In spite of the recent narrative that formal education is the ‘antithesis’ of being a successful entrepreneur, it’s not entirely true. In fact, there are just as many college-educated successful business owners as those who never went to school or those who dropped out of higher education.
David Ebrahimzadeh, President of Corniche Capital, understands the value of education in starting businesses. As someone who has experience in the investment industry, Mr. Ebrahimzadeh opened up a scholarship program for students who want to advance in their career or entrepreneurial path. With strong beliefs on the power of education, he shares some insights on why college-educated students have strong qualities to turn into business owners.
College Educations Brings Advanced Expertise
There are some lessons you indeed learn in the “School of Life”, but there are also valuable things you can learn from having a college degree. A college degree means you can learn a specific industry in a structured manner. You will first study the foundations and then move to more advanced subjects.
Sure, you can learn all this information from books, but it will be much more difficult to know which subjects are relevant. If anything, getting a college degree will help you understand subjects in your industry in ways that are through a progressive ladder. The investment is worth the laser-point expertise you need in order to succeed in your entrepreneurial journey.
To add to this, you will also meet mentors who are already experts in your field. You can learn from their insights and hands-on training for your chosen field.
Groundwork For Income
For some, being an entrepreneur means having a lot of resources as capital. Although there are some business ideas that require little to no investment, some paths require having a larger capital.
If one does not have the immediate capital, they can start with what’s called an active income. This means that one puts in the required hours in order to receive a salary. David Ebrahimzadeh recommends doing the following strategies if you need to save up on capital:
- Practice frugal living: Have an income-saving strategy dedicated to building a capital for your business.
- Pursue career progression: Career progression while you’re saving up for capital means the process can be faster.
- Build up on passive income strategies: While having an active income, you can start building upon simple passive income strategies such as small scale real estate or investments. You can use the money you earn in these passive income strategies to start your ideal business.
Tenacity to Strive
Earning a degree means putting in the hours and sacrificing in order to meet the goal of graduating. This can also mean that those who graduate college will develop characteristics that will help them succeed in their business.
Whether you call it grit, tenacity, perseverance, or any other term, these are things that will allow you to keep going when the going gets tough.
Networks for Success
Yes, it is still possible to network even without a college degree. However, there are so many advantages to starting a business with some associations or organizations you can join in college.
Some examples are:
- Professional organizations: If you are pursuing a bachelor’s or a Graduate degree, there are specialized organizations where you can get to know those within your field. If you plan to start a business related to your degree, these are valuable networks to gain.
- Interest-related organizations: Is there a specific passion-related organization you can join? Music clubs, art organizations, and other related groups in college can help you get networks or talent useful for your business.
- Leadership networks: If you are the type to join student councils, you can also gain connections with leaders in your business industry.
Soft Skills
Being in college also exposes you to learning soft skills because you get to experience working in groups or participate in discussions with peers. These people-related skills can translate well when you are working with your clients.
Some soft skills you can learn in college include:
- Leading small teams: How can you delegate tasks, relay information, help improve a team’s coordination in order to reach a goal?
- Project management: You get to be assigned a project while learning to set attainable goals, manage your time, and take the necessary actions until completion.
- Negotiation: This is something you can also learn in college when working in groups or talking to your teachers about the completion of courses.
College Education For Business: Invaluable Experience
Indeed, graduating from college provides invaluable experiences and knowledge that will take you to a higher level of success when starting a business. Hopefully, this list of traits can convince you to take that next step of completing a degree.
