T.F.
We don't own a storefront but we do own our own successful company.
#1 we sat down with our legal, tax and financial counsel and laid out our business plan to them. We did NOT want banks, personal investors, etc involved because we wanted to make sure we continued to maintain 100% control of the company. Example... if a bank loans you $ for your business, then they expect you to meet with them when they say they want to meet go over your books, forecasting and plans. Then THEY strongly suggest what you do. For that reason, we did not want anyone else "owning" us. We have secured everything with our personal finances therefore we are 100% owners.
It did take some time to develop credit with come vendors. Although we were known in the industry, no one will just hand out credit because they like you. We took advantage of paying cash to get the credit going.
Our sales average from $250,000 to $400,000 a month so it gets very stressful because you have to be very detailed with cash flow, accounts payable and receivable.
Everything else I list is in no particular order.
get all the licenses and tax numbers your need from IRS.
make sure you have someone knowledgeable to run all of your tax reports, payroll, keep up with inventory, profit loss, QuickBooks, etc.
Don't expect to take a salary for at least 1 year. When you start taking salary, you will need to file the necessary 941 quarterly reports and pay your taxes monthly to IRS.
That said, my business is not a storefront. In any case, you'll have to have insurance for the goods in your store as well as liability insurance for the sue happy people who slip and fall, etc.
We work from our home and our warehouses are in Dallas and Houston.
If you are the only person working 9-5 then those are your hours of business. You can always add part timers if you need to for holidays, etc.
I hope your new venture is a success...