What are some Certs/Short careers that will lead you to own your business ?

[21elnegocio]

Well im going back to school, but dont want to spend 6 years getting my Associates theres some certs of even short careers out there that help you and give you enough skills to start your own business. Any ideas guys ? or what are you guys majoring in ?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike39]

The school of hard knocks has a great entrepreneurship course, I have heard it gets you extremely prepared

 

[Entourage]

What Mike says!

In training my salespeople, I let them roar free. First meeting, I let them do their own version of anything (even if it means they'll completely blow it.) Trying is the best way of learning!

 

[DeletedUser2]

learn sales,
learn people skills


learn basic accounting (only enough so you can tell if your bookeeper is stealing from you )

go find someone you can help out, who is already successful, want a tip? don't go to school, instead stay broke for 3 semesters, helping someone out, who is successful, and by the end of it you will have a million dollar education.

seriously



Z

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[The-J]

I have no idea.

I'm getting a BBA in management and marketing. I know people who have ended up in shitty situations with that degree, e.g. being on the sales floor at 49 years old, etc. To me my college degree is not the end-all be all but simply a part of my entire plan. The degree, the piece of paper, is meaningless to me but means a lot to my family. I don't want to be seen as a F*ck-up.

At the same time, I'm running my own business. I'm learning primarily through the forum, books, and LinkedIn conversations but there's only so much you can do.

I remember JackEdwards posted in a thread about getting a successful business without going through start-up headaches, where you approach the old owner of a very successful business in your local area and offer to buy it for cash. MJ was offered a limousine business for no money down (he declined, of course).

Evidently there's some value in that: approach a successful business owner in your area and offer to work for them and with them, for free if need be. In that time you will learn a lot about running a business. By the same token, you may have a chance to have the business because everyone wants to retire.

You would need to figure out a way to turn the business Fastlane in order for this to be an end-game plan, especially when it deals with scale and time. There are many millionaires out there stuck in their businesses just begging to retire. They want to retire but are afraid to sell their business, their baby, their livelihood, to some capital firm. They are looking for a cheeky young chap like you to come along, learn the business, and make it bigger than their wildest dreams so they can go home and spend time with their family.

To get started on that, you're going to need to hit the pavement, talk to business owners, offer them considerable value, and you'd be lucky to get a yes. But that's kind of the point, this is not supposed to be easy.

 

[Rickson9]

Anything that involves selling. The harder the sell the better.

 

[21elnegocio]

Anything that involves selling. The harder the sell the better.

Damn such a dissapointment to hear that college is a scam SMH , im thinking of studying Construction management and learn that field as much as I can then start a construction/remodeling business. Or maybe even get into Real State buying houses and fixing them up in the future. What you guys think ? good or no ?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andviv]

What you guys think ? good or no ?

Yes. No.

It depends.

Are you handy?

When the toilet stops working, do you fix it or do you pay somebody to take care of it? Paint your room? etc, etc. You get the idea.

Also, easy to get? Real estate agent. May be in line with what you have in mind.

You have to sell.

Learn a lot about Marketing and Advertising.

You have to talk and talk and talk and Talk to people.

Convince them to let you sell their house.

Convince others to let you represent them and find the house they will buy.

It is a non-expensive class (last time I checked, less than $500)

And should be a great way to understand how REI works and see what people actually make money with construction and rehabbing.

 

[The-J]

Anything that involves selling. The harder the sell the better.

It seems there's no coincidence that former Kirby vacuum cleaner salesmen ended up doing well. Who the hell in their right mind would pay an extra $2000 for something they already had?

 

[Jake]

Not Cisco

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andviv]

Not Cisco

Really? Why not? That always seems to be in demand....

 

[Jake]

Really? Why not? That always seems to be in demand....

For an employee. It's possible to start your own company with networking knowledge but I see it more as valuable employee knowledge instead of a cert(s) that would be helpful in starting your own business.

 

[The-J]

I had the chance to pursue Cisco certifications back in high school. I went for Microsoft ones instead.

What was I thinking? Cisco certs are way more in demand! Probably would have a job already.

Then again, if I had a cushy networking job at 17 or 18, it might have killed my entrepreneurial drive.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike.B]

I had the chance to pursue Cisco certifications back in high school. I went for Microsoft ones instead.

What was I thinking? Cisco certs are way more in demand! Probably would have a job already.

Then again, if I had a cushy networking job at 17 or 18, it might have killed my entrepreneurial drive.

After being in IT for numerous years, I've come to realize that certifications aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

 

[Milkanic]

Go get your teeth knocked in for 3 months doing door to door sales. Seriously. You'll learn more than any cert can give you.

Southwestern Advantage Internship - Basic Info
CUTCO Cutlery & Vector Marketing: Kitchen knives, block sets, utensils
Kirby Vacuums: Sentria Home Maintenance System

 

[VIP]

Don't know about certs but you can watch a couple of videos on youtube on how to repair iphone screens and start offering that service.

Total Investment:

Tools: $60 ( not a affiliate link ) (Pro Tech Toolkit - iFixit)

Business Cards $30

iPhone parts I would buy on eBay to start off and then start looking into buying from china from sites such as aliaba.

Hope this helps you.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me or reply here.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Jake]

I had the chance to pursue Cisco certifications back in high school. I went for Microsoft ones instead.

What was I thinking? Cisco certs are way more in demand! Probably would have a job already.

Then again, if I had a cushy networking job at 17 or 18, it might have killed my entrepreneurial drive.

Business wise I think you're better off on the server side. Companies will begin to migrate over to Server 2012 and Hyper-V. Step in front of it.

 

[campbellronald7]

I agree with Mike B, most certifications you receive aren't worth their weight when you factor in time and cost. I would strongly suggest researching and finding local entrepreneurship courses. I know Babson College in Boston is receiving national attention for their program. Check it out and best of luck to you.

 

[21elnegocio]

Thanks a lot everyone, this forum is always helpful

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[St.Alpine]

The other guys have already said it quiet nicely.

A.
Get a job in sales. Only if it's just for a short period of time.

One of my top 3 epiphanies of last year was a lot of successful business owners
somehow started out in a sales position.

The most recent example is Ralph, who joined the forum lately.
He was VP of sales worldwide at JBL before he started his own business.

Jay Abraham started out as a sales guy.

Robert Herjavec sold main frames in the start of his career.

The first job of Tim Ferris was as a sales guy at a hardware company.

Nevertheless, without having a very good product, your sales skills only
take you so far.
I don't like people knowing how to sell ice to Eskimos, but
are selling a crappy product.

B.
Surround yourself with already successful people.

"If you hang around dogs, don't be surprised to get fleas."

To surround myself with these people is a major part of this year
for me.
Besides continuing my education as an
mechanical engineer in the automotive business,
I am finding somebody successful I can help
out in his business in my spare time.

From reading dozens of interviews of successful people
it really buckles down to get in contact with people who operate
at a much higher level then you do.