College Vs. Entreprenuership

[Unknown Webmaster]

Studying the right thing can help you a lot.

I'm 1/2 the way to a batchelors degeree in Information Science, and it has given me a theoretical basis for pretty much everything I do as an affiliate. It probably isn't fair to compare this many other college educations - if I remember correctly 1/3 of the graduates start their own business, and one of my professors had written a book on entrepeneurship.

That said, I put it "on hold" (dropped out for those of you who aren't my parents), since I'm making as much as my professors by playing poker - and were spending 90% of the time I were awake to think about starting my own business, which were impacting my performance as a student :-)

[Spry]

In my opinion, college is wasted on the young. Sure it was a good time, I partied, drank did all the fun college stuff (met my wife, some of my best friends etc) but for business and career it was totally useless. I got a major in criminal justice with the idea to do some forensics, fbi, us marshall, some bullshit like that and if you know me now you know this is like totally opposite of who I am. It was my bizarro Spry before I grew up.

I'd love to go back to college now and study with some really good professors though of things that interest me (not for business but for knowledge) like history, science, etc.

Here's the thing about being an entrepreneur or going to college though... It depends on what you did in school as a child and where you went to school I believe.

Today - I do not think the public school system, err the government school system, prepares our kids for the real world, at all. In gov't schools the kids are told what to do during every part of the day, when to do this, when to do that, how to do it, why to do it, when not to do it and punished if they do otherwise. They don't prepare you for being an entrepreneur, at all. That's why we don't send our kids to gov't schools, but thats not the question.

I went to government schools all my life and I can tell you if I started a business straight out of high school it would have most certainly failed. I did not have the skills at all to prepare me. With that said, if I would have started a business right after college it also would have failed too no doubt.

I learned to survive in commissioned only sales positions doing deals with the government, so I had to know how to work the system, solve problems and get shit done. Hell I thought for a long while the govt might come investigating some of the deals we worked through...

If I had to vote one way or the other though, I would vote for entrepreneurship with the caveat that there would be successful mentors there to help guide the way. Maybe college in some form or fashion, like 7-8 years after you graduate high school might make more sense.

[PokerNations]

They don't prepare you for being an entrepreneur, at all.

Well, not everyone can be a leader or a business owner, there have to be a much larger contingent of followers and producers to provide the support & services that we entreprenuers rely upon.

That being said, you can learn valuable skills and gain understanding of different aspects of managing a business through college, you don't have to spend the whole time blasted out of your mind partying.

I firmly believe that experience is obviously better than coursework in college, but it's easier to touch upon multiple subjects of a business via college than through experience (i.e. accounting, legal, IT, human resources, public relations & marketing, etc)

[Ridge]

I think you have to have a mix, and either have to be very well self educated or need some form of college/trade school.. Although, college's now days are pretty shitty. Example: My brother and sister in law went to the most expensive college in our state. They are both high school teachers now, and my brother in law can barely send an email <<--- No shit

I think that college or no college, work ethic is one of the most important traits you can have. With today's serious sense of entitlement, its no wonder why every year there is more and more unemployed and unemployable people.

PN is right, not everyone can be a leader or self employed because they would actually have to take responsibility for things at the end of the day. That is beyond most people's capability IMO

[NdeJonge]

I am currently in University and I thought about dropping out many times because what I learn is basically bullshit that is not going to help me down the road. I'm doing a bachelor in commerce and sure some of the stuff is helpful to know when starting my own business, but I could learn all of this stuff much quicker just by doing. I think I'm going to be changing my option to e-commerce and I'll see if that is more interesting for me.

That being said I'm happy to be in University getting a degree because I really enjoy the student life. I am still working on my business at the same time because I never attend a single class and am still pulling off a decent average. If it was taking more of my time I would probably consider dropping out more, but since I can basically do both my school and still grow my business fairly consistently I am happy to do this. Being a part of a University is fun, with all the partying and such, so I guess it's a small price to pay for a few hours of school work a semester to get a degree that could come in handy.

[Matt Geer]

Go to school. I went when I was 18 and left and now I'm 25 and going again. This economy is a perfect reason to go back. You just need to be wise as to what you are going to study. And IMO, many degrees are virtually worthless unless you plan on working for someone the rest of your life and even then don't value to much. Many other things can be studied in a 2-4 year school that will benefit a small business owner.

