Having a college degree is not a pre-requisite to being an entrepreneur, but it sure can help. Having the right set of skills could mean that you’ll be better equipped to deal with all the pressures of running a business. You might acquire crucial skills that will make you less dependent on outside help, or you might want to learn more about the technical aspects of your business.
Going back to school when you have a business to look after is not an easy proposition, however. If you want to increase your chance of success and get the most out of your experience, here are a few tips that all entrepreneurs going back to college should follow.
Start with the Right College
The very first move is making sure that you pick the right college. In this case, going for prestige is not necessary. You want a program that has a solid reputation first. If you’re going to attend campus, you also want to know what the student body will look like. We assume you want as little distraction as possible and want to be around people who have the same objectives as yours.
In this case, we would suggest you use a service like CollegeData.com. This will allow you to look at virtually every college in the country and choose based on the size of the student body, gender-mix, and entrance difficulty among other things. You’ll be able to narrow down your choice to a school that fits what you were looking for.
Consider Online Classes
We also suggest that you look at online classes. There are plenty of great online programs nowadays in business, but also in fields like IT and engineering. Here, you also want to make sure that the program has a good reputation. You need to make sure that it’s accredited by a respected organization. You might not care about employment much, but you still want to get a proper education and make sure that your credits will be transferable. We suggest you check out the Department of Education and the CHEA to see which accreditation bodies are recognized.
The beauty of online classes is that you can set them around your schedule, not the other way around. If you want, you could go for an asynchronous course that will allow you to check out lectures on your own time as long as you respect a certain timeframe. You could also go in the evenings or on the weekends. There will be no need to commute, so you will still be able to find some space for yourself.
Take Advantage of the Opportunity
You also have to make sure that you realize the opportunities that you have beyond classes. You now have access to a whole faculty that may have years of on-the-ground experience. This would be a great time to find a mentor, or maybe a future partner. Take advantage of every service your school has to offer, even voluntary internships.
If you are an entrepreneur and want to enjoy and benefit from your time in college, follow these few tips. Speak with other people who are in the same situation as well and get their opinions.
