Real estate allows you to set your own hours, and you can make large amounts of money for the time that you invest. The down side is that the paychecks tend to be spread out.
Independent pharmacies seem to be having a very hard time competing with the pharmacies inside the big chains, like Walmart and Costco. There is no way for you to get the advantage over them, except for offering home delivery of prescriptions. And that could be very dangerous to your drivers in some cities.
Most franchises are designed so that you are working hard and making money for the franchise and not for yourself. It looks to me like McDonalds always make money, but again, you are purchasing that real estate for Kroc and not for yourself and the employees that you have to deal with are the absolute bottom of the barrel.
I have a friend who owns 3 take and bake pizza shops and they are doing very well with them. The downside is that someone has to be there all the time and they are open long hours every day of the year. The quality of employee at that level generally isn't really suitable to being left unsupervised.
There is nothing wrong with taking a well paid position with a corporation while you build up your capital and credit. It's sure easier to get funding for real estate if you have a paycheck.
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