How do I ask owner of company for business advice?

psaechao

For the past year, I've been really thinking about entrepreneurship and starting my own business. My business ideas so far haven't been focused on any one particular market. I've thought of venturing into the food industry, creating a social media app, and even starting my own IT company.

I work for a small cloud service provider with around 15 employees total. I'm fairly close to the owner, although we don't talk every day. I feel like I could benefit a lot if I got a chance to ask him questions about how he got to where he is now. I'm not sure how I would approach him, though. I was thinking of inviting him for coffee, but he being the owner, he is always out of state for business meetings. I feel like an email would be the most convenient for him as he could really take the time and think about his answers.

How would do approach this situation? And if you were me, what type of questions would you ask?