So far I've dabbled around "why not go into business", now for the why do you want to go into business? Not to get too fru-fur but in your gut what do you want from it?

I don't think "just because you can" or that you are buying a bunch of grain to support your hobby is a good enough reason. Going into business is much like knowingly taking a hammer and smashing your finger. Anybody can do it but why do you want to and is that reason worth bearing the pain?

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I have one manufacturing & retailing (to commercial customers) business and one property management one. After 15 years doing it my salary is just now equaling what I made at the job I left 15 years ago. There are other benefits of owning businesses that put my true income substantially higher but if you look at the cash in my pocket I'm about where I was 15 years ago. A big benefit for me is that I'm no longer making money for other people and not having to answer to their bullshit. Secondly I like to travel and now I can take as much time as I want. I'm keenly aware that I'm not working when I'm traveling but I don't want to die without having seen the world and that's more important to me than the money I could make if I worked to several extra weeks.

The reason to go into business is complicated. I don't particularly like the current job I have now. I have to work nights and weekends and I miss out on a lot on the homefront. I like people and I think I have a knack for sales, which comes into play in a competitive marketplace.

I want to be able to provide a needed service at a fairy competitive price. I have never really enjoyed working for someone else. I watched my folks build a business, so I know it can be a tough job. I know the pay isn't always that great, but money isn't everything.

In your shoes I'd be more inclined to start the business on my own, without a partner. Do you have space at home or at your parents that you could use to receive truck shipments and inventory grain? It sounds like your strong point might be selling grain in bulk. Grain by the pound or ounce is done by many brew suppliers and you get the type of people who want to get everything to brew a batch in one shipment. If you stick with grains by the sack you get a different customer. Someone who is more accustomed to purchasing from different suppliers and you're not screwing around trying to sell 4 ounces of something. Just start simple maybe with base grains. Packaging and order picking would be greatly simplified and you would be able to pick & ship orders pretty quickly making your life a little easier while you are still working a day job.

I think the key is working from someplace like home (best) or a cheap location close to home. You don't want to work a day job and have to drive 20 minutes each way to pack & ship one or two orders.

The real killer I see is receiving truck shipments. Grains are big and heavy so you need a location accessible to tractor trailers. I'm trying to think how to get around the truck unloading problem. If you'r parents had a farm trucks could go there and use a tractor with forks to unload the trucks. Otherwise you really need a forklift or rent a location that has a loading dock so you can use a pallet jack. You can break down the pallets and manually unload but I can't see the truck waiting around while you manually unload a couple pallets worth. You could have your shipments held at the trucking terminal and go in a pickup and bring them home one pallet load at a time.

You just need to start thinking what markup you could apply to each sack. Then think of how much you might sell (be conservative) in a month, and get some idea of the money involved. It's going to be tough going against N. Brewer with 2-row at $36 a bag but places like FiftyPoundSack are open for business selling at $62.

Shipping is going to be a key point for you. With my business volume I get some modest discounts from UPS shipping about $50k a year in UPS shipping costs. Someone like N. Brewer who is filling semi-trailer loads every day is getting a much, much better discount. I have some good FAK blankets and fixed price shipping rates from Southeastern Freight Lines which would be an option but I don't know how well that will work with mostly residential customers.

You are close to Nashville, "lots of tourists" what about opening
a small general store and carry a good selection of craft beer,
wine, cheese, sausage, fresh bread, jellies, honey, odds and
ends and maybe have a small homebrew selection of grains, yeast
and hops to serve the locals?

i still like the Brew On Premise idea... and beer classes, too. not just homebrew... but beer tastings, style classes, pairing classes, cooing with beer classes, and maybe even host some cicerone tasting events or something like that. beer culture is getting pretty big...

That is the short/long range goal. I don't want to dabbel with jellies and stuff like that. I want to do a Brew On Permises, that was my goal years ago and then I found Rebel was in the area, it is just how to get there.