madhesi, There are differences in your way of thinking in owning a business than mine; I suppose a caveat is called for. Most successful entrepreneurs (or if you are a fan of Micheal Porter) will tell you that there's a far greater opportunity to be had if attributes like uniqueness, differentiation, methodology, low cost, etc are defined by the product you sell. I am sure you've heard of the phrase 'thinking out of the box'. This is called innovation; the rewards are much greater and not everyone can do this. Unlike the entrepreneur above if you buy into an existing business or start one that has abundance of competitors you are essentially reinventing the wheel. You can be successful but rewards aren't great. Anyone can do this if one has enough capital. It was nearly imposssible (for many reasons) a couple of decades or more ago for immigrants and minorities to start an innovative enterprise, thus resorting to proprietorship of small businesses as explained in my previous post. I am of the opinion that albeit this might still exist there are far more greater opportunities if one's an innovative thinker, has some experiences in the similar industry and knows his network well, and can hit the ground running. And I don't bode well with money being only the reward; there are others.