You need to do something called a "Small Business Feasibility Study"... or more likely, pay someone else to do it for you. Most people who start businesses have their eyes in the clouds and do not see the pitfalls that they are walking toward. I'll give you the entire course I took during the early 1980's in just one post. Your tuition will be free.
First ask yourself some pointed questions like:
- "Why am I the smartest person in the state to see that there are enough customers to support this type of business?",
- "How much money do I need to start this business?"
- "Can I survive without making ANY money for at least a year and possibly having to put more money into the business?"
- "Could I make more money by investing my start-up funding in mutual funds and/or working for a salary?"
Now, having answered those questions, here are some facts that you may not have considered:
- Nearly all small business fail within the first year of operation.
- Most small business do not have sufficient capital to start up properly.
- Most people who start a business in an area that interests them are ill-suited to manage such a business.
- Most owners of small businesses put in far more hours than forty a week and make far less money than they could working for someone else.
The first thing I did when I was tasked to manage a small gun shop was to organize it such that I didn't really have hardly any work to do. I set up digital templates for receipts, printed up forms to work with those receipts, developed procedures to determine optimal pricing, developed procedures for listing items for online sales and made everything as simple for my customers as I possibly could.
I set up surveillance in the shop and developed a relationship with local LEO. I helped catch at least one murderer and countless thieves who stole guns and then sold them to me. I managed to prevent at least one suicide that I know of (woman wanted me to load a gun for her so she could kill herself).
By the time I was done with my preparation, I actually "worked" for a couple hours a day on the average and spent most of the rest of my time browsing Gun Broker and/or chatting with customers about stuff that might or might not have anything to do with gun sales.
What I learned was that the best small businesses are "turn key" businesses. This means that the boss comes in the morning and turns the key to open the business and at the end of the day, he comes again, takes all the money and turns the key again to close the business. Then he goes to the bank and deposits the money. As the boss, you don't want to do anything you don't have to do, you hire others to do it for you and you spend your time training employees so you can go hunting. My boss had that down pretty well, except that he was the only gunsmith, so ended up working longer hours than I did.
A car wash, a video arcade and a laundromat are good examples of "turn key" businesses. If I were young, I would look to start that sort of business, train managers to handle day to day operations and spend my days at the range or in the field.
In a nutshell, small businesses are all about MAKING MONEY. If that is not your primary goal, then small business is not for you.
Now, don't let me dash your dreams. If you wanna do this, then do it and don't let a gray-bearded old far like me stop you. Just be realistic and don't just assume that everything will come up roses... 'cause it really won't do that. You are gonna have serious issues... especially starting this kind of business in a place like Massachusets.
All that said... good luck to you and I hope you succeed.
