Unlike traditional employment, there are no required qualifications for entrepreneurship. If you have the will, you can find a way to succeed by launching your own business. History is littered with examples of entrepreneurs who had little more than innate skills and knowledge and were able to build thriving business empires, many of which still exist today.
Unfortunately, too many aspiring entrepreneurs mistake the lessons of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to be that college degrees are not a beneficial component of entrepreneurial success. In truth, entrepreneurship is punishing, and entrepreneurs should take every opportunity to arm themselves with knowledge and skill before launching their ventures — which might include pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Suppose you weigh the pros and cons of returning to school before becoming an entrepreneur. In that case, you might spend some time answering these key questions, which could provide you with deeper insight into your current prospects as an entrepreneur:
What experience do you have in your prospective industry?
Successful entrepreneurship relies heavily on a deep and practical understanding of the operations of an industry. Before launching your business, you need to have ample experience within your industry — or else you need well-honed strategies for learning about your prospective industry. Suppose you have not worked in your intended industry, you might benefit from enrolling in a degree program to learn more about industry and market research before you risk your business success.
How will you secure funding for your business?
Few entrepreneurs have the cash on hand to bootstrap their small business dreams. Most likely, you will be relying on a mixture of funding from investors and small business loans — but investors and lenders do not give money to just any would-be entrepreneur. A business degree is a valuable credential for securing funding, as those with money are more likely to trust a business leader who has a formal education. If you have struggled to fund your business dreams in the past, it might be time to invest in a degree that will attract the attention of investors and lenders.
What options do you have for gaining knowledge and skill in business leadership?
If your startup succeeds, you won’t be an entrepreneur for long; you will transform into a business leader, overseeing a staff of employees. Yet, business leadership is not a natural role for many entrepreneurs, who tend to feel more comfortable doing than supervising. If your leadership experience is limited, you might pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration, which can teach you the hard and soft skills that business leaders need.
What are your strengths and weaknesses in entrepreneurship?
Awareness of your strengths and weaknesses can help you make smarter decisions for your business from the outset. For example, if you admit that you are weak in a few critical hard skills, like accounting, you can seek solutions that will reduce your limitations — like a college education. Then again, if your weaknesses are relatively minor, you might be able to fill those gaps with technology or outsourcing to third parties.
Do you have support from friends and family to launch your business?
Entrepreneurship is difficult; it requires your time and attention for almost every waking hour, 7 days a week. If you don’t have buy-in from your family and friends, it will be even harder to foster growth in your budding business, as you will have compounded social and emotional stress from your personal life. As with investors and lenders, your loved ones will likely feel more secure about risky career decisions like entrepreneurship when you are backed by formal education.
Does your business idea require immediate action?
Most business ideas can wait a few years for you to acquire the proper knowledge and skills for success. However, some business ideas require immediate action or the abandonment of the hope for success. For example, entrepreneurs who launched COVID testing labs in early 2020 could capitalize on almost three years of high consumer demand. Still, your business will almost certainly fail if you delayed your COVID lab launch to 2023. You should consider how current markets, technology environments, business strategy trends, and more impact the urgency of your business idea.
You can drop everything and become an entrepreneur right now — but you probably shouldn’t. A small reflection on your experience and preparedness can help you make the right decisions for your career, family, and business success.
