It seems like career opportunities exist only for business graduates. If you’re serious about entering a market and climbing the ladder, then you’re expected to get a business degree. It’s also said to provide employment right after that, and to be the foundation of your whole career.
But is it so?
Lately, it’s been different. Business education is often the way to go for those who have no direction, who are just following the path paved for them by family or society, and who have no real passion about the studies, but just feel like it’s something they can’t go without if they want to make it.
Well, turns out the skills your build still matter, and you can do that on your own. But even studies suggest that this isn’t related to where you studied or what your major is.
While you may often hear about the advantages of a degree in business, let’s take a look at the opposite.
Formal education has little to do with entrepreneurship.
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? If so, that’s great.
But what you probably consider the first step, if following conventional wisdom, is to skip dreaming too much, and instead focus on education. The world wants you to think that if you get a business degree and study hard, you’ll then get a great job in your chosen field and will have a higher chance of exceeding in it sooner.
The first thing that’s wrong with this vision is that the average student doesn’t know how to make the most of their time in college or university.
Just attending every class and studying at home isn’t enough. There are more valuable things that can be done with your time, and smarter ways in which you can do your best.
One such activity is connecting with people. And while networking is something you can do on your own in real life, with enough determination and desire to form connections, you can also grow your professional network while at college.
What’s more, you can find a mentor there. And choose to hang out with like-minded individuals, such as those aiming high, or the wannabe entrepreneurs in tech, if that’s where you’re headed too.
This research among American entrepreneurs showed that the traditional MBA model uses predictive reasoning. While in the business game once you’re out there, all you need is the effectual reasoning.
What that means is, you’re paying a huge amount of money to be taught how to find the relationship between a cause and its effect. But different rules apply in entrepreneurship and digital business (which is where most of the money and opportunities are today).
So, traditional education can actually block your creativity and imagination, thus preventing you from coming up with innovative ideas or doing things in a new way, be it for product creation, marketing purposes, building an audience, grabbing attention on social media, etc.
There are better ways to learn.
What can you do instead of getting a business degree? Be a lifelong learner.
You can also do all that I’ll mention below on the side, if you already began your education.
Some pretty awesome and effective ways to learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship without relying on formal education are the following:
- Read – some of the richest and most successful people in the world are vivid readers. Warren Buffet has a whole reading routine. And the first thing most entrepreneurs do when they wake up is to read. It could be anything related to your field of interest so what you can keep up to date. But it should also be biographies of leaders, the bestselling books in business and self-development, and more.
- Connect – start connecting with influencers online. Provide value, reach out personally, then start attending events near you or joining mastermind groups. You’ll learn a ton from other people’s experiences, but even being around them will make you smarter and more successful over time.
- Stay relevant – most of what you learn in college isn’t useful later on. So it’s your responsibility to make sure you find out anything you can about your industry, a certain company, or your area of expertise when you niche down. Leave behind what doesn’t concern you and focus on practicality. Build skills through online courses. There’s plenty of information on each topic, with video tutorials or else, that will help you master any skill needed for business.
A business degree isn’t that valuable anymore. Your time is better spent elsewhere. If you’re willing to do the work and find focus on a daily basis, you can reach any heights, regardless of what your education is.
