Who is it suited to?
Once you’ve decided on the type of antique you’re going to sell, you have to become an expert and get your stock together. “You'll need to get to know the business,” says Ford. “But antiques is one of those professions where, even if your 95, you're still learning".
To get your knowledge you need to start doing all that detective work we mentioned earlier. Read, read, read and carry on reading. Go to auctions, antique fairs and other dealers and look at what's on sale. Lurk at the back and observe how the experts do it, because firsthand experience is the only way you'll learn anything in the antiques trade.
Stock
Getting enough stock for a shop is a very long and involved business, and will take anything from 12-18 months, sometimes years even, if you're going for a really specialist niche. This is why more and more antique dealers start off by trading from home or a small stall at a market until they build up enough stock and clients to move somewhere more permanent.