Everything I Know About Business, I Learned....

[KristineS]

I've seen a few questions recently about whether or not business classes or business degrees are useful. Personally, I'm of two minds on this one. I have degrees in Marketing and in Business, but I mostly got the Business degree because it was only a few more credits to get it, and it seemed like a nice general degree to have. I did take some interesting business courses while obtaining my degrees, but I'd say my best experience has come on the ground while making a business work. The college work was valuable because it did teach me to think critically and exposed me to a lot of different theories about business, but nothing can replace real experience.

I'm interested in what the rest of you think. Do you think college business courses can be helpful, or do they do more harm than good? Is the best school of business simply running a business yourself?

[vangogh]

It depends. I think it depends on the school, the teacher, the student, as well as many other things. There's a lot you can learn in school and there's a lot you can learn outside of school. School is more about theory than practice and I think the people who knock it do so because it lacks the practical application of knowledge. You're not going to go to school, earn a degree, and immediately step into the business world as a success in most cases.

However that theory is still important. It can help you understand the practical stuff. Instead of doing something just because you know it's worked in the past, the theory helps you understand why something worked, which can help in making it work better or figuring out other things that may work. The theory gives you a foundation on which to build.

Overall I think learning is essential. No matter what you do you have to keep learning how to do it better. I also believe the best way to learn is a mix of theory and practical. Both have their place, but together they are more than the sum or their parts. School is one place to learn that theory, but it's not the only place.

One last point concerning school is the experience. I wouldn't trade the years I was in college for anything. I learned a lot outside of the classroom that helped shape who I am today.

[billbenson]

I agree with pretty much everything VG said. At 18, going to college is part of a maturing process as well. It teaches independent work ethics, how to do research, how to solve problems, in a controlled environment. In short, college (engineering school in my case) taught me how to learn.

I doubt many if any curriculum's teach you how to do something. They give you the ammunition to figure out how to do something. Otherwise you would see marketing grad's getting hired as director of marketing rather than an entry level position.

[greenoak]

somebody told me once that what a college degree showed was that you could stick to something and get it done.... so thats good..
.. but i have to say the 2 worst employees i ever had had college on their resumes....
my college was in liberal arts...and i got so much out of it....but in business i have learned the hard way...supply and demand...my dh is really good at numbers and all the financial parts...im not sure how you would teach the other parts...
ann

[vangogh]

I doubt many if any curriculum's teach you how to do something. They give you the ammunition to figure out how to do something.

Yep. it's that last part that's important when it comes to college. There's no way a school curriculum could really teach you the specifics of running most business. Every business is different and the specifics change faster than a curriculum could. But schools can teach you how to figure out those specifics for yourself.

Ann it would be difficult for a school to prepare someone for the specifics of running your business. You need to be in the business to learn those specifics. With the two college grads you hired what jobs did you give them? How old were they when they were hired?

[huggytree]

I aint got no higher learnin

I think common sense and problem solving is the most important

As long as you know the business your trying to start 1/3rd the battle is done
managing and sales are the other 2/3rds
Managing is all about planning and organization
Sales is about knowing/reading people and expressing yourself positively

i dont feel college is at all necessary to run a business....it may be necessary to actually be a worker for the business though.

[bwat05]

I work in a field that doesn't require college, but does require common sense and some problem solving abilities.
I have had some college and can discuss business concepts with the owner- to some degree better than other employees.
The owner took courses in accounting and marketing to help get his business off the ground in an organized fashion.
I plan to take additional business courses to better familiarize myself with the fundamentals of business that all companies use to function and succeed.
I think the courses will help with managing a business, better handling of paperwork, complying with govt. and being on the same page when interacting with other business owners, banks, etc.

[orion_joel]

My basic theory on this topic comes down to you need a mixture, or a good deal of hands on time with someone that is teaching you.

For example if we go with HuggyTree, if he was to go and do all the plumbing courses, and just purely do the bookwork, he woudl have a great theoretical knowledge of plumbing. However with that knowledge he may not be able to actually do what he has learnt from books. However as he says he has no higher learning, however i would hazard a guess he spent a lot of time watching others that knew what they were doing, Plus with the right mind, knowing a few basics can make figuring things out a lot easier.

[KristineS]

Overall I think learning is essential. No matter what you do you have to keep learning how to do it better.

That is so true. The minute you stop learning you're dead in the water. I think the best way to keep a business vital and alive is to keep trying to learn new things and keep trying to be better at running your business.

I will say this, I know a lot of people with advanced degrees who are dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to functioning in the real world. I could say the same of some people I know who don't have any degree at all. It seems having common sense and the ability to read people and solve problems are the most important skills.

