Originally Posted by ckcowl
...the other, a small shop .... they make enough to keep the doors open, but are not really making a living at it...
A store not making a living will close faster than the place making a profit. I did it for four years. Made enough to pay the bills - most of the time. But it ruined my retirement savings and I had to close my shop. I tried to make the cost of fabric, classes - everything reasonable in order to get the sales. It never happened and I had to close and go back to working.
Now I look at those places whose prices are up there (and I will shop there first every time) and they have staff to pay and a nice environment with plenty of product - they are thriving.
In essence, I had it backward.