Question:
 I have very little direct experience with starting or owning a business, but I wish to do exactly that.  My background is in experimental psychology and a little-known field called human factors which is a cross between experimental psychology and engineering.  Given this background, it goes without saying that I am a little naive about the business world.  For the last four years I have been a stay-at-home dad while my wife earns the income.  I have been supplementing this with a part time job.

Now that my son is nearing school age, I am ready for a new challenge.  I am ready to move forward with an idea that I have been sitting on for a while. I want to open a retail store catering to the needs of woodworkers. Basically, it will be a tool and supply house for anyone who works with wood.  I have specific ideas to make it stand out among the competition (which is very limited in this area anyway), and I have a very clear vision of what this store will carry, how it will look, and function.  I have committed some of this to paper in the form an informal business plan.  I say informal because it is incomplete.  I have tried to follow an accepted business plan format, but I have left many blanks.  There are things I simply cannot answer with my limited experience.

I think that the key to making this idea a reality is by educating myself as much as possible.  I think the trick (among other things) is probably to ask the right questions to the right people.  That is where my problem lies right now.  The ever popular and very broad question, "where do I begin?" keeps crossing my mind.  My question for the group then is who are the right people to talk to and what are the questions I should be asking these people?  Is there someone out there who can help me fill in the blanks of my business plan?  And if anyone has come up with a concrete answer, where DO I begin?  Where do I begin getting the information I will need to move forward?

Answer:

The very first question that you need to answer is: can I make enough money to pay debts/operating costs and still have enough to satisfy my income needs.
I want to open a retail store catering to the needs of woodworkers. - Basically, it will be a tool and supply house for anyone who works with - wood.  I have specific ideas to make it stand out among the competition - (which is very limited in this area anyway), and I have a very clear vision - of what this store will carry, how it will look, and function.  I have - committed some of this to paper in the form an informal business plan.  I - say informal because it is incomplete.  I have tried to follow an accepted - business plan format, but I have left many blanks.  There are things I - simply cannot answer with my limited experience.

Have you considered purchasing a franchise?  There are a few of them out there, like the Woodworker's Store.  The idea is that they have a proven system, and all you need to do is follow the cook book.  You pay some fees for that, but you know that they system works as long as you follow it.  This will let you focus on the wood work part of it, and the company will help with everything else
I have considered a franchise, and I may look into it closer as I learn more.  I mentioned in another post that I spent a couple of years building a sailboat.  I bought the plans for the sailboat, but I didn't buy a sailboat kit.  I could have.  For me that would have taken away so much of what I got out of it, and I think that buying a franchise might do the same thing for starting my business.  In part it's about the learning process.  That is where I get most of the mental stimulation that I enjoy, and that is one of the reasons I want to pursue this.  I could be wrong about a franchise taking away from the learning process, but for now I want to look into building it from the ground up.