You have to treat it like a business and not like a hobby if you're going to succeed. Take a real cold, hard, analytical, non-emotional look at it from all angles. Set definite, and realistic business goals for what you want and what you can realistically do/expect. Are you going to buy/lease retail space or work out of your basement/garage? Look at the competition in the area and see if it is realistic to add another shop or is the area already saturated? Employees or are you going to do it all yourself? Full time or just evenings/weekends? Are you willing to give up your evenings and weekends for your customers? (Open the shop for your customers, not for yourself.) Have you got the capital to invest? Most manufacturers want to see a full time pro shop with a minimum annual order for their stuff (although most will work with you if you're in a low density area) figure about $10K for that. It sounds like the best training for you would be a dealer school like the one PSE offers. It gives you some business intro as well as technical training. They have a direct investment in their dealerships, if their dealers succeed, they sell more equipment. It's a lot to weigh out. Do it for the right reasons and stick to your goals and abilities and you'll do well. Over extend yourself and forget about putting the customer first and you won't...