<p>Getting a degree in entrepreneurship seems like a massive waste for a guy or gal like you.</p>
<p>If there is something you really enjoy studying like Philosophy or English Lit, or Anthropology? Or stats? Or art? Maybe that would be a good use of your extra time?</p>
<p>Otherwise, take a leave of absence and read a lot. A LOT. The one common denominator among successful dropouts is their reading and the fact that they tend to be autodidacts, anyway. They did a study, and I wish I could find it, but the one thing they found in common among most really successful people is a tendency to voraciously read biographies of highly successful people.</p>
<p>But, don’t waste your mind just because you choose not to develop it in a classroom. Go to the theater and the ballet, take an art history class, a theater class, a great American poetry class.</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with the reading. I read business articles, books, newspapers, etc probably two hours a day, and I read 7 days a week. I constantly read to keep up, stay informed, learn new things. I read about my industry, peripheral businesses, business management, autobiographies, tons of financial stuff, marketing and just what is going on in the world in general. I am constantly striving to improve how I run my company, how I manage and to learn. Staying in practice learning and staying current with today’s standards and how other companies run has been critical for my success. I also meet other business owners, am involved with the local political scene and take advice from anyone who offers it. It’s shocking how much I learned from other people.</p>
<p>Don’t view your education and business as two separate goals. View the courses you are taking as a way of scaling your business in 3 yrs. If you have a long term plan in place for your business, how can your education help in achieving this goal?</p>
<p>If you are paying for traffic right now, do you know what the keywords or demographics of your target market are that are driving traffic? If not, go take an analytics class and figure that out. The online retail world is so complex nowadays with the mobile phones that even big businesses are trying to figure out how to best maximize on this new medium. Have you got it figured out? Have an app for your site? No? Well take some programming classes and learn about responsive design. Want to speed up shipping? Do you know how to parse xml files in order to figure up to date product inventory from your drop shipper? Of course you don’t need to know all aspects and can pay someone to do this but the more knowledge you have, the more control and ability to see the big picture.</p>
<p>Unless you are a manufacturer or service provider with a unique business model (Facebook, twitter, pinterest, groupon, amazon), you will always be reliant on the reseller, distributors, drop shippers above you of the supply chain for your products. Perhaps scaling it requires you to own or dominate the vertical. You will need funding and as others have pointed out, perhaps you will need to get VC funding for that. Do you know how to go about this? Write up a business plan to get an SBA loan? What if all of a sudden your suppliers decide to dominate the entire channel themselves, eliminate any resellers, do you have a back up plan? Search engines decide to change their algorithms or paid search policies do you have a plan to get more traffic? </p>
<p>You have to look at the long term plan and not just short term. Ten years down the road, what do you see?</p>
<p>Again, the two goals (business / degree) are not mutually exclusive, and the degree does not have to be completed in 4 years. The people who think in terms of “never” (if you leave school now, you will “never” get a degree) are the same people who predict doom and gloom for whatever business ideas you come up with. </p>
<p>If anything, over the next two decades, it is going to get easier (not harder) for non-traditional students to compete degrees. I think there will be an expansion of online offerings, with a shift away from individual universities, toward conglomerate sites that will let you pick and choose courses from many different universities. (Like Coursera, but with an option for transferable college credit and pursuit of specific degrees).</p>
<p>I also agree somewhat with the adage, “college is wasted on the young.” A young kid a year out of high school who is ambivalent about being in school simply isn’t going to get the most out of the classes, especially with a practically-oriented field like business. S/he simply doesn’t know the questions that need answering yet, and there is something of an opportunity cost in choosing the wrong major or bypassing important courses because you didn’t know any better at the time. </p>
<p>This isn’t the case of a kid who is dropping out simply to “start” a business – this is one who is already running a business. That experience may already be creating something of a gulf between the student and college-age peer group – and obviously the student has motivation and a plan for the coming year. (Again, I am with the parents who say hold the spot in school, take a leave of absence, and reassess in a year’s time). I think that if the student ends up working for several years, and the business doesn’t do well, leading to a decision several years down the line to return to school – then it will be a smarter, more mature, more focused young adult who returns to college, who will probably then gain much more out of whatever degree is pursued.</p>
<p>Great post ognopgod.
Has the OP discussed his business and dissatisfaction with college with the well-known business professors at his college for additional advice? Perhaps he could “go to the front of the line” and move into the honors track within his business college with his great ideas? Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I think there are some people from whom dropping out of, delaying, or talking a break from college makes sense. For example, I know of someone who left college to pursue making Youtube videos of himself playing videogames while talking about it (yes, literally). It was something he had done successfully for around three years before jumping ship, and he’s been able to support himself quite well over the years, including going to three or more major trips a year. Obviously, the number of people who can do that is rather limited, but if someone has a proven record of success and doesn’t feel that college will get them any further at the moment, why not take a break and pursue it? If/when the original goal becomes less viable, well, people’s careers change and evolve all the time. For example, I could see the guy I mentioned moving on to become a video editor or voice-over actor and going back to school to become a video game designer at some point, and having a large fanbase and history of success behind him while doing so. For the mean time, though, he’s successful, self-supporting, and clearly loves what he’s doing.</p>
<p>AHS, I think your idea goes along with mine upstream. This student should talk to his advisor. There may be a way to earn college credit for this business enterprise.</p>
<p>Oh, one other thing: do well enough this semester to maintain good academic standing so that returning after a leave of absence won’t be blocked by having left in poor academic standing. Also, try to do as well as possible so that you have more options should you want to continue at a different school (i.e. transfer).</p>