Underrated Semi-Passive Income You Should Start in 2024

Semi-passive income has never been easier with the amount of business that takes place online these days. This is great news if you are good with technology and computers. But you don’t have to join the masses to make passive income. 

Here, we’ll look at some of today’s common semi-passive income gigs and compare them to an underrated semi-passive income business we think you should explore this year. With the cost of living constantly increasing, isn’t it time you made some extra money on the side?

What is Semi-Passive Income?

Active income is the most traditional income people make. It involves trading time for money. For example, you perform your full-time job 40 hours a week in exchange for a paycheck. That paycheck typically represents the amount of time you put into your job. If you work more hours, you make more money.

Passive income, on the other hand, is money that is automatically generated by assets you own, a product you’ve created, or a system you’ve developed. This means that you don’t have to constantly be working to make money because the asset, product, or system works for you and makes money for you. 

Semi-passive income, then, is a combination of both. To oversimplify, you could be making full-time income while only working part-time hours. Wouldn’t that be nice!

Ways to Make Semi-Passive Income

Most semi-passive income gigs require some sort of specialized knowledge or skill. For example, you can invest in stocks that pay regular dividends allowing you to earn a share of another company’s profits. But which ones? And what happens if you choose wrong? 

Then there is real estate crowdfunding where you invest in real estate projects and earn rental income or a share of the property’s profits. Like stock investment, it requires you to do a lot of research, diversify your portfolio, and have a clear understanding of your risk tolerance. If you want to make money now, this isn’t the way to go.

You could create something and sell that. But do you have the skills and expertise to write a book or create an online course? Do you have the time it takes to develop these? How do you market these? Who would your audience be? It only makes money if someone buys it. How can you be confident that they will? How will you keep up with competitors?

You could develop a useful mobile app and earn money through ads, in-app purchases, or subscriptions. But are you an app developer? Do you know one?

Are you an artist, creator, or entertainer? If so, you could monetize a blog or YouTube channel through ads, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing. But you have to spend time creating enough quality content to get viewers. You can sell photos to stock photography websites or license your work for use in advertisements, merchandise, or publications. 

So what do you do if you don’t have any of these skills or knowledge or even the time? That’s where an ATM business comes in. 

Skills You Need (or Don’t) for an ATM Business

Anyone can start an ATM business. All you need is a machine and a place to put it! A processing company will connect you with the credit card networks, and any handyman can install the machine with a drill and some bolts. Provide an internet connection, load the machine with cash, and you’re in business!

Of course, there’s a little more to it than that, but not much more. Basically, we just want to emphasize that you don’t need any specific background, knowledge, certification, or skills to operate an ATM machine. 

You might need some people skills. You will need to approach business owners to strike a deal where you operate your ATM machine from their location. And you might need some negotiation skills for this, too, but ATM machines place themselves because of the many benefits they offer store owners and their customers. 

If you can load napkins into a spring-loaded napkin holder, you can load cash into an ATM machine. And if you’ve ever used an ATM machine before, then you already know the basic functions.

Even if you aren’t a people-person or don’t feel comfortable with mechanics, it’s very easy to find someone who is. So there’s no shortage of resources for you if you get stuck. You can even turn it into a family business where each member’s strengths are strategically applied. Then, sit back and watch the money come in!

How an ATM Business Makes Semi-Passive Income

An ATM business makes money from the surcharge fee imposed on transactions made on the machine. This means that you install the machine, get it working, and then when it’s in use it’s making money—with or without you.

Now, we’ll call this semi-passive income because you will need to monitor the activity and load the cash. You can’t just walk away and forget about it. But you can monitor your machine remotely from an app on your phone while you’re at your day job, traveling, shopping, playing golf, watching football…. And it only takes a few hours a week to travel from the bank to the ATM to reload it.

When you get started with one machine, you might decide that you want to make more income. All you have to do is place more machines! More machines will require more time, but you could be making full-time income from part-time hours—all while being your own boss!

Underrated Semi-Passive Income You Should Start in 2024

We consider an ATM business to be an “underrated” semi-passive income idea because many people don’t know it’s an option. Most people think that all ATM machines are owned by banks or other financial institutions rather than by individual deployers. And then there is the rumor that cash is a dying currency (it’s not). An ATM business is still a profitable business in 2024, and it will likely be for the rest of our lifetime.

You don’t have to create anything, you don’t have to sell anything, and you can make money while you sleep. You don’t need any specialized skills or knowledge, either. And there are courses like ATMDepot Academy to guide you every step of the way. You don’t even have to finish the course to be able to start! It’s more like a personal manual with tips and tricks to help make your job even easier. The benefits of starting an ATM business far outweigh those of other semi-passive income streams, making it the most underrated semi-passive income option in 2024. Request your free ATM startup kit and get started today!

Is an ATM Business Still a Profitable Business in 2024?

If you want to start a profitable business in 2024, you might want to consider looking into an ATM business. But how do you define “profitable” and how much profit do you want to make? An ATM business won’t get you rich, but it is a safe investment that can generate revenue immediately and turn a profit quickly. 

