Interested in building passive income into your business? Here’s a guide to earning this way—and a reality check to help you decide which, if any, of these paths is right for you. (Hint: It’s not as passive as it sounds.)

The first thing everyone tells you about passive income is that they hate the phrase “passive income.” Mainly the “passive” part—as it turns out, it takes a lot of work. Still, for designers sick of earning a living by schlepping pillows around town, the prospect of making money while you sleep is a tantalizing one.

For much of the history of the interior design profession, passive income has meant one thing: licensing. And to be sure, designing products, branding them with your name and collecting a quarterly royalty check is still a viable way to make money. However, licensing opportunities tend to be concentrated at the very top, meaning designers with name recognition, a big social following, and (let’s face it) good connections are usually first in line. For the majority of working pros, licensing in a big way remains out of reach. Enter the internet.