Accounting would be a good one.
Anything related to computers, may not even have to go for a degree......
Marketing

I haven't looked at online courses so those were on the top of my head. Although you will not use them directly, you will need to use them and can probably do all three and achieve a "general studies" or whatever they give you in 2 years... The degree would be worthless, but you didn't go for that in the first place. Ideas such as this would save you money which I know from previous owning my own construction business is absolute necessary to survive.

What I feel would be most important is to take 6-12 months off and really consider what you want to do... Most people think they know before they graduate high school and halfway through their credits in college they change their mind.

School can not hurt, especially if you can find something that is doing ok now and will excel when the economy flips around.

[Matt Geer]

I am currently in University and I thought about dropping out many times because what I learn is basically bullshit that is not going to help me down the road. I'm doing a bachelor in commerce and sure some of the stuff is helpful to know when starting my own business, but I could learn all of this stuff much quicker just by doing. I think I'm going to be changing my option to e-commerce and I'll see if that is more interesting for me.

This was being written while I wrote mine... perfect example... I'm not saying it wasn't done, but extensive research should be done before picking a profession or degree in school. The same research needs to be applied before filing for a biz license and going balls to the wall with whatever biz plan you have.

[Bryan]

Great post, Mark.

I graduated back in 2002 with a shiny new degree in IS. Like every other 22-year-old graduating that day, the degree itself did very little to open up new doors for me. Sure, it qualified me for several jobs that I'd have been otherwise unable to get, but I was also already 2-3 years behind the business world (technically). I had to work my ass off to train myself, and set myself apart from every other IS graduate in order to land my first job.

A lot of what I learned in college and in that first job, prepared me to do what I do today. Had I tried doing something like this when I was 18, I'd have fallen flat on my face God knows how many times and who knows how many times I'd have had the will to try again. As Mark hit on in his post below, college prepares you for "life" in a lot of different ways. From critical thinking, to communication & socialization - you learn some pretty valuable lessons in a pretty safe environment for learning.

On the topic of kids, I'm not silly enough to think that mine will want to follow in their dad's footsteps. My daughter may want to be a doctor? An engineer? An architect? There are lots of professions that absolutely require extended education.

Slightly different perspective on this debate... a decent degree (not just some crummy state college, talking 'red brick' here) teaches 'the kids' a lot about how to structure arguments both in writing and in person, how to analyse and process knowledge so that the useful nuggets can be effectively used and how to communicate their ideas effectively to a 3rd party... whatever the subject (mine was Psychology, can't get more useless than that!!)

A degree is no 'through ticket' to a career anymore (been devalued over the years so that a post-grad is now the equivalent), but the fact that someone has one means that they have shown they can stick out a 4 year course as well as commuicate and analyse... for this reason I immediately discarded non-degree CVs while working for a corporate and still have a huge preference for hiring educated people here at the 'lil Planet Corp.

Not saying that non-educated people can not be smart of course - many are very smart indeed.

The degree / no-degree debate is also greatly affected by the 'Silent Witness' effect. Those who dropped out of college and became a big success are lauded by the press, forums and held in great respect by the masses... what we do not hear about is the other 98% who dropped out to follow a dream, failed and ended up driving a fork-lift for the next 25 years (or working in a cubicle in some brainless task etc etc).

Besides... the way I remember it, college was a load of fun!

Besides #2... I enjoy speaking with well read people who have stong views on a wide range of subjects and enjoy debating them vigorously... afraid that you just don't get that with the uneducated rabble.

Cheers, Mark

[resipsa]

Unless you are going to school for truck driving, cosmotology, or similar, an undergrad college education is NOT supposed to be vocational job training. That's what most graduate school is for (med, law, business, etc.)

If you go to college just to be trained for a job, you are going to be severely disappointed. That said, I think college is essential and you are doing a real disservice to yourself (or your children) in trying to take a shortcut around it. College forces you to get out of your comfort zones and explore things you otherwise would not be exposed to (this is true in the classroom as well as outside of it). You are forced to think in ways that are not always the most practical which encourages the type of creative problem solving that is so essential in running your own business. Personally, I know I would not have the same analytical abilities and creative thinking skills without my education.

[pokerprop]

All a matter of programming in my opinion.

College cost both money and time. If you don't need the degree this time could be much better invested pursuing dreams then being further programmed how to get by.