With the increase in digital forms of payment, you might be concerned that cash will soon become obsolete and therefore ATM machines. Although Americans are using cash less, we are still very far from getting rid of it altogether. 

So yes. An ATM business is still a profitable business in 2024. Here, we’ll tell you what that looks like. 

What Does It Mean to Be a Profitable Business?

A profitable business makes more than it spends. The money that a business generates is its revenue. What’s left over after startup and operational costs are covered is profit. 

There is typically a relatively high degree of risk when starting a business because of the high startup and operational costs. The business has to see enough customers, retain enough clients, make enough sales, etc. to justify those costs. Otherwise, the business costs more to operate than it makes, it doesn’t generate profit, and it fails.

Because of its low startup and operational costs, an ATM business is a lot less risky. It’s actually very difficult to lose money with an ATM machine.  

How Is an ATM Business a Profitable Business?

How an ATM Business Generates Revenue

An ATM business generates most of its revenue from the surcharge fee imposed on transactions made on the machine. Most of the ATM machines you see on a daily basis charge about $3.00 per cash withdrawal. 

The most basic way to calculate your profit is to multiply your surcharge fee by the number of transactions you expect to see in a day. For example, $3.00 times 5 customers equals $15. Multiply that by the number of days your machine is available to the public to estimate weekly, monthly, and even yearly totals.

Now, if you consider that an ATM machine plus the vault cash is around $3,000-$4,000, you’ll have that paid off plus more in the first year with the above numbers. So yes, an ATM business is a profitable business. It is very easy to make your return on investment (ROI) very quickly and therefore begin to profit.

Other Ways to Profit from an ATM Business

While you won’t get rich with an ATM business, there are other benefits an ATM business offers over other businesses. First, an ATM machine generates income while you sleep (or just do other things). 

When you think of the time and energy involved with running an average business, you might find that the profit doesn’t compensate you enough for the non-monetary resources you invest. An ATM business, on the other hand, doesn’t require your physical presence all of the time. 

This allows you to spend your time doing other things, whether it’s enjoying your free time, working another gig, traveling, or spending time with friends and family. These can be considered profits, too, which many other businesses don’t offer.

Second, there are many headaches you don’t have to handle with an ATM business. You don’t have to manage employees, rent an office or lease or purchase property, or even wake up early! You can monitor and manage your ATM business all by yourself if you want to, with an app on your phone, from the comfort of your home.

And, you can scale if you want to. Want to see more profit than you’re getting from one machine? Place another! With 10-12 machines, you could make the ATM business your full-time job, physically spending only part-time hours away from home. Say goodbye to job interviews, job security stress, bosses, coworkers, dress codes, and the rest!

Better Investment Than a Savings Account

Like we said before, it’s hard to lose money with an ATM business. You probably already have $3,000-$4,000 in a savings account at the bank. As of January 2024, the national average yield for savings accounts is 0.58 percent APY

That money, sitting there doing nothing will earn maybe $20 in a year in interest. Do you think you could get at least 7 ATM transactions in a year? We think you can! Investing in an ATM business will yield you more than the money you have sitting in your savings account at the bank right now.

Will Cash Soon Become Obsolete?

This might all sound great, but how long will it last? Take it from us: cash will not become obsolete in our lifetime. There are still way too many industries, businesses, and individuals that depend on it. Just because we are seeing less cash payments does not mean cash is irrelevant. It just means there are more payment options today for consumers. 

It makes sense that there are less cash payments today than there were in the ’50s and ’60s when credit and debit cards just hit the market. Today, in addition to cash and plastic, money transfer apps and an entirely new form of currency—cryptocurrency—have been added to the arena. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still need cash.

There are a number of situations where cash is better than card. There are still several types of businesses that operate on a cash-only basis. And, good news for the ATM industry, there are even more businesses that would prefer to switch to cash only if it meant they wouldn’t lose customers.

According to the Pew Research Center, over half of Americans try to keep at least some cash on them at all times. And cash is still the most common form of payment for unbanked and low-income individuals.

In short, although cash is used less today than ever before, it is still relevant. And as long as there is a need for cash in our society, there will be a need for ATMs. Which means that an ATM business is still a profitable business in 2024!

Reasons Why an ATM Business is Still a Profitable Business in 2024 

An ATM business is still a profitable business in 2024 because people still need cash. Where there is a market, there is an opportunity. All you have to do is find a gap in that market, offer a needed service, and reap the rewards. 

It only takes a few thousand dollars to get started, significantly less than other businesses. And your ATM makes you passive income—you can be making money while you sleep! If you already have the money sitting idly in a savings account, you might as well put it to work for you!

Will an ATM business buy you a Lamborghini? No. But it could help you fund a vacation, spend more time with friends and family, or replace your 9-5 if you want it to. 

If you’re ready to get started in the ATM industry, get your ATM start-up kit today! If you still have more questions about how to own and operate your own ATM machine, check out ATMDepot Academy, your ATM business road map to generating a steady flow of passive income.