What to do.

[Jimmye]

Hey all I read this forum a bit but never post but have a bit of a problem. For you see I have just started uni, however I feel it is not worth my time or effort. Im doing a business degree. I want to start my own business asap and I feel doing a degree has nothing to do with owning a busines. It has no practicality in the real world of business. If you look at people like Richard Branson who I admire a lot, he left school when he was 17 I think and never looked back and look where he is now. What I see is like everyone else that I get this degree and work for someone for the rest of my life. I see them all the time when im on the train, they do not look happy going to their jobs and pretty much work for someone for the rest of their lives and only have just enough money to live on but not be happy and die and thats it. I dont want that. Because most of most successful business men and women never did finish school or go to uni.

Your thoughts?

Im currently reading What I Didn't Learn At School But Wish I Had" by Jamie McIntyre its a good read. He is kind of going through what im going through

[JoshyJ]

I say its really up to you. Just because a majority of successful people left school or college, doesnt necessarily mean it will work for you.

[mxer210]

I would recommend going to college because it will better develop your brain to analyze finances and market situations. It essentially gives you more "brain power" in my opinion. Your brain is like a muscle, and college really excercises it and develops it which better prepares you for a career, especially a business one.

[Jimmye]

I would recommend going to college because it will better develop your brain to analyze finances and market situations. It essentially gives you more "brain power" in my opinion. Your brain is like a muscle, and college really excercises it and develops it which better prepares you for a career, especially a business one.

Yea but it is also very unprac in the real world situation. It teaches not many real life skills you need in business like having good comunication skills as such and others.

[akula]

Yea but it is also very unprac in the real world situation. It teaches not many real life skills you need in business like having good comunication skills as such and others.

i think you might be making a mistake in what you are saying.

statistically, the majority of successful people (i.e. top income decile) do have tertiary education.

just look at the census data to see for your self.

secondly, university is exactly the place where people have an opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills....through the hundreds of extracurricular activities/ clubs offered in college and simply by virtue of learning in a community environment.

believe me, the kind of support you'll get at uni to develop your self as an entrepreneur, is unavailable anywhere else.

the point is: universities are businesses. they are not stupid. they've been listening to people raising concerns such as yours for a very long time. way before either you or me were even born. and, as businesses, colleges have evolved to cater for exactly the kind of education and experience that business people want out of their degrees.

make no mistake, what ever you're looking for, there are people employed to make sure that you'll get it.

besides, my friend....the real word works on relationships, and college is the only place where you have an opportunity to make long lasting friendships with like-minded individuals.

I mean...at the end of the day...go ahead and skip college. We all need to make our own mistakes. You make this mistake now, in 5-10 years you'll realise that you made a mistake and when you enroll as a mature aged student, you'll have a much better appreciation of college. Trust me, I see literally hundreds of cases like this at night school and I've had it in my own family.

Very predictable scenario which happens every day.

[Sarafina]

I agree with akula. Post-secondary education is worthy of pursuit even if you do intend on owning your own business.

You don't seem too enthusiastic about the experience thus far and i've seen it before. I was the same way. I went to university right after highschool, not knowing what I wanted to do. I quickly got bored and subsequently dropped out.

Fast forward two years later and i'm back in school pursuing Financial Planning and eager to complete my bachelor degree and i'm thinking an MBA eventually too.

You may not understand the importance of univ now (I didn't back then) and so i'd advice you to either withdraw and try your hand at the real world. It would be bad if you ended up flunking out. Now, if you become a Richard Branson in the meantime, great. If you don't then go back to school and give yourself the resources/knowledge to become a Richard Branson. Trust me, when you're older and have experienced 'real life', you'll have a better appreciation for university and the oppurtunities it provides for you.

[Jimmye]

i think you might be making a mistake in what you are saying.

statistically, the majority of successful people (i.e. top income decile) do have tertiary education.

just look at the census data to see for your self.

secondly, university is exactly the place where people have an opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills....through the hundreds of extracurricular activities/ clubs offered in college and simply by virtue of learning in a community environment.

believe me, the kind of support you'll get at uni to develop your self as an entrepreneur, is unavailable anywhere else.

the point is: universities are businesses. they are not stupid. they've been listening to people raising concerns such as yours for a very long time. way before either you or me were even born. and, as businesses, colleges have evolved to cater for exactly the kind of education and experience that business people want out of their degrees.

make no mistake, what ever you're looking for, there are people employed to make sure that you'll get it.

besides, my friend....the real word works on relationships, and college is the only place where you have an opportunity to make long lasting friendships with like-minded individuals.

I mean...at the end of the day...go ahead and skip college. We all need to make our own mistakes. You make this mistake now, in 5-10 years you'll realise that you made a mistake and when you enroll as a mature aged student, you'll have a much better appreciation of college. Trust me, I see literally hundreds of cases like this at night school and I've had it in my own family.

Very predictable scenario which happens every day.

Thank you for your post. It was a great read. . I understand where you are coming from, but at the same time uni does not give that real life experience I want to get with working in the nitty gritty parts of a business. I am going to stick with it for 6 months at least and I will tell you my progress. Yet again thank you.

[Jimmye]

I agree with akula. Post-secondary education is worthy of pursuit even if you do intend on owning your own business.

You don't seem too enthusiastic about the experience thus far and i've seen it before. I was the same way. I went to university right after highschool, not knowing what I wanted to do. I quickly got bored and subsequently dropped out.

Fast forward two years later and i'm back in school pursuing Financial Planning and eager to complete my bachelor degree and i'm thinking an MBA eventually too.