[billbenson]

I will say this, I know a lot of people with advanced degrees who are dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to functioning in the real world. I could say the same of some people I know who don't have any degree at all. It seems having common sense and the ability to read people and solve problems are the most important skills.

People have natural skills, and holes in skill sets. Huggy has done well without education. That doesn't mean that education wouldn't have been of value to him.

My sister has a MA in opera. Teaching and performing have been her career. The 20 years of voice class improved her skills. If I had 20 years of voice classes, I would sing better, but still lousy. It's not in my skill set.

It's completely wrong to say, I did it without higher education, therefor higher education is worthless.

Its also wrong to say you can't do it without higher education.

[vangogh]

I think there's a distinction between what's necessary and what's valuable. Going to college isn't necessary unless you're going into a field that requires a degree. You will have to go to college if you want to be a licensed doctor, but you don't need to go if you're looking to open a sandwich shop.

That doesn't mean the education isn't valuable to the sandwich shop owner though. There could be plenty of things the shop owner would learn in school that they may never learn if it doesn't come up in the usual day to day operations or if they don't seek out that theoretical learning. School can also teach you things outside of the specifics of any class. I know I learned how to better educate myself having gone to college. None of that might have direct practical application, but overall it helps me gain a lot of practical knowledge years later.

School can help you learn to think critically and creatively and it can open you up to many possibilities you didn't know existed. Does it do that for everyone? No. Depends a lot on you're attitude while there. I knew plenty of people in college who weren't interested in taking advantage of the opportunities there. They did the minimum, got their degree, and partied as much as they could. I also knew plenty of people who learned a lot more than what was set out for them in their curriculum.

[KristineS]

I've seen college from two different angles and it does inform my view about higher education a bit. The first time I went to college was right out of high school. I went to a major state school and it was a whole new world. I got to take a lot of classes in many different subjects and I met a bunch of people that I might otherwise never have met. In terms of opening up my worldview that experience was invaluable. In terms of learning anything that was really practical, not so much. My college career ended when I dropped out due to lack of funds and family problems.

Several years later I went back to finish my degree at night. I had a full time job and pulled a full load of classes in the evenings. Most of the students I studied with were older like me, and had much the same schedule. The emphasis was much more on the practical and useful. Most of the instructors were people who ran businesses or participated in fields in which they taught. I'd gone from the theoretical to the actual.

There was value in both experiences and I wouldn't have traded either of them, but I don't know that either experience made me any more successful than I would have been had I simply gone out to work. My degrees opened some doors in terms of the level of job I could obtain, but I don't know that they made me any better at that job.

I do agree with Vangogh that there is a distinction between what's necessary and what's valuable. Some fields do require degrees. College can also be a place, as Bill pointed out, where you can refine and train your talents. It isn't, however, necessary for everyone.

What matters in the end, at least in my mind, is to keep being curious and trying to learn and be better at what you do. That's the important thing.

[Vivid Color Zack]

but you don't need to go if you're looking to open a sandwich shop..

I find it pretty amusing that I read the whole thread and then got to that part and completely lost all interest in anything aside from lunch. :)

I personally think college was a great learning experience. I earned my degree in Marketing/Communications and really became more sure in what I wanted to do with life.

School taught me what I didn't want to do. Taught me who I didn't want to be.

The most important things I've leaned running a business have all been learned by actually running a business. I don't think college could have taught me most of these lessons because they have all been so unique to my business and my situations.

Some of the most successful people I know have nothing more than a high school diploma. That being said, almost all of them say they wish they would have gotten a degree in SOMETHING, because society expects you to be educated. Successful isn't enough I guess.

That being said, I'd like a sandwich now.

[vangogh]

Glad I could make you hungry :)

I think I've said this a few times in the thread, but much of school isn't about learning the specifics or running a small business. The only way you're going to learn most of the day to day is by being involved in that day to day, but that doesn't mean school is a bad thing.

It's a different kind of learning, but one that can still be valuable. There's no right or wrong here. For most things in life you don't need to go to school. At the same time if you go in with the right attitude and commitment, school can be a valuable source of learning

[fountainhead]

we all know that we are learning base on our experiences, reading books may help but thinking of ways on how to apply it is another factor and there are big differences between real and what we have heard or read, some things we read may also not be applicable in real scenarios so we still have to come up with our own solution to the problem, its not always by the book..

[vangogh]

its not always by the book

Agreed. I think books help teach theory. The theory may not be directly applicable to your business, but a good understanding of theory can help you when it comes time to make practical decisions for your business. Nothing can replace learning by experience, however experience doesn't always prepare you for a new situation. Theory can help in those situations where experience isn't able to guide.