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Bussines degree necessary for a successful business?

I wanted to start a new business. My education is just an associate's degree. As we all know, these days, business degrees are a buzzword in the corporate world. I wanted to ask if a viable business degree is really necessary for me to take on successful private entrpreneurship. Im asking because, due to some limitations, i might not pursue a campus gegree, and might have to go with my business without further education. And is there any informal way to sharpen your business skills without a business degree?

Public Comments

1. Business degree is important for getting corporate employment, but not necessary for starting business. Remember, the big entrepreneurs of the day -- Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple and others are college dropouts and did not finish their college education What you need are: - understanding of the business you are getting into - willingness to learn - willingness to work hard - ability to spot opportunities and take advantage of them - persistence and perseverance, even in the face of tremendous adversities - ability to reach customers and market the business You can definitely succeed without earning a business degree. But if you want more knowledge and information, there are a number of ways you can get information 1. Borrow books in the library on how to start a business. Some good books include - What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574101129/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid - If You're Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574100939/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid - Start Your Own Business : The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891984217/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid -Steps to Small Business Start-Up : Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Idea into a Successful Business http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574101323/ref=nosim/powerhomebizguid 2. Take online courses on entrepreneurship. SBA offers various online courses that are FREE that can help you learn how to start, run and manage a business http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html 3. Network with other entrepreneurs - you may even find mentors who can guide you and open doors for you and your business. Here are places where you can find mentors - Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_roundtables.html - Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs - Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs/globallinks.html , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org - Professional organizations such as the National Women’s Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.html - Industry and trade associations - Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce - Local chapters of business groups
2. I will suggest you read a book by Napoleon Hill called "Think & Grow Rich." There is no reason for a degree if you are didecated to achieve a goal. Now Go out an Conquer
3. Lots of people start businesses without degrees. Do research. Talk to people who are where you want to be. Stay focused. Pray. Good Luck
4. I hope you realize most entrepreneurs do not have degrees at all. They simply do it because there's either no choice, as is the case with immigrants, or because they have a given skill, as with restaurants or crafts for example. I tell people a business degree is a waste of money. Why? Because you're putting money into an education instead of into starting your business, and if you're really wanting to go into business you'll just do it, not spend years and years building up debt to do it. If you want to sharpen your skills it's easy, go out and buy a book on small business, it should have a section on assessing your strengths and weaknesses in business. Then work on your weaknesses in school. For example if you're poor at accounting and don't want to outsource it, take accounting in school. If you're poor at management, take some management courses. Boost what you are weak at. If you're passionate about business I say stop wasting time in school. Spend your time in school working on what you're lacking in. You can always go back for that degree once you're successful. Oh and the corporate world is made up of businesses that are already successful. Big business hires educated people. But to start one yourself you don't have to prove yourself to anyone but yourself. If a business degree is what you need to get the confidence to go ahead with your dream, go for it. I still think it's something you do to work for someone else, not yourself. But that's just me. Follow your dream, whatever that may be.