Retail has always seemed like a crappy business to me. Whether it's guns, groceries, or clothing. Huge overhead, lots of startup capital, lots of competition, and you can't liquidate it very quickly in case of a downturn.
If I was going to start a business. I would look for:
A. Something that has a barrier to entry. This lessens your competition and drives up your margins.
B. Something that you can perform initially with low overhead and minimal if any employees.
C. Something that is easy to liquidate. Being on the hook for thousands of dollars a month in overhead, inventory, equipment, payments, and expenses is a scary prospect if they are on yearly contracts.
Basically, a service based company is many times more secure, than a product based company, for a fledgling entrepreneur. Once you've built up some serious financial stability, a product based company may become more appealing.
Very good points.
If you do choose retail, start with a minimum viable product and start out with as little debt as possible. Perform routine tests to see what works, what doesn't, before scaling up.
