When you start your own business, you don’t have to have a degree. Because you’re choosing to be an entrepreneur, you get to make all the decisions, and that includes how much education you have and what experience you want. However, if you are serious about starting a business, getting a degree first is a good idea. It can help in a number of different ways. For instance, it will give you time to plan your business thoroughly, so you’re not rushing into anything.
If you decide to go to college before starting a business, it’s worth thinking carefully about what subjects you might want to study. Some will be more useful than others, and it will depend on the kind of business you’re starting as to what might be best for you. With that in mind, here are some of the best degrees an entrepreneur can have.
1. Business
Although an obvious choice, a business degree will always be beneficial if you intend to start your own company once you graduate. Where else will you find all the knowledge and expertise you’ll need to build a successful company? Learning about how business works from the inside out will give you a much better insight into what you need to do to make your business work and how to go about ensuring that it does.
It won’t matter what kind of business you intend on starting or what sector it might be in. It won’t matter what you choose to sell or what service you want to provide. If you understand how business works at a fundamental level, you’ll be able to put these universal ideas into your own business and boost its profitability.
Don’t worry if you’re not taking a business course when you realize that starting your own business could be the ideal thing for you to do. There are other courses that will help you, and you might already be on one. Or, if you think business would be best, you can always look at another school to transfer to that will offer you the degree you need. For example, you can check out the University of Toronto GPA & admission requirements to see what you need to do.
2. Finance
If there is one thing you need to be good at when you start your own business, it’s finance. A great business idea is not enough if you don’t understand the financials of your business or how to use the money you have in the right way. Plus, you need to know what the numbers mean, even if someone else does the reporting for you.
If you have a degree in finance, this will be much easier, and you’ll know much sooner whether your business is successful or not. A business that has no handle on its finances is one that will more than likely fail because it is unsustainable.
If you understand how to do your taxes, how to calculate profits, how to know when you can hire someone or whether you should outsource instead, and what margins to add to your products to create a financially healthy business, you’ll be in a much better position than many other entrepreneurs. Plus, you can save money because you won’t have to hire a professional to help you.
3. Marketing
No business can be successful without good marketing behind it. You can have an excellent idea and the most wonderful and innovative products, but if no one ever hears about them because you have no good marketing strategy, you won’t sell enough to keep you afloat. You might not sell any at all.
Therefore, taking a degree in marketing could be an excellent idea if you want to ensure your business can be seen in a crowded marketplace. Your degree will give you a much greater understanding of how to find your target market and how to make a marketing campaign that will speak to the right people – the people who are most likely to spend money with you.
4. Economics
Many people find economics to be an intriguing field of study because of the extent to which it lends itself to starting a business (and understanding the world more in general). By understanding the economy and the markets, economics students will be better equipped to handle any business situation, from deciding whether to launch a business to scaling back expansion during economic downturns.
With this information in hand, new graduates will be better prepared to launch successful businesses, both in terms of time and avoiding pitfalls that others may miss. This will offer them an edge over rivals and help them avoid making hasty choices (or ones that appear reasonable but, with the addition of an economics degree, are clearly not).
5. Communications
Something that cannot be underestimated when you run a business is communication. You’ll need to be able to communicate well with everyone and in a variety of different ways. You might have to go from a meeting with a business partner in which you need to explain your ultimate goals for the business to helping a customer who wants to know how to best use a particular product. You’ll need to understand when email, text, phone calls, or social media is the best way to connect with someone as well, as this can make a big difference.
Learning how to communicate and the best channels to use with a degree course is the quickest way to get this skill and use it in a way that is going to ensure your business can grow in the right direction.
6. Computer Science
Since the world is growing increasingly dependent on digital tools, prospective business owners should keep this in mind and make sure their business is as cutting-edge as possible for the sake of both their clients and the company’s success. In addition, if you have solid IT knowledge, your company will be safer from any online threats.
You can hire a third party to handle your company’s IT needs, and many companies do just that. The problem with this is that if you have an issue that needs immediate attention because it’s preventing you from doing your job, you may have to wait your turn, which might cause you to lose consumers if they go elsewhere. By having in-house IT expertise, you can address issues immediately rather than waiting for a third party to do so.