<p>Maybe you can help me with my question? </p>
<p>what college majors(bachelors only) are likely to lead to self-employment and a sustainable lifestlye (not like a starving artist stereotype)?</p>
<p>or what careers are usually self-employed, and what major is for that career?</p>
<p>majors I have thought of so far(not sure though):</p>
<p>graphic design
photography
horticulture
accounting
real estate</p>
<p>any others?</p>
<p>hair dresser
real estate
financial advisor
stock broker</p>
<p>thank you!</p>
<p>If you are saying that you are interested in running your own business - I highly recommend business classes - maybe a business minor. Some colleges offer business majors with a concentration in entrepreneurship - which might be worth looking into. Regardless of what type of self-employment you pursue - a business foundation will help you run it efficiently and profitably.</p>
<p>You can even major in entrepreneurship at some colleges (Babson comes to mind).</p>
<p>Accounting was the one that came to my mind, although you’d probably need more than a bachelor’s. You need a grad degree and a CPA.</p>
<p>construction
restaurant owner
retail store owner
accountant
lawyer
insurance agent
marketing or advertising
writer
interior designer</p>
<p>^^^ Lawyer, with a bachelor’s degree only?</p>
<p>I’d add banker and musician/music tutor</p>
<p>Scipio, I don’t know of a lot of self-employed bankers…</p>
<p>thanks everyone this is really helping me</p>
<p>Grant writer</p>
<p>“Scipio, I don’t know of a lot of self-employed bankers…”</p>
<p>Not if they work for B of A. But I know some that are the boss of their own locally-chartered, one-office community bank. It’s similar to running your own retail store - just you and a few employees.</p>
<p>Undertaker, that cannot be outsourced to India!</p>
<p>I just read another article about funeral home directors. With the baby boom, the industry looks to be very profitable over the next few years.</p>
<p>As a moderately successful real estate agent (member, RE/MAX Hall of Fame), I would not waste college on studying real estate. You can take any necessary courses in a certification program through community colleges or specialized commercial schools afterwards. If you want to go into commercial real estate, taking some Finance or other Business classes might be helpful but even those can be deferred…and it would be terrible if you took classes with an eye to commercial real estate and then within six months found out that you didn’t like doing it.</p>
<p>Find some field you like for its own sake, learn to write well and to pick up better than average quantitative skills, and don’t use college as vocational training.</p>
<p>This applies to some of the other suggestions you’ve received as well. Some exceptions to my eye would be graphic design, photography, law, accounting, interior design.</p>
<p>re undertaking: there’s a lot of stiff competition.</p>
<p>What are your interests and skills? If you are passionate about something, you can turn it into a business. I have friends who are self-employed in all sorts of fields. Obviously, no point in pursuing something that you have no interest in or no skills (ie. music, photography, interior design, etc.). If you don’t know where your passions lie, I would suggest a general business degree or entrepreneurship.</p>
<p>My husband - successfully self-employed in a niche field - majored in History (because it repeats itself and business seems to always be at the core of a lot of decisions) and minored in Business.</p>
<p>Why hasn’t engineering been mentioned yet? Of course you won’t start out running your own business, it takes some time to network enough so that you can go into consulting and possibly work for yourself, but the good thing about it is that if you don’t succeed, you have a high-paying job to fall back on. All these other things have huge risks and you might be screwed if you fail.</p>
<p>You might also be interested in software engineering. There are lots of software startups in a lot of different areas. Web design and development is somewhat riskier, but if you’re really good and you have a job to fall back on (such as a software engineering job) while you network, you can be pretty successful in it.</p>
<p>The point is that it’s really hard to start your own business. You have to find a niche, you have to be really lucky, you have to be willing to take risks like a madman, and, just for emphasis, you need to be REALLY lucky. It’ll do you well to do engineering (software and otherwise).</p>
<p>Personal trainer
Nutritionist</p>
<p>architect (not necessarily usual, but still lots)</p>
<p>I’ve known English (and many other majors) that became freelance editors.</p>