Ok so here is my attempt to answer your question with insight from a Dive Shop Owner / Instructor Trainer (poor country boy). Making money and supporting your family are relevant to the individual making the money or supporting their family. If it takes $100.00 to support your family and you are not making $100.00, then you have 2 choices. Choice 1, get another job. Choice 2, think about the things that you are willing to give up that are not necessities, and then see if $100.00 is enough to support your family. If so, then you can make it in the Diving Profession. Now with all that being said, (a little background) I am a Dive Shop Owner / Instructor Trainer, full time, but was once a full time Master Police Officer bringing in $40,000.00 a year (successful to me maybe not to a movie star or politician), living a pretty good life in our area. Working on the weekends for several dive shops as a dive instructor, maybe making $1,000.00 year, what I call my play money. Then my father had a great idea. Let's start a Dive Shop. So we did. Now there is more to the story. At the same time, my wife was pregnant and fixing to have our first child. Now my thought was I could quit being a Police Officer, open a Dive Shop, and be a stay at home dad. All good in theory. Except 1 major problem. There was no money. My father's other business fell victim to the economy, and there was no other income between us (what we thought) to survive on. So we did what most people do in times of distress. Prayed, Prayed, Prayed. Now I'm not telling you to go religious just bare with me. After several months of Prayer, we decided that there were things in our life that were not as important to us as we thought. Examples would be, 4 wheelers, rv campers, boats (later re-purchased), tractors (like I said country boy), etc. So after a few other items were sold to have a basic and steady foundation to start on, the next step was to determined what we had to offer the public (customers), that none of the other dive shops in our area had (kind of a big deal for you in the Florida area). After that was determined, we went for it. Now enough with the back story. How do you survive? You have to first adapt your way of living, I repeat adapt your way of living to the lifestyle of most new small business owners (even new instructors that work for dive shops). If your lifestyle is about having things that you think you need (not what you actually have to have), then you need to make sure your income is more than what they cost. Otherwise, you can't make money or support you family. Now on the other hand, if you can make just enough to actually support your family with out having all the the things we think that we need, then you are actually surviving. Now the decisions that I made (and my father) were influenced by my wife (and child) and my mother, because the decisions affected them as well as dad and I. They were very supportive in us opening our little shop, and they were willing to sacrifice just like we were. Sacrificing things, (like you moving) is a very hard decision to make, but afterwards is sometimes a rewarding decision. In the end, if you are happy with the decision you made, being that it not only affects you but also your family, then you are supporting them. Also, being successful is relevant to the individual. I'm the type of person that is happy driving a nice new pickup truck or a little junker. A person's mentality plays a big role in measuring their rate of success. Now I know this is a long drawn out answer, but you being successful is completely up to you and how you measure success. I will close by saying this. Success is in your head not what other people may think is successful. Measure your success by what you feel you need in your life. Good luck in your decisions and God Bless.
PS, the times that I feel like I need something to occupy my short time here on earth, those playthings that I describe (4 wheelers, boats, rv campers, etc.) then if it is a want and not a need to survive, I do not say I am unsuccessful because I can not afford them. I simply do what it takes to be able to afford them (part time EMT / Fireman works for me). When times come that I am not surviving, I sale those playthings to survive (my measure of being successful).