Well anyone can open up any kind of business they want. Will it succeed?..... That is another story. To be honest,.... the only way to make $1 million in the dive industry is to start with $2 million. It is a VERY tough & specialized niche. The owner would certainly be wise to affiliate himself with an instructor or 2 for sound advice, or even seek becoming a professional himself,.... but it is his business to run as he sees fit. However if his "knowledge" or ego is in the way,.. it will soon get around that he is not a professional & that his knowledge is limited &/ or inaccurate. Now,... that said, I know of a technical dive shop manager who does not even dive. Her father is the owner (though retired, but there for reference) & is one of the pioneers of modern cave diving. She has taken it on to learn the terminology, how to "talk the talk", learned how fill cylinders, how to accurately blend gases- even custom blends, learned how to give accurate information on the conditions of the nearby caves. She is straight forward that she is not a diver & leaves it to the divers that come in, to take it or leave it,... but if they want a fill at that shop, she is the one that will do it, like it or not. She has had people try to get someone else to fill their tanks, because "there is no way a woman can know how to fill a technical diver’s tanks". Personally, I think, even though she is not a diver,.... she does quite well at her job & takes it seriously. At my shop the owner is a technical diving instructor trainer. His sister is the manager,.... she can not even swim, let alone dive. She has made herself knowledgeable about the equipment we sell & she frequently calls upon the owner, myself or any other of our staff instructors about other things. One does not have to be a diver to own, manage, sell at a dive shop,... but they should have resources to get accurate, safe answers to the questions of divers that come in.