If you’ve decided to launch a business, you probably feel excited to get started and are constantly dreaming about what success could bring to your life and how things could change for you once you have your venture up and running.
However, while there are fewer barriers to entry in business than ever before, this also means that more and more people are choosing to become entrepreneurs. As such, when you open your startup, you will have plenty of competition to go up against, and you will need to find ways to stand out and ensure your venture can survive and thrive over the long term.
A good way to give yourself a better chance of success is to undertake a degree that will prepare you with further knowledge, skills, and experience. You can study online while you work in your normal job, or even start planning your business while you finish your degree. Read on for some of the best degrees to consider which will help you develop the business of your dreams.
Psychology
When you have a venture to run, it helps to notice and understand how other people view the world and the kinds of wants and needs they have. As an entrepreneur, your life will be easier if you can tap into the minds of various people, from customers and employees, through to investors, lenders, journalists, suppliers and other stakeholders. As such, having a psychology degree under your belt can be of great use.
When you study psychology at college, you will learn about how varying personalities interact, clash, connect, learn and otherwise work separately and with each other, and you’ll get an understanding of how the human brain tends to work with regard to desires, motivations, shopping habits, etc. You’ll also get acquainted with how people’s needs and wants can be divined by their words, tone, actions and body language.
Use psychology studies to help you work out what kinds of products and services to design or sell for the particular market segments you want to target. Your knowledge will also help you to brand your business, and market and sell your offerings more effectively and affordably; and to provide customer service that people respond to. In addition, an understanding of psychology will make you better able to hire the right people for your team and then to motivate, inspire, engage and lead them.
Business
Of course, one of the best degrees for startup success has to be business. No matter what kind of education you have completed in the past, or the level of entrepreneurial experience you already have, it’s worth considering enrolling in a specific business course so you can learn how to best run a business. Choose an undergraduate degree in business to build a fundamental understanding and progress to a higher education option, such as a no-GMAT-required MBA, when you are ready.
Business degrees will cover many different topics and give you a fantastic overall basis in running a venture. For example, you’ll learn about sales, marketing, technology, big data, accounting, finance, economics, organizational management, leadership, psychology, communication, administration, computing, international markets and more. You’ll also likely have the chance to take part in practical placements and internships, which are beneficial learning grounds.
Computer Science
Lastly, if you’ve always been interested in computers and software and how these things work, consider enrolling in a computer science degree. We now live in a technology-driven world, where more and more businesses exist wholly thanks to tech.
Many of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs run tech firms and increasing numbers of millionaires and billionaires are being created each year because of the apps, software programs or other tech breakthroughs they make. As such, it pays to learn about computer science, so you might follow in their footsteps.
Remember, too, that studying this area is of great benefit even if you don’t want to create a tech-based product or service. This is because you can use computer science knowledge to help yourself develop, launch and grow a business in any field.
For instance, you can use your knowledge of Big Data to cut costs, boost productivity, better market your wares, increase conversions, improve customer service and streamline processes, just to name a few. Tech skills are also useful when it comes to creating a website for your business and automating tasks or reducing the time required to complete projects.
