The edge of the city offers MUCH cheaper building costs and the profit you turn is almost identical. Keep an eye on the stock market, especially looking for a corp. Buy some stock in the target corp yourself. You'll not only benefit from the rising stock price as the takeover move along, but when it's complete and the two merge, you'll now own stock in the parent. Get away from using imported products and material as soon as possible.
Beds are a great and cheap first product line to start.
They have a nice margin of profit and only require a timber camp for raw materials. If you lower the price, often taking a small loss on the product, you'll snag market share in a hurry and can then raise the price. The customers normally keep buying your now-pricier product. If you can get a gold mine running, it's a profit-making machine. Oil is a great income-producer.