Experience is taking the exam before your professor teaches you the material.
Anyways,
I’ve seen plenty of businesses go under, and it’s not because of lack of intelligence, lack of market, or lack of responsible employee/partners. They fail for a MILLION reasons… and more than half the time it’s not even their fault.
Taking classes at UB is not going to HURT you per se, but instead it might just be wasted time + money. Applicable research is your friend, and more research is like your best friend. There cannot be too much planning in opening ANY small business. If anything, there is maybe ONE class you could get into… MGQ405 ( i think ) that COULD help you. It might be better just to sit in and not participate. The other ones would go wasted on you, and should be better left to professionals.
Just finding a “growing” city isn’t enough, you need to pull census information, look at demographics and all sorts of other shit. Maybe the taxes in the “ideal” city are just too high, and you’ll never make it past your first year.
Lots of people are going to give you good advice, and it’s good to ask. Personally, if I were you, I’d get some books, and start trying to schedule sit downs with ANY business owner you know or can get in contact with. Telling them you are a college student working on a project WILL help you get those interviews, and will loosen up the subject to be more open when discussing business plans etc.
FWIW I have an accounting degree and work as a systems analyst building procedure and policy in all aspects of business, cutting costs and creating fundamentally stout operating plans at the same time. I’d be willing to answer some questions for you over PM and MAYBE in person if you are really serious.
-Adam