You wouldn’t have to worry about start up costs.
Location and clientele would not be a problem.
What business have you dreamed about starting because you either like the involvement or the product or it would be just darn fun?
For me, for quite some time, it has been two businesses:
A coffee shop and used book store selling local artists stuff.
And
A non-violent, no video games, toy store. ( This is really driving me lately.)
Manufacture of construction vehicles, or tractors which are exported to third world countries.
or
The construction of pre-fabricated apartment blocks.
A small pet store. “Small” referring to the pets, not the store. Nothing bigger than a ferret (tropical fish, mice, hamsters, small reptiles, etc.)
or, a hobby/game store. I’m starting to get into the model train hobby, so at the moment a store full of tracks, rolling stock and layout accessories sounds really cool.
A horse equipment/tack store. I am in love with tack. I own one horse, but I own 3 saddles, about 5 bridles, numerous halters, and so many bits - even though I only use a french- link snaffle on my horse. I love browsing tack stores, the smell of leather really does something for me.
Oh - I forgot my other one. a no-kill cat shelter.
Hobby shop featuring model railroading supplies, with an attached warehouse big enough for 2 or 3 large club layouts.
Hotel & Irish Pub in warm, beautiful exotic location, with good enough management and income that I have time to write fiction.
A publishing company. We’d do a lot of cookbooks and gaming aids.
A small electronics factory, because I have a couple of product ideas I’d love to get on the market.
No-kill rabbit shelter…no-kill cat shelter…
heck…just a no-kill shelter!
I think mine is the weirdest of the lot 
Publishing.
Wait! I’m heartbeats away from doing that now!
I always said that if I won the lottery I’d open a bar.
It would be the kind of place that you wouldn’t mind taking your wife and kids for lunch - we’d have great food at a very resonable price - but NO kids at the bar, NO kids in the smoking area, and NO kids after 3PM.
It’s not that I don’t like kids, it’s just that I was a bartender for several years and I don’t think it’s an appropriate place for them to hang out. Grab lunch with Mom & Dad sure. But then get back to the playground!
I’d like it to be the kind of place that got established in the neighborhood and developed a devoted clientel.
And best of all if I won the lottery I could run it just to break even or maybe at a slight loss.
(Man that’s a long post for a simple question)
I’m torn between two…
Small theatre owner (seating about 200), which hosts small, traveling groups of little-known folk artists, ethnic/foreign musical groups, magic shows, etc.
or…
publisher of a quality gentleman’s magazine (think Playboy, here, not Maxim). I would, of course, need to review all the pics…
I like the no kill shelter idea…
but I would open a party place that did birthday parties for kids. No video games (not because I am against them but because I want a different kind of place) just lots of cake and goodies and room to run with waterballoon fights and moonwalks and 3 legged races and pinatas and that kind of stuff.
“The Fireworks, Candy and Puppy Dog Store!”
No, seriously . . . I’ve always wanted my own bookstore. I’m gonna call it Chapter 13, and it will have a small cafe on the first floor with a large selection of teas and coffees, bagels and donuts, and internet access. On Wednesday and Friday evenings, I’ll have folk and jazz groups. If there’s enough local interest, ther will be live poetry readings on Thursday.
I plan to have a huge selection of non-fiction. I’m always dissapointed at the sociology/history sections in bookstores, (which is why I do most of my shopping online) but my store will rectify this.
There will be an elderly lady or gentleman hired to read to kids in the afternoons so that parents can browse as long as they like.
There will be a fireplace, and before it will lay a friendly bassett hound. There will also be a store cat, which I’m planning to name Edgar.
There will be a staff person totally devoted to helping kids find research materials and assisting them in writing papers for their school classes.
The interior walls will be dark green, with mahogany wainscotting, and big fluffy burgandy chairs. Cuddle up with a good book at Chapter 13!
If I do it again, it’ll probably be an oil and gas exploration company. Or a T-shirt shop at the beach.
Gunshop with a firing range in the back.
I’d love to meld two of my favorite past jobs – a video store and a video arcade. I worked at Blockbuster and Q-Zar and loved both of them. I’d have a laser tag/arcade/video store, and maybe a coffee shop on the side.
Either that or a laundromat/bar.
I have a thing for combos.
I would love to have a restoration auto parts store. I think of all the places I had to go to retore my GTO. It would have been a dream if one strore had most everything I needed. Plus it would have a NASCAR diecast section too.
Big cat park, with a massive dome housing a jungle and tropical felines (jaguars and such).
Photograph rocket tests.