The addition of businesses into GTA has given you a whole new way to play with GTA Online. With regular new content and deals available, there's always a reason to grind those extra dollars in Los Santos. Fortunately, the game has advanced since just repeating missions for payouts.

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Investing in a business can soon see millions made in a matter of days, with the most lucrative payouts when Rockstar runs double money weeks for different methods. Of course, the billionaires of the GTA world don't need the extra money, but businesses are a solid boost to players who are looking to grind some serious money to buy the best cars and planes in GTA online.

Updated July 8, 2023 by Jack Webb: GTA Online continues to be something amazing, with new content updates and plenty of things to get stuck into. With that in mind, making money through these businesses is very important to get the best stuff.

10 Counterfeit Cash Factory: Printing Money

Your character checking the other workers at a counterfeit cash factory.

The Counterfeit Cash Factory will provide you with fast cash, but will also offer you a buildable business. Depending on your setup in the beginning, you can break even between 38 and 41 hours after starting up. It will take on the longer end of this time frame if you've added upgrades to your equipment straight away, but that still isn't a large wait time for our cash to balance.

Despite being a fast money-maker, counterfeiting can (and should) be a time investment as much as money. You'll have to consider your location for operations, and there are definitely some that are better than others. The travel back and forth may seem pointless, but if you're really going to make an organization out of your factory, you should go to the Grand Senora Desert. To make the trip worth it, basing other businesses in the same general area is wise.

9 Weed Farm: Growing/Selling

Fields of growing weed.

At first glance, getting a weed farm isn't the most appealing business in the game. It doesn't return nearly as much money as the others, but you'll see profits almost immediately. Starting up a weed farm can get you going on funds for another more lucrative business, or it can be something you dedicate enough time to build an empire.

Another benefit of pursuing this business is networking. As you grow and sell, you can actually turn this into a real business staffed by your friends online. Like a real job, however, you want to make sure you can trust your employees to be reliable and dependable for selling products. To get your foot in the door all you need is one farm, which you can get for as cheap as $200,000. In the beginning, it's advisable to go with the cheapest possible farm, and then you can always acquire more as you gain profit.

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7 Vehicle Warehouse: Vehicle Import/Export

Some people taking care of the luxurious cars inside the warehouse.

Importing and exporting cars is one of the most efficient businesses; it's simple, can pay well, and players can stock up on their supercars. Here's the trick - make sure to never sell your standard and mid-range cars. Once the game recognizes you have ten of each in stock at the warehouse, you'll no longer be given source missions for them, allowing you to always source and sell the most profitable, top-range cars.

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It's possible to run this business out of a populated friendly lobby but just search for an empty one if you encounter issues. You just need a vehicle warehouse to get started. After sourcing and delivering a car, return to the laptop to start another mission. The Terrabyte offers the fastest means of doing this - but a cheap office near the centre of Los Santos and La Mesa warehouse will do the job. Always sell to the specialist dealer and keep to top-range cars to guarantee $80,000 profit per car sale - and up to four players in your crew can help lock up $320,000 from one mission. Fortunately, the vehicle warehouse is much easier to find than the impound lot.

6 Coke Lock Up: Coke Sales

Your character and a partner checking how the cocaine workers are doing their job.

Upgrading the coke lock up as soon as possible is vital to guarantee a profitable income to make the grind worth it. You'll have the option of both staff and equipment upgrades and many GTA fans argue it can only produce once both are applied. Those upgrades cost $1.3 million but that money will be made back in no time.

Buy one of the cheapest MC clubhouses from Maze Bank Foreclosures and the cheapest cocaine lockup to get started. Like the bunker, workers inside make the stock for you, players just need to prepare the supplies - or buy them for $75,000. While cocaine isn't the best business in the game, it's very useful to have on the side when other options are cooling down. More businesses, more money.

5 Bunker: Weapon Production/Sales

A bunker with some supplies but no souls.

The bunker business is all about creating weapons and selling them as supplies. An extra feature of running a bunker allows you to unlock special weapons, ammunition, and features that are otherwise inaccessible. Remember when buying a bunker that delivery missions are going to send you into the city, which means a long trip when buying the one at the top of the map.

More volume means more vehicles are needed. Usually, half of the bar will require two players to deliver two vehicles, while a full bar means four delivery vehicles - so don't click sell if you're too far away and a trustworthy friend isn't online! A full bar of stock will sell for $750,000 up to just over a million if the bunker is fully upgraded.

4 Arcade: Casino Heists

A desk full of monitors and PCs.

While running as a passive $50,000 income, the arcade also allows you to run the casino heist. Around $3.6m can be made when the game blesses fans with diamonds as they scope out the casino, but the heist should always net you at least two million each time with the lowest value loot being straight cash.

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The Arcade business also gives you the opportunity to buy a master terminal for $1.4m - a way to manage all businesses from one spot. Even though free mode heist prep is one of the things that Rockstar needs to improve in GTA online, be sure to complete it to ensure the highest chance of securing the maximum payout.

3 Warehouse: Special Cargo (Crates)

Plenty of characters checking the crates inside a warehouse.

Despite being one of the simplest, special cargo is one of the best solo businesses in the game. You can buy a warehouse from your CEO office and begin sourcing crates right away. Buy a large warehouse to store more stock but remember that selling more will spawn two sale vehicles which means you'll need to hire a person to your crew.

Sourcing one crate at a time costs $2,000 but gaining the best hourly rate means grinders should go for the three crate option with a fair amount of the missions putting all three crates together to take at once. Sure, this puts the cost per crate up, but you will make more money in the long run as it's quicker to reach the max solo sale of nine crates ($126,000). Filling up a large warehouse and selling with friends will produce $2.2m from 111 crates, but be sure to have the squad online for that one.

2 The Agency

shooting surveillance camera gta online

Purchasing the Agency is one of the most lucrative businesses you can own in GTA Online. They are damn expensive to buy, with properties being between $2,010,000 and $2,830,000, but they are worth every dollar in the long run. When purchasing an Agency, you can opt-in for more extras like a garage or an armoury.

There are three options when it comes to Agency missions, and they are Payphone Hits, Security Contracts, and the Heist Contract. Payphone hits can get you around $60,000 each time and they're fairly fast to run. Doing the Security Contracts is a good way to have money coming in and ticking over. The more of these you complete, the more money that comes into your safe every day in-game. Complete as many as you can and you will get money every 40 or so minutes, however long it takes for a full in-game day to pass.

1 Nightclubs: After-Hours Entertainment

People dancing in a night club.

Nightclubs are possibly the best business venture to get into in GTA Online because they offer a legitimate source of income. You can pick one from ten on the bank's list of foreclosures, and you'll be able to furnish it with stolen or found items instead of investing a lot of cash upfront — though you can take that route, too.

As you build up your Nightclub business, you'll notice it bringing in a large sum of passive cash — more than the Arcades will net you. This allows you to hire the employees needed to keep things running, while you worry less about being hands-on. Owning and operating one or more Nightclubs is beneficial if you plan to run other businesses — like the Counterfeit Cash Factory, for example — because it gives you a legal business bringing in cash that can be invested into illegal businesses, and you can run the illegal businesses within the clubs.

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