Why a Business Degree Isn’t Necessary to Start a Business

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What if I told you that becoming a business owner and starting your own business is not something that always requires a business degree? Well, it is true. What if I went on to say that my husband’s best friend is a man who went to college and graduated with a degree in teaching so that he could become a physical education teacher, but decided that he was going to try his hand at construction and almost a decade later he owns a multi-million dollar business he started when he was in his early 20s and had absolutely nothing but some good financial sense and a dream? What if I told you that one of my closest girlfriends is a teacher who decided that she wanted to be home with her kids, so she opened a yogurt shop in an adorable building in a beach community and has been making a killing doing something she loves endlessly? What if I told you that another girlfriend of mine decided that giving massages wasn’t enough for her, so she decided to take her knowledge and open a spa a few years ago, and now she’s one of the most recognized, successful women in our community?

What if I told you that none of these people have a business degree, but they run well-managed, successful businesses with no debt and nothing but profit happening for them these days? Aside from the fact that I clearly have very successful, ambitious and exceptionally admirable and intelligent people in my life, these are people who had a dream, had some sense and made their dreams become their realities. These are people who did not go to school for business purposes, but went to school for something else and then decided that their experience would be enough.

It’s possible to open a business without a business degree. Look at Bill Gates. He’s the wealthiest man in the world and he is an Ivy League drop out. Sure, college is important, but it’s not the end all and be all of the world. A business degree is nice, and you should get one if you can. But let me be the first to tell you that a business degree is not indicative of a successful career or business, and that your degree is not going to make you more profitable or successful than someone without a degree. You are what matters; so go ahead and focus on being smarter, more knowledgeable and more in the game. These are the things that are going to determine your success in business.

Why a Degree is Not Always Necessary

Here’s a pearl of wisdom for all people who want to start a business; you don’t need a degree. Of course, a degree is going to help. It’s going to teach you things that will likely benefit you in the running of your business, but a piece of paper and some education are not the things that guarantee success in the lives of anyone. You don’t need a degree to be successful, just as having a degree is not going to guarantee that you are going to be successful. There are no guarantees in business (except taxes) and that includes the education you have before you open yours.

In fact, there are some people who are very adamant about the fact that their experience in a  particular industry is what helped them to obtain their success and become the people they always wanted to be; business owners. Let’s go back to my husband’s best friend; he first worked for a construction company part time while attending college for his degree in education. He saw how his boss did business, he imagined that he would do things differently; he used to offer his boss his perspective on how if he did things this way or that way, and he might be more profitable or reputable. His boss then looked at him and said, “If you can do it so well, then do it yourself,” so he did. And he succeeded more than he probably thought possible. Business degree be damned.

Why a Degree Might Help

If you’re clueless, a degree might help. It’s not going to guarantee anything, but it might help. Let’s say you want to go into a field that you know nothing about, but you know you want to become a part of this business by opening your own. Why not make it a habit to go ahead and take classes so that you can get an idea of how to run a business. You have no experience, so the education might be more valuable to you. Additionally, the classes and degree might help you learn about business-related things you didn’t know about beforehand. It can’t hurt to have a degree, but it also doesn’t mean you have to spend years getting one so that you can open your own business.

How to Get Started

If you want to get started and open a business without a degree, do it. You need some serious faith, dedication and belief. And you also need brains, common sense and an eye for business. Experience is going to be your best friend in this endeavor. Research and knowledge are going to help tremendously, and a friend who has been there and done that and can offer some invaluable advice to you is going to help more than you know.

Business is a gamble. You might be the most successful person in the world one day and you might be completely irrelevant the next. You have to change with the game, you have to be willing to learn every single day of your life, and you have to be willing to both accept and embrace change so that the business doesn’t fail to thrive. You can do it; you just have to know how to do it. And let me be the first to tell you that you don’t have to have a degree to know how to do it.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

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