the whole process is time-consuming. 

However, once you get your app running, you can make millions in passive income through the following:

• Sponsored posts 
• A one-time purchase fee 
• A subscription fee
• In-app purchases 
• Advertisements 

Even if you know nothing about coding, there are plenty of free resources on the internet you can learn app development step by step. 

Alternatively, you can hire or partner with developers to bring your idea to life while you focus on generating them and brainstorming on monetization opportunities. 

Whichever path you decide to take, app development is an excellent automated business that can earn you millions in passive income in the long run if you address your target audience’s pain points effectively. 

Tips for Making Money with Automated Businesses

Here are some valuable tips to keep in mind as you find the best automated business idea that aligns with your needs:

• Choose a specific niche: You may be tempted to delve into numerous things because automation offers various money-making opportunities. However, specializing in a niche helps you establish your brand and build a loyal client base faster. 
• Update your business: Whichever automated business idea you choose, you must constantly update it in line with current trends and affairs to maintain relevance. 
• Marketing is crucial: No one will purchase your products or services if they don’t know of your business’s existence. Therefore, leverage social media, email marketing, and word of mouth to promote your automated business.
• Personalize your offerings to your target audience: The best way to attract your target audience is by personalizing your products and services to their pain points. 

Extra Reading – High-in-Demand Skills To Learn

Frequently Asked Questions 

What Is a Digital Automated Business?

A digital automated business is one that uses technology to streamline and automate processes, minimizing the need for human intervention. 

Which Business Is Easy To Automate?

Some businesses that are easy to automate include:

• Dropshipping 
• Print-on-demand 
• Membership sites 
• Subscription box services 
• Real estate crowdfunding 

What are the Most Profitable Automated Businesses?

The profitability of an automated business depends on its size and the marketing strategies you employ. If you play your cards right, most options in this list can yield thousands of dollars annually. 

These are some of the most profitable automated business ideas:

• Dropshipping 
• Affiliate marketing 
• App development 
• Selling digital products 
• Running a subscription box service 
• Selling online courses 

Final Thoughts 

Automated businesses are increasing in popularity daily because of their efficiency, scalability, lower costs, and convenience. 

Even if you already have a day job, you can easily stack it with any of the options in this list to maximize your income. 

Alternatively, you can set up several automated businesses to make your money work for you as you sleep. 

Whichever option you take, ensure to research your target audience to understand their pain points and tailor your business to their needs.