To become wealthy, a number of people in business like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs can point to dropping out of college as one of their successful moves (Yes, they were college dropouts). To some people, they are great minds that are aware of the future, but other people can consider their astuteness luck.
Can College Dropouts Become Successful in Business?
While wit and luck are essential, they are not the only considerations. It is not the case where only geniuses enjoy success or only get the breaks. Whether you need to complete college before starting your business or whether you consider the idea worth taking a chance and dropping out.
Although having a college degree is not necessary for starting a business, it can be worthwhile and handy, for instance, in fields where knowledge proficiency is demanded. Public high school graduate dropouts can trade being in school for providing services, such as tutoring, professional cleaning, event organizing, resume writing, and couriering in the early phase of their business. These enterprises generate revenue in the context of little funding and may even help to pay off educational obligations.
Steve Jobs: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
College graduates have a real bonus as they can try out in any profession. It will be handy for the students to execute the skills they acquired from education, including business model creation, business management, owner experience, accounting and taxation, and emotional maturity. On the other hand, entrepreneurs with no university degree can learn these competencies by doing, which may take more time with many issues.
Ultimately, an entrepreneur does not fall into either category of a college dropout or a graduate; what is essential is the growth of the business. It is all those things: perseverance, vivacity, resilience, and lack of financial deprivation — the qualities no regular formal learning imbues. Dropouts can learn these skills thoroughly (i.e., speak the languages of success like the well-known multibillionaire tycoons) and bounce back resiliently after failures. In that case, they can be successful or can achieve success in various industries. Also, if a college graduate is careless, not so disciplined, and commits mistakes repeatedly, then the fame of their university degree must be questioned.
Elon Musk: “Going from PayPal, I thought, well, ‘What are some of the other problems that are likely to most affect the future of humanity?’ Not from the perspective, ‘What’s the best way to make money?’ which is okay, but, it was really, ‘What do I think is going to most affect the future of humanity.’”
Facing obstacles
An obstacle these two groups face is that when they want to pitch their idea to investors, they are informed that the idea is not appealing or they need a business plan. On the other side, this helps no investors benefit. For example, you begin an e-commerce business solely as an independent entity; you can make your own decisions independently, without any other force imposing on the business direction.
To guarantee the fulfillment of this concept, give the business idea footing by investing in it in your free time, meet a quality web designer agency to arrange a website and increase traffic, and distribute the responsibilities of the owner, accountant, lawyer, and other until you have reached the point of hiring your staff.
Watch for finance, adopt means to implement cost-effective solutions, and cope with the decreasing expectations as success may not advance quickly. Many things make people quit business, whether they have the necessary qualifications or not, and many entrepreneurs out there struggle with fear of failure. Consequently, if you do not want to fall into this hole, protect your emotions and keep your eyes on the goal, whatever happens.
Bill Gates: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
Finally, the factor of entrepreneurship success is not determined by whether one is a university graduate or manages to drop out of college, but rather through one’s growing determination and flexibility. Whereas career-building is successfully accomplished by people such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, who have left college in spite of it, there are numerous other models that can be used for rising in the social strata.
Graduating from college means that one will be required to equip oneself with sufficient knowledge and expertise which will be useful in the starting and managing of a business. In particular, students who became entrepreneurs have benefit in formal education, that can help them in diverse aspects of founding and running business, for example, in business plan creation, financial management, etc. Nevertheless, for the sake of those who don’t have degree certificates, it is also possible to succeed in this way by learning those needed skills from hands-on experience and being brave.
Tim Cook, CEO Apple, Supply Chain Expert: “We are the most focused company that I know of or have read of or have any knowledge of. We say no to good ideas every day. We say no to great ideas in order to keep the amount of things we focus on very small in number, so that we can put enormous energy behind the ones we do choose …..It’s not just saying yes to the right products, it’s saying no to many products that are good ideas, but just not nearly as good as other ones.”
A degree does not define your future
A few college degrees from the top universities won’t necessarily decide your fate in any quick business setting. The only thing that is decisive here is your willingness to learn, adapt and develop as an entrepreneur. While it entails setting up meetings with prospective investors, sound financial management, and conflict resolution, this has become the order of the day in managing a startup. Founders can consistently put in time and energy into their business thought, and though in the beginning it may be slow to pay off, eventually, they will develop a thriving company.
Mark Zuckerberg: “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
Also, it would be a big role for entrepreneurs to take their emotional health as well as they should concentrate on their aims. It is commonly the case that entrepreneurs lack resolve and start to retreat as they are affected by the fear of failure and the external pressures. However, with perseverance and a definite goal, their chances of success really increase.
Top Tips to Turn your Side Hustle into a Success
In conclusion, a degree may pay off for some entrepreneurs who dropped out of college but it does not allow for the assumption that this path leads to success. Whatever you decide to do either getting your education or start your business, what needs to be done is to seize the opportunity fully. You should be able to learn, adapt and be persistent to succeed against any challenges. One’s success as an entrepreneur should not be judged by one’s educational credentials but by how one wants to emerge as a great person who is ready to achieve more.
Bill Gates: “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
