<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I've posted this thread on the CS forum as well, but perhaps you guys here would have a better idea.
I will be an international student taking my bachelor's, starting in the beginning of August.</p>
<p>I've been trying to figure out whether I should go for business administration or computer science as my major. I hope you can help me figure things out. My absolute dream job would be of either owning my own business (webshop) or running somebody else's (bigger company). I'd love to learn about user experience optimization on websites, how to build them, how to achieve more sales, how to advertise online (SEO, Google AdWords, etc.) and so on. But from my home country I've been taking a business education and love that aspect as well. </p>
<p>Simply learning to run my own business online (or consulting other businesses) would be something I could see myself doing.</p>
<p>It doesn't seem like computer science will hit the head on the nail completely, but it doesn't seem like business administration (or marketing for that matter) will teach me the whole online part. </p>
<p>Could it be a major/minor with Business administration and computer science or a totally different major? </p>
<p>Any ideas? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>A business degree in (insert business discipline here) can help you run a business that’s already in existence more efficiently (your own business or someone else’s business), but no business degree will assist you in actually creating a viable business. In other words, if you currently do not have a business and are looking to discover “the secret” in creating a successful business, college will not help you. What you need to do is:</p>
<ul>
<li>Conduct serious research</li>
<li>Determine the industry you want to go into</li>
<li>Get a good attorney and finance professional</li>
<li>Determine what product/service are you offering and how is it different than competing products</li>
<li>How will you market it to customers</li>
<li>What regulations/surrounding environmental factors could cause the business harm</li>
<li>How much does it take to finance the start up and operations of the business</li>
<li>How long would it take to break-even and show a profit</li>
<li>How much time do you have to commit to the business</li>
<li>Do you have a wife and a kid? Do you have another job or other responsibilities? Are those other responsibilities “ok” with you committing 50-70 hours a week to operating a business?</li>
<li>Etc. etc. etc. </li>
</ul>
<p>Expect to most likely FAIL at your first one or two serious attempts at operating a business before you “get it” on the second or third try. This is only if you are SERIOUS at this, if you are just ■■■■■-footing around then I wouldn’t even bother, I would instead go get a degree and work for someone else’s business as an employee. Everyone wants to be a entrepreneur but few seem to understand what that truly entails.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Starting your own business really has nothing to do with what you major in.</p></li>
<li><p>Try an Information Systems degree/emphasis. To me it doesn’t sound like you’re into hardcore computer science nor do you want to do finance/accounting. Info. Sys. is basically exactly what you’re talking about… For people who want to manage and maintain web-businesses (AT LEAST IN THEORY).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>a lot of the Info. Sys. grads here get picked up by CISCO straight out of school as uhhh “analysts”. Don’t ask me what they do but they make good money.</p>
<p>SocialDarwinist, thank you so much for your input.
I think MIS might be exactly what I was looking for. I just had no clue what it was about. </p>
<p>I’m definitely going to do my research about this major. </p>
<p>You’re awesome!</p>
<p>Have a good week</p>
<p>No problem. It’s a pretty cool major but the curriculum will vary at different schools so shop around. </p>
<p>IS/MIS/CIS always has a business foundation, but the tech parts can be different. Some are more focused around network/server IT and others are more focused around web applications, e-commerce/automation, SEO, etc… I share your interest in the latter.</p>
<p>You have a great week too.</p>