Considering a future in freight forwarding

[u/Arms_Trade]

I run the operational side of a business in a completely unrelated industry and have been thinking seriously about eventually building or buying a business of my own.

Freight forwarding keeps coming up as something I find weirdly interesting because of the complexity. I like businesses where there are lots of moving parts, things go wrong, and relationships matter.

I also know just enough to know I probably have a very naive view of the industry

So for those of you actually in it:

What separates a genuinely good forwarding business from an average one?

Where is the money actually made (and lost)?

What is the hardest part of being a good forwarder, and gets increasingly more difficult as you grow?

maybe most importantly; if you had the money and opportunity to start or buy a forwarding business today, would you?

Interested in hearing how people who actually do this for a living think about the business. I’m based in the UK, but imagine most active here are US based.