My Dilemma

[jboydni]

Well I'm suffering a dilemma in my life at the moment. I hope to start up my own business in the future, I can feel that burning passion inside me. So now the problem:

The next 4 years of my life are planned out as, Take a gap year, then go to uni for 3 years to do graphic design. You see the reason im going to uni to do graphic design is A: to have alot of fun living the uni life! B:To have a fallback career incase I never descover that idea that I can take to the top and make my millions. So yeah the problem then is I dont know weather I should do some kind of Entrepreneur Course at Uni instead of graphic design.

I personally dont even think I NEED to go to uni to start up my business and live my dream the main reason Im going to uni is because its an experiance I dont want to miss (I know several people who have said uni has been the best years of their life). So on that note I can do graphic design and I think it would an easy(ish) course compared to a business one.

On the flip side I think an Entrepreneur course might be usefull (notice Im not taking about a pure Business theory course as I would die of bordem, I would do a more practical, hands on course)..

Gah!! Whats your opinion on the matter! To give a brief re-run of the problem because Im not the best writer:

Either:-
Go to uni to do Graphic design (which I have already been accepted into at a good uni).
Pros:
*I think it would be a fun course that I could cope with and get to most out of my uni social life.
*I would come out of uni with a back-up career incase business fell through.
Cons:
*I dont plan on becoming a graphic designer

Or Go to Uni to do an Entrepreneur/business type Course
Pros:
*I would get information out of the course that might help me when starting my business
*I enjoy learning about business when its a hands on approach or with an entrepreneurial spin
Cons:
*I might find it hard to juggle with my work and social life
*I might learn things that I would have learnt anyway through independant leanring anyway which wouldnt cost so much money
*I would have no fall back plan if I failed to launch a successfull business.

Help!

Jamie.

[bish]

If your going to spend the money on school, take business courses, it will give you much more broad range of back up opportunities than graphic design. I went to school and had a very similair thought process as to your and am very glad I took business marketing and law, it was harder but ended up being more interesting as the years went on.

[Mikey1205]

Firstly do something you enjoy at Uni, Your going to be doing it for quite a few years so don't go for something you're not going to enjoy.

[akula]

Go to Uni to do an Entrepreneur/business type Course.

it's fiscally irresponsible to buy a degree in design. it has no value. a business degree (finance major) on another hand, is actually worth something

wanna do design? take some vocational courses in your spare time

[akula]

Firstly do something you enjoy at Uni, Your going to be doing it for quite a few years so don't go for something you're not going to enjoy.

dude, we're talking about 18year old kids here

how the hell would someone straight out of high school know what they "enjoy"?

they haven't tried anything in life, so hence, it is impossible to make a proper decision on what he might or might not like

how can i walk into a chocolate shop to get the type of chocolate I'll enjoy if i haven't tried their entire inventory?

people go to uni to get a profession, and spend the time to try new things out to find what one might like and not like

that's why they have student clubs and such

after uni, the person has a better idea of what they wanna do in life, and if they don't - they go to grad school

[akula]

reflection: it's better to choose safer degrees (i.e. business) as opposed to sexier counterparts (i.e. design). this is because no matter what degree you choose (i.e. business or design) chances are that you'll end up hating either one of them. why? because there's no basis for being able to pick a degree you'll actually like on the first go.

therefore, it's better to pick and hate a safe degree, rather than pick and hate a sexy degree

[nordicnomad]

Exactly, the first 2 years of school are spent deciding what you want to major in.

You'll change your mind upward of 8 times if you're a traditional student going to college straight out of highschool.

If you plan on owning a business, study business... If you plan on being a graphic designer take a vocational course in graphic design.

My ultimate goal is to be a writer and study writing... Once my businesses allow me a life of luxury. You can have your passion man, but keep your eye on the prize. Most of the people that you've talked to who've said that college was the best time of their lives say that because it's probably the only time they've lived a carefree life. You have very few responsibilities, a full social calender, intellectual stimulation, and plenty of free time.

Now consider that if you start a business that you sell or have someone else run for you, you've basically retired when most people are hitting their prime earning years. Retirement is the second and last time that most people live a life like they had in college, where they can persue their passions and live free from the regular burden of work.

Ultimately the advice to carefully choose a profession that you'll enjoy is misguided. Choose a profession that will teach you the skills that you need to set up your own businesses. You'll enjoy it a lot more in the end...

