This seems like a reasonable caveat, but exactly how firm do you consider it to be?
You’re not thinking straight, Irruncible. (Which doesn’t bode well for the prospects of your becoming a successful businessperson.)
The problem you had identified is that you have “no idea what’s involved in running a business”, and you (correctly) fear that this means you are at higher risk of failing as a business owner. The solution to this problem is *not[/i[ to become the owner of a business that you don’t mind if it fails.
The proper course is to acquire experience in managing a business. You therefore need to apply yourself to the task of being appointed to a managerial position so that you can acquire the experience you currently lack before you invest your own capital in building or acquiring a business.
Sorry to be blunt here, but I’d say 100%.
I’ve set up businesses before and it’s not as easy as you think. If you have any issues with drinking, then I’d simply forget about it. Period.
People I know who used to drink (and I know a lot in AA) more often than not drank more when stressed and investing your own money in a business is going to be damn stressful. I found this out the hard way.
You also don’t want to go into it with a friend. No matter how solid you may think your friendship is, it’s even more likely to fail than the business itself.
Acquaintance with a common interest? That’s when it works the best.
Very hard, physical labor. All dqy, you are bending over, working on a horses’s leg held in your lap. Which the horse doesn’t want there. Plus you’re often holding up 1/4th of the horses weight. All the farriers I know who’ve lasted more than a few years have back problems. Plus there’s the risk of getting kicked or bitten by a horse. Plan on buying very good medical insurance.
Plus work will be few & far between until you build up a reputation & client list. No income while you’re waiting for the next call. A lot of time spent welding old horseshoes into coat hangers or gun racks to sell at flea markets for a few bucks. And many of the customers you get as a new guy will be the ones other farriers have declined – they often won’t get a farrier as often as they should, and will want you (as a new guy) to give them a discount (or worse, bill them later).
This is pretty much a young person’s job. It’s awfully physically demanding for anyone middle-aged or older. Not something you can keep doing until retirement age. And not really any similar professions you can move on to in your later years. So expect to be looking into getting started in some other profession in your 50’s.
Not a profession I’d get into unless you really enjoy working with horses all day.
What about franchising opportunities?
Obviously there are tons of food-service franchises out there but I wouldn’t do that unless you really know food service - there are lots of nuances, health regulations, you have to deal with a lot of employees and so on. But other things - like if there aren’t any packaging / shipping stores in a strip mall near you, maybe there’s a demand for something like that.
It’s a shame you’re weary of it. You could market yourself as providing in-home PC support to the technologically-challenged. My in-laws live in an area of Florida with a LOT of older folks who have and need to use computers, but haven’t the foggiest idea about how to set them up or troubleshoot them. He has a fellow that comes in when something is needed that I can’t troubleshoot remotely.
Like most actual businesses, that would require actual work, which the OP wants to avoid. For one thing, if you want to minimize labor costs in a packaging/shipping store, you might do so by manning the store yourself for most of the week.
Okay, I’m going to be a literalist with this suggestion, but it may be the only good answer: you should get a job as an accounts receivable clerk with an established company! 
/thread win
/thread close
Thiswould seem to be exactly the kind of work you’re seeking, actually. Supposedly there are quite a few such jobs out there.
Note: do NOT do this.