What type of business to start / buy when close to FIRE or post-FIRE?

[ReadyOrNot]

One question I haven't had a really clear answer for, is exactly what I can / should do after FIRE.  An idea I have is to maybe buy a business to manage, or start a business and enjoy some of the tax benefits of being a business owner.

For example, starting a podcast, or a youtube channel might be a great way to write off some travel & computer / cellular expenses, while requiring not a lot of upfront capital.  One interesting idea is to become a part time realtor - can write off cars, clothes, computers / cellphones, home office, etc., all the while doing something I may really enjoy and am fairly good at.

However, if there is a business that can be purchased or started with $300k - $500k of capital, and can provide 2x - 3x returns without a ton of risk / work, that might be worthwhile to consider as well.  An example might be a profitable pharmacy in retirement community.

I'm curious if anyone has gone through this thought process and analyzed the best businesses to buy / start, either to take advantage of tax breaks, or make good residual income from a stable business.  If you have, would love to hear your thoughts on this topic and what businesses you think are worthwhile to consider.

[NorCal]

I had casually researched this a while back, but probably won't do it myself.

Start with searching for small businesses for sale in your area.  There are some sites that will give you some ideas.

The best ones I saw were truly niche businesses that I wouldn't have even known existed.  These are typically more expensive though.

Various forms of real estate businesses are fairly easy to break into.  Liquor stores also seemed to have a good risk/reward profile in my area (which has pretty restrictive alcohol sales laws).

[John Galt incarnate!]

One question I haven't had a really clear answer for, is exactly what I can / should do after FIRE. 

The "I" in FIRE stands for "Independent" which means you have the personal power to choose to do what  you want in  your FIREtirement.

The "I" also means that excepting the constraints of ordered liberty all of society's "you should," "you must," "you ought"  are optional.

[trollwithamustache]

All business's require a lot of care and feeding, ie dedication by the owner. So yeah, there really are good businesses out there that you could run on 10-20 hours a week, if you know the ropes inside and out. 

But once you get there, knowing the business, the customers, your subs, ect, don't ever expect to be able to set those 20 hours, they happen when the business happens.