Opening a Business

[Phantastik]

I am still a student majoring in psychology/sociology. But I daydream about opening a business, and I see many businesses open up shop that the owners don't seem to know too much about "Business Administration" or what I think you would acquire by going to business school. But I also don't know how successful/ or depending on every sale to feed their family.

My question is Do you really need a business degree/ or be a business major to open up a retail shop? Or could experience from working your way up the ladder do the job? (I hope I dont offend any Business major/ or degree holders).

 

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[Nicola]

I am curious, can you please elaborate a bit more on precisely what observations you have made of retail shop owners, what problems you see them having, and what university/college courses there are that would remedy these problems.

Thanks

Edited to add:

I asked these questions in a sincere desire to help and learn. Let me explain a little more.

The question asked looks as if it has an obvious answer. So I like to look a little further to see why the answer looks so obvious to me but doesn’t look so obvious to the person who asked.

Most of the people I know who have or who are interested in opening a retail shop know a lot about the subject, about the things they are selling, about their customers and about how to actually own and operate a shop.

So clearly you are seeing something different – what exactly do you think they don’t know? How to market effectively? Business regulations? Pricing strategies? And where do you get this knowledge from? Things you have observed directly? General reports in the newspapers that business are failing?

I used to teach business students and MBA students, and most of the content of an average business degree will give no benefit to someone who wants to own and operate a retail store. Business degrees are designed for people who want to go into corporate graduate programs – they are all but useless for an entrepreneur and/or small business owner.

Once again you are clearly seeing something different to me – Have you examined the course catalogs for business courses? What do you think is taught in business schools? Where do you get that information from?

I want to find out what knowledge you have, what that knowledge is based on and what assumptions you have drawn.

Hope that helps

 

[FDJustin]

No, of course not. You just need to do research into what goes into opening a business, what will cause you to fail, and what will cause you to succeed. Figure out if you're apt to be profitable in the first place...

But you are on a forum for people who are here to think much bigger than owning a retail store. Once you have the answers into what goes into a retail store, you might consider what goes into a retail chain or franchise. The name of the game here is getting rich (relatively) quick, rather than waiting til retirement or simply 'Doing well'.

 

[darkjediii]

I am still a student majoring in psychology/sociology. But I daydream about opening a business, and I see many businesses open up shop that the owners don't seem to know too much about "Business Administration" or what I think you would acquire by going to business school. But I also don't know how successful/ or depending on every sale to feed their family.

My question is Do you really need a business degree/ or be a business major to open up a retail shop? Or could experience from working your way up the ladder do the job? (I hope I dont offend any Business major/ or degree holders).

Can you give examples of what exactly you are seeing in the shortcomings of how these retail business owners are operating their shops? and how can a business degree help them in those particular examples?

you don't need a degree to open up a retail store, but you need to pickup and continue to improve upon the various skills needed to run it profitably and efficiently.

 

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[Phantastik]

I am curious, can you please elaborate a bit more on precisely what observations you have made of retail shop owners, what problems you see them having, and what university/college courses there are that would remedy these problems.

Thanks

Edited to add:

I asked these questions in a sincere desire to help and learn. Let me explain a little more.

The question asked looks as if it has an obvious answer. So I like to look a little further to see why the answer looks so obvious to me but doesn’t look so obvious to the person who asked.

Most of the people I know who have or who are interested in opening a retail shop know a lot about the subject, about the things they are selling, about their customers and about how to actually own and operate a shop.

So clearly you are seeing something different – what exactly do you think they don’t know? How to market effectively? Business regulations? Pricing strategies? And where do you get this knowledge from? Things you have observed directly? General reports in the newspapers that business are failing?

I used to teach business students and MBA students, and most of the content of an average business degree will give no benefit to someone who wants to own and operate a retail store. Business degrees are designed for people who want to go into corporate graduate programs – they are all but useless for an entrepreneur and/or small business owner.

Once again you are clearly seeing something different to me – Have you examined the course catalogs for business courses? What do you think is taught in business schools? Where do you get that information from?

I want to find out what knowledge you have, what that knowledge is based on and what assumptions you have drawn.

