I operated one as part of a business in the retail sector.
Personally I would guard against it being the sole source of income as the risks of a bad summer could have a significant impact on footfall thus turnover. Also, you should be aware that a. such investment is not cheap, b. will take a few years for plants to reach best yields c. footfall is limited to the picking season! ( i forget how many months a year - 3 or 4). Oh, and the impact of local widlife eating up the plants and fruit (deer being a particular problem) means that you should look at a site which is well fenced, or can be well fenced. And decent fencing is expensive.
That said, there were several independent small growers near us who used to supply local farm shops, including ours (when their crops were earlier than ours) and seemed to do alright out of it.
We also grew asparagus - which used to shift very quickly and very nicely margin wise. You might want to consider this too...
An organisation called adas.co.uk (horticultural advisers) were always very good.
I may have painted a somewhat negative picture here but am probably slightly biased as it took considerable investment to get my site (which I bought) up to scratch. I would suggest visiting a few PYO's (smaller ones) and talking to the owners if possible. Most of them are pretty sound people. if you produce what you say you are, you'll have no probs selling them - its whether you want the business as your sole cash generator which would concern me unless there are other ways of adding value. Vineyards are not a bad idea, it must be said. Though you wouldn't see a return very quickly......I could go on.
You'll need to take a minimum 10 year view, you might even find a small established pyo for sale. To me, a better option!
