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You might want to consider a "Close Corporation" where you receive corporate tax treatment rather than a LLC which simply combines with personal income and taxes. LLC's are fine for lawyers and doctors with consistently high annual income, but for a business with irregular income and losses year to year, a corporation is much better imho. A corporation can accrue earnings in good years so you don't have to push all the profits onto your personal tax return and pay the income tax. The corporation can hold the cash to cover losses in future years. The best solution depends on the business, it just seems most people don't consider the tax implications and setup an LLC because they think it is easier. That is true compared to a normal C Corp, but Close Corporations are easy to operate since you are limited to 30 shareholders, but you receive corporate tax treatment. You need to see if your State has them. In States with no corporate income tax the benefits are even better.

Purchase a piece of equipment for a business and make monthly payments. You can partner with a person that will operate the equipment and generate revenue. Having a business can offer great tax benefits in addition to the income generated.