i was currently going to college and decided to take a semester off to pursue a different career.......the problem is they both intertwine....im 24 highly motivated....have a 3.2 GPA all's going well in business management. I want to be an electrician and run my own company after im fully licenced. My questions are, is college going to be beneficial in a financial aspect. i.e. getting loans to obtain the business, do they take the fact that i would have a bachelors degree in business management? would that make me a better candidate for a loan? I know marketing and leadership is important, other major business classes or edicet. i plan on continuing my studies on those aspects but electives, internships that wouldnt apply, hours of class that wont play a difference in the future but for the reason to obtain the degree. Should i continue and go for my degree while going to school for the trade or should i take the classes that will apply, and i dont need the degree? i would like to save myself alot of time and debt if its not needed. any advice would be much appreacted. as you can see im kinda stuck. thanks for any input!

A.G.

A.G.

In any individual aspect of your career a degree will never hurt you but in the larger picture it sometimes is not as beneficial as you're led to believe. With my son I told him I'd be hard pressed to push him to go to college because I believe someone motivated with good common sense can get such a jump in their career life and without the debt-load most accumulate, that they can come out ahead in the end. Obviously for some careers a degree is a must.

Whether it will help you in starting or acquiring a business I can't say. As far as getting loans, probably not unless based on the lenders usual criteria you're a wobbler...the business degree might be the deciding factor in your favor. However, the truth is, because you'll be a small business, borrowing is never going to be easy. It will always require sterling credit, collateral, and a solid businessplan.

In many cases lenders will prefer to loan for the purchase of an on-going business as opposed to a cold startup. With an existing business, they can readily see whether the business has the capacity to generate enough profit to repay the loan. That's a HUGE "if" in a startup.

I have 2 degrees, and since the day I graduated college (a long time ago), not once have I ever filled out a job application or looked for a job. I was hired out of college by a company that got to "observe" me at a company I worked for while going to school...after that, I was always hired based on my track record and that's usually the way it is. I've never even been asked if I went to college let alone got a degree. In my own companies I don't run ads or hire off the street...I usually spot someone that has that "whatever" and approach them. I'd rather invest be training a known quantity than someone that just walked in the door.
Good luck..
Denny

Denny

I'm with Denny. You don't need to go to college to be successful - look at Bill Gates and the Google boys. If you're motivated, you're motivated.

Frankly, I have a business degree and it's been useless (with the exception of accounting and finance) - school doesn't teach you how to run a business, it teaches you to work for one. So, stop wasting your time and get to it!

~~~

http://pagebuzz.com - Small Business Website Hosting. $19.99 per month, no up sells, no contracts, no surprises. Shopping cart, photo galleries, drag and drop editors, graphics, specialized programming for car dealers, real estate agents, and others.