[akula]

hehe

good point

I'll add one more thing

I'm 24 and probably a little bit older than some of you guys here

So I'll tell you one thing that I've learnt over the last few years

Being in small business or doing this business ownership thing is far from the ideal career

The smart guys I know laugh at the thought of entrepreneurship

They see absolutely absolutely no upside to it because they are skilled in navigating the corporate world

Likewise, I certainly would not push my kids into startups

NOOOO WAAAY

There are much cushier places

[nordicnomad]

You're right, it's not cushie at all... Thankfully startup is only intended as a transitory state (if you manage to do it right), and then you've hopefully created your very own corporate ladder with you firmly at the top and people like your friends stuck climbing behind you.

I look at the whole "roughing it during start up" like I used to look at field exercises back in my Army days. Yeah it sucks and you're dirty and tired, but that shower, warm dinner, and cozy bed suddenly become the greatest thing you've ever experienced in your life once you get back to the barracks.

Just like starting a business; the years of never having a minute to yourself, having to micromanage everyone because you can't afford to trust them completely, and feeling like your head's going to explode because you haven't slept in 2 days and the only thing you've had to eat are coffee and week old donuts. All of that makes your time sitting on the beach at the end of it that much sweeter.

[akula]

excellent illustration

jboydni, the point is that during university you may rethink your "hope to start up my own business in the future"...you might either becomme more or less interested in doing startups, depending on how well you fare with the first one

so...what I would do is enroll for a biz degree, set up some sort of design shop while you study...if it wors out well, the biz degree will help you grow your shop into a better business, and if doesn't work out, your biz degree will help you try out other industries differnt to design

[jboydni]

Thanks for the advice, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for an Entrepreneurial course now.

I'm under no missconception about starting your business and how hard it can be, but I'm not looking for a 'cushie' job, I don't think many people who could call themselves entrepreneurs are (although obviously they want it to become cushie in the long term). I have a drive to start up my own business, they say the average male thinks about sex every 7 seconds, well I think about starting a business every 6.

The hard thing now will be looking for the right course, one thats FOR entreprenuers (practical hands on course) not ABOUT entreprenuers (Theory, theory and more theory).

If anyone from the UK has any suggestions I would like to here them. Or I would even that a look at some in the US although I couldnt really afford the travel.

[Santana]

I agree with Mikey1205, you should be doing what you enjoy (read: hobby), and try to make money out of it.

I bet you'll never have to go to work for the rest of your life.

[Mikey1205]

dude, we're talking about 18year old kids here

how the hell would someone straight out of high school know what they "enjoy"?

they haven't tried anything in life, so hence, it is impossible to make a proper decision on what he might or might not like

how can i walk into a chocolate shop to get the type of chocolate I'll enjoy if i haven't tried their entire inventory?

people go to uni to get a profession, and spend the time to try new things out to find what one might like and not like

that's why they have student clubs and such

after uni, the person has a better idea of what they wanna do in life, and if they don't - they go to grad school

I'm actually 18 myself , you should know what you like and dislike by the time your 18 . I'm at imperial studying maths with management, why did i not just choose a straight business course?

Okay well for a start alot of the stuff you will do and learn won't be entirely relevant to future endevours. How many of the most successful business people actually had / have a degree in business ?

Actually a course in something like graphic design may be useful depending on what type of business you may wish to start up in the future. Also if going into "city" type jobs a degree such as business may have the slight edge but jobs that take on business graduates will most certainly take on graduates of all degrees. There are very few jobs that will only take graduates of business without giving people from alternative degrees an interview/chance.

[akula]

hehe

let me share something with u

I was 18 once

I was one opinionated SOB

I was lucky enough to be in touch with much older, and smarter people who would tell me what I should and shouldn't do. i didn't listen to them.

now I'm 24 and I've come to realise 3 things - I was wrong about everything that I assumed when I was 18, my friends were right in telling me that I was wrong, and that 18 year olds really shouldn't think for them selves

thinking back on all the stuff that I used to say when I was 18 makes me embarrassed

lol, now, heaps of my friends are like 30 and guess what; hardly anyone of them knows what they wanna do in life

the ones that are sucessful can handle this fact because they have strong marketable skills and the means to discover different paths in their lives (...like I have a friend who is switching from banking to sports management, because he can afford it)

the unsuccessful ones are sitting on arts degrees in menial jobs trying to figure out how they got them selves in this mess

[jasaunders]

I have nothing new to add here, but being the same age as Akula, I agree 100% with everything he said in this thread. And I think his suggestion (below) is your best bet.

"so...what I would do is enroll for a biz degree, set up some sort of design shop while you study...if it wors out well, the biz degree will help you grow your shop into a better business, and if doesn't work out, your biz degree will help you try out other industries differnt to design"