The number of young people starting their own companies these days is quite staggering. Young students who go to college, and even those who don’t, come up with new ideas every day and kick off their startups with all the passion and creativity they have. But the fact that even people who don’t have business degrees are running successful companies begs the question as to whether such a degree is even needed for starting a successful startup.
Do You Even Need One?
Technically, you don’t need to have a college background in business administration to launch your own startup, but it does offer many benefits. The most prominent and commonly referenced example here will be Steve Jobs, a college drop-out, who started one of the largest companies of today practically in his garage. Well, eventually the board of directors fired him, so probably getting the basics of business management would be a good idea.
Every business student knows how difficult it is to cope with all the papers, presentations, and case studies for their classes. Sometimes, all you can do is feel helpless and say ‘someone, please help me write my essay’ and you’re not alone. Having the possibility of getting some online help in writing your paper is great, but there is still a lot more that you need to go through to meet your academic goals.
So, if you can handle writing your research assignment or essay for school, still there are a lot of things that may bother you during your studies. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that you might really need this degree and knowledge it offers. So yes, there are benefits to having a business degree if you want to kick off a startup. Let’s take a look at some of the most important ones so you know what to do with a business degree when you actually get one.
The Benefits of a College Background in Business
Management Skills
This may be obvious, but one of the biggest reasons to get a business education in college is that you’ll learn key management skills that are crucial to a company’s long-term success. You will also learn how to be successful in your endeavors. Some of the skills you will learn within the umbrella of ‘management skills’ include:
- Strategic Thinking
- Effective Communication
- Problem Solving
- Leadership
- Presenting
- Project Management
You will also have the chance to get exposed to other related fields like human resource management and finance, both of which are very important. When you have such a well-rounded collection of skills, you’ll be much more likely to turn into a successful business owner in a short amount of time.
Employability
Before you gloss over this point because you want to run your own company and not work for anyone else, consider the fact that having some real-life experience working in an office is often the difference between a successful startup and a failed one.
It does not matter much which one of the various types of business degree you have, it will make you a more attractive employee for potential companies. Once hired, you will have the chance to see how actual companies are run, which will, in turn, teach you how to be successful in your own venture.
Besides, while you are studying at university, you can start working on your startup ideas and business plans. For example, if you include some calculations in your dissertation or research projects, your professors will help you ensure that your plans are viable.
Networking
Even with all the skills in the world, what do you need to start a business that’s often not within reach of people who don’t go to college? Industry contacts. One of the most crucial parts of launching and then sustaining a startup is to have some contacts in your industry. You may have a great idea but may not be able to market it. Or you may be able to market it but have no idea how to handle logistics. Or you just may not have any clients.
That is where networking comes in. Business schools often include such aspects in their programs which are essential to learning how to talk to people and how to make connections with them. Once you have a network of people that you can partner with and even rely on, then you are in a very strong position to develop a successful startup.
Learning from Professionals
Even if you don’t want to gain any hands-on experience after graduating, chances are that your teacher in college was an industry professional themselves. Having the chance to learn from their experience will be very helpful to anyone who wants to start their own business. You cannot learn everything online or in books; sometimes, you need the knowledge that only a person with experience can provide.
Conclusion
So, can a business degree guarantee success for a startup? It can’t guarantee success, but it definitely has a lot to offer. A student with a college background is not only more employable but also has a lot of knowledge that is necessary for running their own company.
You can do this without a degree too, but chances are that at some point, you’ll find yourself in a situation where having an academic background in the field would have helped you out quite significantly.
Interesting related article: “What is an MBA?“