Help, I need some guidance.

[MVProduct]

Hey everyone.

So, I'm currently a sophomore university student in the field of business administration.

At the tender age of 17, I decided that I wanted to be an entrepreneur my entire life. It was at that age that I began discovering and reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, etc, and many other entrepreneur-related books. In short, my beliefs of "you don't need a degree to succeed" were strengthened through these readings. I'm 20 now and I still operate under this mindset.

And let me just point out that I'm not just 'interested' in being an entrepreneur.

When I was 16, I created a website, built a huge community to it (it was a forum), and after several months sold it for $14,000. Since then, I've developed many websites and I run a couple of online service-based businesses (e.g. article writing, SEO services, web design services, etc).

So, it's clear to me that I strive to pave my own way- to create businesses and to work on my own terms.

Now, here's my dilemma: I'm struggling in university.

I'm struggling terribly. I'm not motivated to study or finish my program. I'm putting in zero effort into my studies, frankly because my priorities are with entrepreneurship. All my effort is currently being put into learning skills that'd make me a better entrepreneur (e.g. design, user experience, programming, marketing, sales) and running my own businesses.

Why did I decide to attend university in the first place, you ask? For 3 simple reasons:

1) I wasn't making enough money to justify NOT going to university
2) I wanted a way to build a business network and meet potential co-founders
3) To progress in life and develop fruitful, long-lasting relationships

Quitting or taking time off university is a potential option, but I'm scared to say the least. I already took a year off after high school, created a web app, but it didn't get far and so I shut it down.

In general, I'm scared that it might be foolish not go after that business degree and to do what 90% of students wouldn't even consider doing.

I don't really have anybody I can talk regarding my situation. And it's not like a lot of my peers are in the same boat either. 97% of students in my program are driving the Slowlane, striving to find that perfect accounting or finance job upon graduation. They're not interested in entrepreneurship. My parents have been quite resourceful, but they encourage me to finish my university program and to go into entrepreneurship upon graduation.

Maybe somebody here has been in my shoes before? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!

Thanks.

 

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[GuestUserX15]

20 years old, dropped out of business school last semester. Here's how i broke it down for myself.
Benefits of degree :
Networking, education.
Benefits of dropping out:
I go to a better school now, its called the library. Another great school i discovered called The internet.
The only thing with a degree is it gets you a job. You can always get any job if all you want is just a job.
My suggestion is read books, go out network, volunteer. Try reading 2 books a week, work a dead end job if you have to in order to fund your business. Don't waste 4 years, Everything you get at school , you can get it anywhere.
Everybody i hung out with at school thinks they are gonna make big bucks by either working a job, or just starting a random business because someone else got rich doing the same thing.
Biggest suggestion would be to set deadlines. Take action, begin now. Minimize sleep down to 6-7 hours. cut out every and anything that does not lead you to your goals.
Hopefully that makes some sense, shoot me a pm if you'd like!

 

[mentalic]

@MVProduct I got a video for you:
http://digg.com/video/honest-university-commercial

 

[Montina Portis]

MV, fear is not real. It's something we make up in our minds. You must know that it's not foolish to pursue what you live, breathe and think about every single day. Seek out an entrepreneurs group and if possible get a mentor. Start a meet up and make MJ's book the discussion piece. After an Undergrad and Master's degree and 15+ years of corporate work (including a middle school teacher stint) I can tell you that I am so happy to be a full-time entrepreneur. Sometimes we focus so much on the good, we miss the great. Punch fear in the face and read Chapter 30 "The Commandment of Need" over and over again and use those 9 tips MJ gives and you will be worth millions!

 

[scratchdisk]

Use the Weighted Average Decision Making method described in TMF ! I can tell you are going to do great things either way!

 

[smartman]

I was in your shoes, sorta. I quit school at 23, with one year left in a mech engineering degree I could not have cared less about, all to go on tour in a band. I've had a pretty wild ride over the last ten years since then, but it certainly would have been nice to have something like a degree to at least point to when trying to land jobs inbetween tours and all that. on the flipside, if I did have that diploma, I would have never learned to hustle and create cash the way I can.

