Oh for sure. It can be done. I think it's a great decision also. It can even be done fairly quickly in areas where there is no podiatrist within 5-10+ miles and still enough of a population to support one (maybe a place that lost a busy DPM or F&A ortho recently). Those places are definitely few and far between, though. Growing cities are a good target, but established groups will generally grow and add new offices along with the new/booming suburbs of a growing metro. It can still be fine to start up in a west or midwest or any place that is under the radar... and it can be lucrative with little or no competition around.
...I was talking more in metro and suburbs areas (where most people prefer to practice and live). Those areas can be very difficult and expensive to break into, esp if they have good insurance payers and have already attracted strong established podiatrists/groups. It won't work well to just hang a shingle, make a basic website, pay $10k-20+k triple net office rent, and start from nothing in Scottdale, AZ or Malibu, CA or Grosse Pointe, MI or Palm Beach, FL or Strathmere, NJ or those sorts of place.
If every PCP in the area already refers to Dr. X or Dr. Y, then Dr. Z has a heck of a time getting going unless they want to take the worst payers and/or spend a whole lot of time/money on marketing to attract patients. Even if they're charismatic, aggressive, and persistent with PCPs... the referral patterns are pretty ingrained and have been for many years. A young doc with dynamite training and a megawatt smile still usually can't budge an established group/doc who has been working with that PCP, seeing him in the hospital, and sending him xmas gifts for many years. That is the same reason rep/industry companies usually buy-out or cooperate with one another instead of making a new product and competing against entrenched similar reps/product in areas. I think, in those situations, it is usually also best to buy out a retiring DPM or do a <5yr transition buyout (or you can work for another doc/group for a few years and then break off as their competition... if non-competes aren't enforced... but you sure won't be loved for that). Other docs can work for an ortho or MSG or hospital for awhile and then start their own PP nearby years later, but non-compete makes that hard in some areas.
Starting from nothing solo PP is tough in the majority of big cities and other most popular areas, though. I think that is why the hospital/MSG group jobs remain so popular among DPMs and MDs alike: good location with city entertainment/dining/schools/etc, decent pay, volume for boards/competence, good benefits... can always start solo later. People generally like the freedom of PP, but since the pay is low or dicey, the MSG job safety net is usually more attractive, at least early on. I think it's unreal how popular VA/IHS jobs have gotten in podiatry for the same security blanket and benefits reasoning (well, except IHS doesn't have good locations, haha). Still, jobs that used to go basically unfilled for years back when I was in pod school now get hundreds of apps just due to a moderate pay bump.
Haha... we'll see.