How to become a Business Owner
To become a business owner, you need more than just start-up capital and a great idea for a business. With all the legal complexities involved in operating a business today--numerous insurance policies, purchasing state and federal licenses, filling out taxes correctly--earning a degree in entrepreneurship or business administration will give you the tools you need to start a business without suffering unnecessary stress and delays that come from lack of knowledge and experience.
Business Administration Degree
A Bachelor's of Administration degree typically encompasses the following courses:- General education (English, introductory psychology, humanities, communication, pre-calculus)
- Human resources management
- Organizational behavior
- Logistics management
- Principles of accounting and statistics
- Marketing/advertising/campaigning
- Operations management
- Project management
- Legal/tax aspects of owning a business
Some colleges offer a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship, which is similar to business administration but includes classes not found in a traditional business programs. An entrepreneurship curriculum may have classes on global business strategies, capital management, personal and business ethics and principles of microeconomics.
Skills Needed to Success as a Business Owner
Owners who consistently maintain a solid and lucrative business typically exhibit the following skills and qualities:- Excellent negotiator and communicator
- Willing to listen to their "gut" instincts and take risks
- Organized, goal-oriented and meticulous about keeping records
- A "born" leader who takes immediate action when action is needed
- Willing to put in long hours and perform extra tasks instead of procrastinating or relying on others to get the job done
- Good with numbers, balancing budgets and keeping overhead expenditures at or below expectations
- Creative and imaginative--an independent thinker
Specialized Business Degrees
Industry-specific business degrees are also available that offer courses directly associated with the product or service provided by the business. For example, if you want to start an online business selling homemade crafts, you would want to earn a business degree in ecommerce or online entrepreneurship that concentrates on building websites, basic programming languages, developing optimized content and using social media to build and retain a long-term client base. |
