As a freelancer, passive income is the way to go. Our education system in the western world hasn’t changed since the late 1800s thus, it still perpetuates creating paycheck to paycheck workers who save a traditional fixed pension. Younger generations in particular, however, are catching on and realising that manifesting passive incomes is a better way to go. This means that you’ll continue to make money after the hard work has paid off. Traditional examples of passive income are real estate owning and stocks. 

You may be surprised to hear that simply creating spreadsheets can be a source of passive income. If you find creating spreadsheets satisfying and simple then this may be the perfect passive income stream for you. 

Whether you create spreadsheets with Excel or Google Sheets, there’s a market that will pay for you to create spreadsheets of all kinds: for budgeting, profit projections, habit tracking, or even P&L spreadsheets that business owners don’t want to create from scratch.

You would think that most established businesses already have computer systems installed with software to run their operation, but you would be surprised at the number of old-fashioned businesses that are still around. These are usually very small companies that are often owned by an older person who may be computer illiterate and reluctant to switch over from their familiar book system. Some people simply don’t understand how beneficial technology is to their lives and their company. These are the kind of people you need to approach. You can convince them that computers are not just complex machines, but a useful tool to make our lives easier. 

Rental agencies, mechanics and craft shops are just some examples of companies that require external spreadsheet creation. 

To sell your services to these small businesses, you will need to impress them enough for them to accept and buy your work; however, at the same time, you mustn’t give too much. To keep making money, you need to allow for improvements and maintenance in your work. That way, the business will continuously ask you for updates which will allow you to make further money. For example, a small rental agency may expand its business with different types of properties and clients which would require you to make changes to the spreadsheet. Of course, there will be some periods of drought when no maintenance or upgrades are necessary, however, this comes and goes in waves.