The fact that anybody can get started with running their own business without the need for any prior qualifications can often be one of the most appealing reasons to get into this career. Whether you didn’t get the chance to go to college, haven’t yet figured out what you want to study, or just want to get started with working in a job that you are passionate about without the need to earn a college degree beforehand, being self-employed and running your own company could be ideal for you.
If you’ve got a degree in another field and want to change your career, doing so by starting your own business means that you don’t have to spend years undergoing extensive retraining and looking for an employer that will take you on despite your lack of experience.
However, despite the fact that you certainly don’t need to get a college degree to start your own business, there are several reasons why it can be a good idea. Today, the business world is more competitive than ever before and the more knowledge you have about the industry, the better a chance you and your business will have when it comes to success. Whether you’re in the process of setting up a new business or have been self-employed for a while and feel like you’ve hit a wall when it comes to what you know, here are some of the main reasons why getting a business degree could be the right choice for you.
Study While Working
Today, online degree programs like Suffolk University’s MBA Online Program have made it easier than ever for business owners to fit getting a new qualification around running their company. Understandably, you might not want to have to put your business on hold while you study, especially if you have spent years getting it to where it is today.
Online learning is an ideal alternative to the physical classroom since its often much more flexible, allowing you to access lectures and classes online at your own leisure rather than having you attend at certain times of the day that might not always be convenient for you. Online degree programs have certainly boomed in popularity since COVID-19; however, they were already growing before the pandemic due to the additional freedom that they provide for students to fit studying around their lives rather than the other way around.
Develop New Business Skills
One of the main reasons to consider investing in getting a business degree when you are an entrepreneur is that it’s a great way to develop new business skills that will help you run a more successful company in the future. This is especially true if you decide to enroll on an advanced business degree like an MBA since these are designed to be interactive and students will often have to work on a range of projects that are designed to simulate real-life and prepare you for making better decisions in a wide range of situations.
Additionally, you can choose to study MBA programs with a concentration in leadership and entrepreneurship; these programs are specifically designed to enable students to develop the business leadership skills that they need to succeed with their own company.
Learn New Things
If you started your own business without any previous formal training, chances are that you have picked up a lot of knowledge along the way. Today, the internet is an amazing resource for business owners with plenty of opportunities to learn more about running a business and get ideas and advice from the various experts that have different platforms online to share their expertise with others.
However, there’s often only so far that you can go, and a degree program that focuses on business will help you build on the knowledge that you already have while focusing on improving your knowledge of any topics that are not your strong point. And, working with tutors and professors who are there to help you succeed means that you will get a chance to ask questions that you might not have been able to find the answers to elsewhere.
Make Better Business Decisions
Many business degree programs are heavily focused on making better business decisions, which will often involve the use of data. Many business owners are not sure how to get started with using the data that their business will inevitably collect and apply it to the decisions that they make.
But the truth is that the information your business holds could be the key to unlocking the best paths to take in terms of new products and services, marketing campaigns, rebranding, and many other big decisions that you might have to make on behalf of your company in the future. And, this focus on making better decisions isn’t always on the big choices – as you study, you can start applying what you learn to your business straight away with the smaller decisions that you are faced with.
Expand Your Professional Network
In the world of business, who you know is often just as, if not even more important than what you know. Building and maintaining a professional network is a hugely important part of starting any business of your own, since the professionals that you connect with can offer advice and support, or even go on to become business partners, suppliers, clients, investors, employees and more in the future.
Your network can help you find the best employees by recommending professionals that are suitable for the role you are looking to fill, or help you find the right supplier for your next product. Since many of the people who take business degree programs like the MBA are often business professionals and other business owners, it’s not only a chance to learn more, but a great opportunity to meet new people in a professional setting. And, studying online is no different – there are ample opportunities with an online MBA or business degree to get involved with online social groups and chat rooms with your peers.
Promote Business Growth
Sometimes, there might only be so much you can do on your own without any professional training. Even if you have come further than you might have expected when you first started out, it’s not unusual for any business owner to perhaps get to a point where they feel like they have hit a wall when it comes to business growth and what they can offer. Sure, you can delegate to others who might have more expertise than you, or you can spend some time improving your knowledge – or even do both! Either way, a business degree can help your business grow by providing you with the tools that you need to take it further.
Improve Funding Options
Funding is often vital for business growth and progression, since it’s likely that you’re going to need some extra cash to invest in the various things that are going to help your business develop. While it might not be a guarantee of investment or funding from the bank for your business, lenders might look more favorably upon you and your company if you have a business degree or an advanced qualification such as an MBA, since it demonstrates your knowledge and expertise, proving that you have the knowledge and skills necessary to run a successful company.
Since your level of risk as a business owner is often one of the main factors that lenders consider when making a decision, the credibility that a business degree can bring may mean that lenders view you as lower risk compared to a business owner with no business qualifications.
Build a Safety Net
Last but not least, coupled with your experience as a business owner, a business degree could make you a very desirable candidate for employers in many industries. Since every business owner knows that anything could happen and business success is never guaranteed, getting the qualifications to back up your knowledge and skills can provide you with peace of mind and more security for the future.
Tips for Success with Studying and Running a Business
If you have decided that getting a business degree is the right way forward for you, there are several things that you can do to make sure that the process runs smoothly for you and that you’re in with the best chance of success. Studying while being responsible for your own business is never going to be easy, but there are some strategies you can use to make it easier, which include:
Delegation
First of all, you’ll want to free up as much of your time as possible so that you can dedicate it to studying. You simply can’t work sixty hours per week and expect to have much energy left at the end of it all to study too, even if you’ve chosen a flexible online degree program. Decide which tasks you’re currently doing that could be handed off to other people, and give your best employees some more responsibilities or hire new people to take care of things for you.
Plan Your Schedule
If you’ve decided on an online degree as the best option for you, the next step is to figure out which schedule is going to work for you. If you don’t want to completely neglect your business while you are studying, it’s important to juggle your working hours and fit in study time in a way that is going to be feasible. It’s a good idea to choose study times that coincide with when you feel more focused and energetic, whether that’s first thing in the morning, at mid-day or in the evenings.
Create a Study Space
The last thing that you will want when studying for your business degree is to be surrounded by distractions, so one of the best things that you can do is to create a study space for yourself. If you can focus better at work, you could use your office, but make sure that it becomes a distraction-free zone by asking employees not to disturb you unless absolutely necessary and rerouting your phone calls to whoever’s in charge.
If you prefer to study at home, it’s a good idea to use a room in your home where you are free from the general distractions around the house and you know that you won’t be disturbed. Some people find that they work better when they get out of familiar areas to study; if this sounds like you, you might benefit from working out of a library, coffee shop, or even a co-working space.
Get Support
Finally, it’s important to be prepared for the large amount of work that studying while running a business is going to create for you, especially if you have other important commitments in your life that can’t be ignored, like kids for example. The way to do this is by getting as much support as you can from the people in your life who care about you and want to help you and see you succeed.
Don’t be ashamed of asking for help when you need it, and when people offer you their support, take it! You can also get support from your college; both campus-based and online business degree programs will provide students with access to support services that they can use for a wide variety of different reasons whether you will find it helpful to speak to a professional about your stress and anxiety levels, need an extension for an assignment deadline, or if you want to use the on-campus childcare services throughout the week so that you’ve got more time to study.
While owning your own business certainly doesn’t require that you have any formal business qualifications, there are many reasons why this can be a very good investment for business owners to make. Getting a business degree is not only interesting and challenging, but it can also provide you with the tools that you need to help your business grow, build your network, make better decisions, and improve your knowledge and skills.