That's what I'm in school for: to own my own exotic petshop (I was wanting to do auto body and repair but I'm more passionate about animals and exotics). I would recommend doing what you mentioned: go to school for a management degree (I'll be done next semester with mine - whoo!) and take some small business ownership classes as well (I'm also going to work on getting my Small Business Certificate). If you can talk to an actual petshop owner I would do that too: maybe they can tell you how to go about opening, operating, and starting up a business. Perhaps gauging interest in your area would be a good idea too (to see how much interest there would be in the products - animals- you'd be selling). Good luck!