I would strongly think about the amount of student loan debt you are accruing while you work towards a degree you don't care about.

 

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[Blue Lion]

I was in a similar situation at University. I was playing poker at a high level and had six figures in the bank. I was so close to quitting during my final year, but luckily I had a solid group of friends doing the same course as me who helped me through.

Since you've started already, I think you will regret not finishing more than you would if you dropped out.

Spend your time networking within university and meeting fellow alumni asking for advice (alumni love to help out current students). Network hard.

Also, try and look for business opportunities selling to your fellow students. They have plenty of time on their hands, spare cash lying around and are major CONSUMERS.

In summary. Grind through it. Network HARD. Start a business based around your university (food loyalty cards/events/merchandise/recruitment/selling books etc.)

Good luck.

 

[smartman]

@Blue Lion brings up a great point as looking at the university as a networking opportunity and resource. I'm sure you could replace the same network on your own, but maybe not in the same amount of time. great post.

 

[Blue Lion]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/dropout-start-a-business-the-dos-and-donts.50665/

 

[cashis]

I'm in the same boat. In my early 20's, going to a college I couldn't give less than a damn about, to get a degree and earn not much more than I could make with focused work on websites. Not to mention starting my own business, which would earn me more than 30+ years of this work.

So, of course, I'm unmotivated, I don't study and rarely go to class. And why should I, when I can work on a website and refine my skills which are already making me money and have the potential for much, much more.
Why did I go in the first place? Because it's a relatively easy job with very good pay. Because I wanted to have a safety net, meet some friends and make connections, and thought I could easily do both (work and do good in college). As it turns out it's quite a time sucker. I'll give it some more time, it gets easier next year, but should it prove to be too much of an inconvenience, I'll drop out of that sucker faster than the blink of an eye and focus on my real interests.

It's like MJ said: weigh the pros and cons, and think of the worst and best possible outcome of each situation. What's the best outcome if you stay in school? What about if you pursue your entrepreneurial interests? I bet the latter is much better, at least in my eyes.

 

[MVProduct]

I'm in the same boat. In my early 20's, going to a college I couldn't give less than a damn about, to get a degree and earn not much more than I could make with focused work on websites. Not to mention starting my own business, which would earn me more than 30+ years of this work.

So, of course, I'm unmotivated, I don't study and rarely go to class. And why should I, when I can work on a website and refine my skills which are already making me money and have the potential for much, much more.
Why did I go in the first place? Because it's a relatively easy job with very good pay. Because I wanted to have a safety net, meet some friends and make connections, and thought I could easily do both (work and do good in college). As it turns out it's quite a time sucker. I'll give it some more time, it gets easier next year, but should it prove to be too much of an inconvenience, I'll drop out of that sucker faster than the blink of an eye and focus on my real interests.

It's like MJ said: weigh the pros and cons, and think of the worst and best possible outcome of each situation. What's the best outcome if you stay in school? What about if you pursue your entrepreneurial interests? I bet the latter is much better, at least in my eyes.

The best outcome if I stay in school- as far as I can see, would be something like this:

I graduate, get my business administration degree, and find work at some marketing firm. I don't believe I have the grades to pursue an accounting or finance career, so that's out of question. I work in a marketing firm for 'x' number of years, climb up the ladder, etc. Who knows, maybe the marketing experience I gain from such a job could be used towards my own entrepreneurial endeavour. Then again, I'd still be doing the opposite of what I initially set out to be doing: working at a job. But then again, I wouldn't mind having a job, temporarily, as means to provide funds to fuel a startup.

 

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[cashis]

Sure, a temporary job to provide funds can't hurt, but dude, you sold a site for $14.000 when you were 16! I'm sure you can do website work and provide the same, if not more than at a job.
You could do site templates or wordpress themes and sell them on a marketplace (I suggest ThemeForest). If you study the market, see what sells best, and improve on it, you can make very handsome money.

There's really a lot of things you can do to provide as a web developer, it can't hurt to check some of them out. I got by 5+ years doing this, never had a job, and have been living decently enough, as lazy as I am (or rather was).