Nursery Owners and Managers

A full- or part-time job as a sales clerk or in some other capacity at a nursery or garden center is a good way to learn about the responsibilities of operating such a business. Talking with owners of nurseries and garden centers is also helpful, as is reading periodicals that publish articles on self-employment, such as Entrepreneur magazine (https://www.entrepreneur.com).

Most communities have a Chamber of Commerce (https://www.uschamber.com) whose members usually will be glad to share their insights into the career of a retail business owner. The Small Business Administration (https://www.sba.gov), an agency of the U.S. government, is another possible source of information.