You may not understand the importance of univ now (I didn't back then) and so i'd advice you to either withdraw and try your hand at the real world. It would be bad if you ended up flunking out. Now, if you become a Richard Branson in the meantime, great. If you don't then go back to school and give yourself the resources/knowledge to become a Richard Branson. Trust me, when you're older and have experienced 'real life', you'll have a better appreciation for university and the oppurtunities it provides for you.

I know what I want to do though. I have asked many people in my lecs and tuts and they are just like yea I just want a degree in something. I have read the business books and I know what I want in my life I just feel this is like school all over again. But I also understand what you are saying. Thank you for your post.

[Aizen]

As long as you have the determination, skills and perseverance like those successful people who viewed higher education as overrated, you might not need it.

Getting a degree doesn't guarrantee any success to your business but the probability of it is slightly higher compared to somebody with limited knowledge.

[Jimmye]

As long as you have the determination, skills and perseverance like those successful people who viewed higher education as overrated, you might not need it.

Getting a degree doesn't guarrantee any success to your business but the probability of it is slightly higher compared to somebody with limited knowledge.

That is my point or what I have been trying to say. Thank you. In all the books I read they say you must have a passion to do (which I do business) but do not for uni. So yea all you do is get the degree work for someone the rest of your life and thats it. The best book is about this is what i did not learn at school but should have.

[mxer210]

That is my point or what I have been trying to say. Thank you.

You make it sound like you have already decided your decision and are just trying to convince us to agree with you. If you want advice on something, you need to be atleast somewhat objective about it.

[Jimmye]

You make it sound like you have already decided your decision and are just trying to convince us to agree with you. If you want advice on something, you need to be atleast somewhat objective about it.

I did not mean it like that. I mean like thats my point of view and I want to hear yours.

[dre]

I think when you go to college you have to think about what you would like to do for work if you had to work for someone, rather than thinking of personal interests.

I went to school for IT because I wanted to improve my computer skills for personal reasons not really because I wanted to work in the area long term. Then I went for business because I always wanted to own my own business but I can't really see me working many corporate jobs. The only thing I could see myself doing, if I had to is retail management or financial advisor.

Instead of going to school for personal interests I should have improved on my computer skills and business knowledge on my own rather than going to school for those things. That was a big mistake.

I really wish I would have went to school to be a personal trainer or work in video production. I could have still pursued my business dreams and had some great fields I would LOVE to work in as backups rather than just having a decent job like a retail manager at target or support specialist as backups.

I would say you are better off not going to college or doing a different major. I also want to point out that if you don't go to school you will be able to work one or two jobs for a year or two and save up a nice amount of capital to start something with.

[akula]

I did not mean it like that. I mean like thats my point of view and I want to hear yours.

You know man, i'll tell you something.

You think you don't need education because you're gonna be your own boss, and you're never gonna need a resume.

I'll tell you something about the real world and risk management.

First of all, people who choose entrepreneurship over employment are always making a statistically inferior decision. The reason why I do it (i.e. run my own business), is because I am more crazy than I am rational. Business ownership almost never pays off. Just go and look at the ABS small business statistics, to compare incomes for business owners and everybody else.

Second of all. When you do get an idea of what it's like to be a company director, or a ceo, you'll learn that risk management is very important. Right now, you think you know how your life is gonna turn out. If you think that, and you can't admit that you have no idea how your life is gonna turn out in 10-20-30 years time, then you have a problem.

Every business owner worth their salt, knows that life is unpredictable and you need to do things to manage your risks. In you case, risk management would involve getting a degree.

Ok, thirdly and most importantly. You don't wanna be running some 1-2 person hobby shops all your life. You wanna be running rapid growth, venture backed, high potential businesses. Right? You wanna make corporations that go from nil to 100mil revenues in 5 years?

When you do this kind of stuff, you quickly realise, that even though you're the founder, you're also just one of the company's many employees, working for all the other shareholders. And if you don't have the right education, no shareholder is gonna hire you to make them money.

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there - why take unnecessary risk on somebody who didn't have the foresight, the curiosity and the stamina to get through undergrad and graduate school?

[Jimmye]

You know man, i'll tell you something.

You think you don't need education because you're gonna be your own boss, and you're never gonna need a resume.

I'll tell you something about the real world and risk management.

First of all, people who choose entrepreneurship over employment are always making a statistically inferior decision. The reason why I do it (i.e. run my own business), is because I am more crazy than I am rational. Business ownership almost never pays off. Just go and look at the ABS small business statistics, to compare incomes for business owners and everybody else.

Second of all. When you do get an idea of what it's like to be a company director, or a ceo, you'll learn that risk management is very important. Right now, you think you know how your life is gonna turn out. If you think that, and you can't admit that you have no idea how your life is gonna turn out in 10-20-30 years time, then you have a problem.

Every business owner worth their salt, knows that life is unpredictable and you need to do things to manage your risks. In you case, risk management would involve getting a degree.

Ok, thirdly and most importantly. You don't wanna be running some 1-2 person hobby shops all your life. You wanna be running rapid growth, venture backed, high potential businesses. Right? You wanna make corporations that go from nil to 100mil revenues in 5 years?

When you do this kind of stuff, you quickly realise, that even though you're the founder, you're also just one of the company's many employees, working for all the other shareholders. And if you don't have the right education, no shareholder is gonna hire you to make them money.

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there - why take unnecessary risk on somebody who didn't have the foresight, the curiosity and the stamina to get through undergrad and graduate school?

True to make a real lot of money in life you have to take risks and so on. Another example just recently Sam Morgan is a 30-year-old New Zealander who this week found himself more than $200 million richer. He took a risk and look where it got him droping out of uni. I know its a rare chance is what you will say 1 in a million but you only live once why not take it up.