[Christien]

There's some strong tough love in this thread, but maybe not tough enough. Remember that 3/4 of new businesses fail within a year. I agree that it sounds like you're looking for something as an alternative to what you do now, rather than something you're passionate about. That said, that's not necessarily a recipe for disaster. But your family and social WILL get neglected.

I'm a small business owner, kind of by accident - it's a company my father started as a side project to his law firm. He and the accountant at the firm ran it for a few years with no real profits, more of a tax haven. I took it over when I finished school, made it my own and made it profitable. But I had two HUGE things going for me that most small business owners don't have: 1. an already-successful business model and 2. financial backing. I didn't have to convince the bank to loan me seed money, nor did I have to mortgage my house (didn't even own a house when I took it over).

I work from home and manage to maintain more or less regular hours, though evenings in the office are far from rare. But I also maintain some semblance of a social life, and spend a lot of time with my family. I love the flexibility of making my own hours, and luckily the company makes enough that my wife can afford to only work part-time (she's a teacher) so we get to do a lot of kid-stuff together (I'm usually the only dad around) and I wouldn't trade that for double my salary. Maybe triple, but even then I'm not sure.

Oh, and as for the sandwich shop with apartments upstairs, forget that one. I looked into that a few years ago when I wanted to get commercial property to move the business out of my house. The idea was that the rent would cover the mortgage on the building. After looking into it, I was completely scared off by the commitments of being a landlord. Even with a hired handyman to fix the 3am broken pipes and whatnot, I had no desire to be dealing with all the bs of tenants, garbage, deadbeats, chasing rent, cleaning up when they move, legal issues etc. If you have to do it, get luxury units so you're not dealing with lowlifes.