Hope that helps

Well in your edit, you answered the majority of my question.
[/QUOTE]
Most of the people I know who have or who are interested in opening a retail shop know a lot about the subject, about the things they are selling, about their customers and about how to actually own and operate a shop.[/QUOTE]

That was the part i was missing, because I live near Downtown Los Angeles California USA. Which is metropolitan, yet I see some businesses in the area whether it be a restaurant or retail store. They seem to be doing okay, but as a young adult if i could have an insight and be able to start a business and have the income of what they have would be a huge boost for my low income household.
So to sum it up I just have to research what I wanna sale, or do and know my demographic, and learn how to operate (rent, employ, pay employee and profit).

But most of the things I discussed in my original post, was based on speculation; and I ASSUMED that opening a business with all the research and studies done is a "gamble". As opposed to if you have a MBA you have better strategies. (seems dumb, now that i think of it, but ya this is what I thought prior to reading your message and giving it some thought".

My school is a community college, so from the catalogs I see intro to business administration and more in depth course from there. Like i said i thought business school just teaches you aspects of either opening up shop, or corporate level work like you mentioned.

Yes obviously you helped a lot! Thank you!

 

[Phantastik]

No, of course not. You just need to do research into what goes into opening a business, what will cause you to fail, and what will cause you to succeed. Figure out if you're apt to be profitable in the first place...

But you are on a forum for people who are here to think much bigger than owning a retail store. Once you have the answers into what goes into a retail store, you might consider what goes into a retail chain or franchise. The name of the game here is getting rich (relatively) quick, rather than waiting til retirement or simply 'Doing well'.

Now i understand thank you, but yah I tend to dream big too, I do not think a small single shop would take me where I want to be in life. I am just wondering to start off if you need a business degree (not as a requirement, but its like having better tools in your tool box per say). I ultimately want to open chain of shops, not sure what i want to sell, or franchising a couple mcdonalds. =P But like most here, I want to achieve the fast lane in life. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Phantastik]

Can you give examples of what exactly you are seeing in the shortcomings of how these retail business owners are operating their shops? and how can a business degree help them in those particular examples?

you don't need a degree to open up a retail store, but you need to pickup and continue to improve upon the various skills needed to run it profitably and efficiently.

I do not see any failures, I am just wondering if that person really went to business school to be successful as they are, or just hard work and research. I guess the latter sounds more reasonable for my topic.

 

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[AJGlobal]

Now i understand thank you, but yah I tend to dream big too, I do not think a small single shop would take me where I want to be in life. I am just wondering to start off if you need a business degree (not as a requirement, but its like having better tools in your tool box per say). I ultimately want to open chain of shops, not sure what i want to sell, or franchising a couple mcdonalds. =P But like most here, I want to achieve the fast lane in life. Thank you for your reply.

As most have said already in this thread, you need to have some knowledge of what your getting into but as far as a business degree ? Well I went to college for business management and dropped out. Never got my assoc. degree. I learned a lot by watching my dad run a construction company he started during my teenage years so I had some basics of what it took. After I started my business I taught myself through trial and error and in some cases sought out the help of other people to build what I needed to succeed. I learned more in the 1st year I ran my business that I did wasting 2 years of my life going to college part time. Well it wasn't a total waste. I did learn some accounting skills I put to use the 1st few years but eventually I had to hire an accountant.

I know many multi-millionaires that do not have college degrees. The ones that do have degrees have shared with me that their schooling had very little to do with their success.

 

[Phantastik]

As most have said already in this thread, you need to have some knowledge of what your getting into but as far as a business degree ? Well I went to college for business management and dropped out. Never got my assoc. degree. I learned a lot by watching my dad run a construction company he started during my teenage years so I had some basics of what it took. After I started my business I taught myself through trial and error and in some cases sought out the help of other people to build what I needed to succeed. I learned more in the 1st year I ran my business that I did wasting 2 years of my life going to college part time. Well it wasn't a total waste. I did learn some accounting skills I put to use the 1st few years but eventually I had to hire an accountant.

I know many multi-millionaires that do not have college degrees. The ones that do have degrees have shared with me that their schooling had very little to do with their success.

It cant get more informative than this. So business is the way to go, college may teach me somethings but not as useful as life/ real world experience. So my best bet is research see what people want/need try to start a business and learn from there. But you hit the bulls eye when you told me college degree isnt vital for business success. I could have not asked for a more direct answer.
Thank you and best wishes!