Perry Fong ⋅ Springfield, MO Forerunner Partners ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi JD,

Thank you for your service. I agree with most of the comments above. Some further questions to ponder:

-Are you going to have employees? (if so, you need more accounting and leadership skill)
-Are you the main operator or do you plan on having other people running most of the business?
-Do you have partner in the business?
-etc...

-Are you targeting consumers or corporate? educational sector?
-What kind of product are you selling?

being a business owner, nobody is going to check your degree before hiring you (though your customers might), however, some of the stuff that I learned from business college still helping me in my business...

Perry

David Buksh ⋅ Seattle, WA Mission Road Pharmacy ⋅ 20 years experience

A business plan and an network of support is more important than a degree. Anything you learn in school is going be at least 5 years behind the real world.
Do an online course for executing a business plan and then solicit as much feedback as you need before taking next steps.
The format matters the least, make sure you have clear and reachable goals in your plan.

Sasha Belyi ⋅ Highland Park, IL Blue Ridge Partners ⋅ 5 years experience

Short answer is, no, you absolutely do not need a business degree to start/run/manage/buy your own business.
Long answer:
1) Allstate Agency Owners are small business owners/managers, and many of them do not have a business degree. You just have to be able to manage people, understand systems and processes, and be willing to work hard. (https://www.allstate.com/careers/agent-opportunity.aspx)
2) About 20% of my cohort in an MBA program are veterans. However, they are mostly looking to get into the corporate world, not necessarily be an entrepreneur.

Thomas Lyons ⋅ Houston, TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 25 years experience

Short answer is no. If you need education, focus it on the gap areas and seminars and other specific training will most likely be more useful.

Longer answer. Degrees are for people starting out in the corp world with little relevant experience. If you want to enter the Fortune 100 and pursue a path to becoming an executive then yes you should think about a MBA. If you plan to start your own business or work in the corp world as a subject matter expert or manager then I think your current education should be fine as long as you are comfortable with it yourself.

Brian McDuffie ⋅ Bellaire, MI Meadowbrook MCF ⋅ 10 years experience

It sounds like from the experience you've had, Master Sergeant, that you would be a great business operator and owner. It's easy and cheap to get a DBA license for your business from your clerk at your local county court house. However, I would suggest a beginning course in business management where you actually have the opportunity to do group work with others who are developing a *mock* business from a business plan that you develop.

There are VA representatives on campus that will help you pay for any degree based on your military service. You don't have to be a business major at the undergraduate level to get your MBA!!! That's a worthy goal but diversification of your undergraduate degree into something like Psychology, Fine Arts, or even General Studies online will give you a great background. Educators from the middle of the 19th century were intelligent enough to develop a curriculum for students that developed mind and body to the point where people in this century are still using basically the same curricular variables. Doing what you want to be happy is always the best thing to do with your education.

Boe Young ⋅ Fairfax Station, VA iVantage/Galloway Consulting ⋅ 25 years experience

No, a business degree is not needed. Hard work, common sense, tempered risk and a relentless focus on the customer. Having said that, it is probably worthwhile to take 1-2 basic accounting classes - accounting the language of business at it's most basic. Good luck!

Paul Trejo ⋅ Austin, TX University of Texas at Austin ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi JD,

First, thanks for your years of service. As to your question, clearly, many people can come to the USA without a business degree, and without even speaking English, and make a successful business here.

This is because, IMHO, business is usually not learned at school, but at home. It is parent-to-child knowledge, or at least family knowledge, that makes all the difference.

I also suspect that many professors at a typical business college would not be successful in today's market climate.

What is mandatory, however, is to know the BASICS. There are a minimum of seven Departments in every living business -- Stockholding, HR, Sales, Accounting, Production, Advertising and Marketing.

This is true for a one-person business or for a 50,000 person business. It's only a matter of scale at this level.

Advertising could be as simple as a sign outside, or a phone number in the Yellow Pages, or maybe an occasional classified ad. Or it could be as complex as a contract with a famous Hollywood actor.

Marketing is merely taking surveys of past customers -- both satisfied and dissatisfied.

Accounting is probably the department that foils most businesses; nobody can really succeed in business without a firm grasp of Accounting. Yet today we can simply read the full Quicken manual for an adequate Accounting education.

So -- no, we don't need a business degree -- but it might help to read books like: "What They Teach You at Harvard Business School" (2008) or "What They DON'T Teach You at Harvard Business School" (1986), to stimulate your curiosity.

Best regards,
--Paul Trejo

David Akre ⋅ New York, NY A NYSE listed financial company ⋅ 25 years experience

The only reason you might need the degree is if a bank or creditor feels it's important. If you won't rely on outsiders then forget about it and get to work.

Michael Mitchell ⋅ Nashville, TN EMF Telecom Inc ⋅ 25 years experience

JD,

The world is littered with Entrepreneur's who don't have a Business Degree. Heck, I know a person whose never finished High School and he makes me look poor.

I don't have a business degree and I was a Director at two Fortune 500 companies before I started my own company.

It's never easy and I could write a book on here about what to do and what not to do. Mostly it comes down to hard work, doing a better job than your competitors, learning from your mistakes, recognizing opportunity, treating people fairly and paying your taxes. And did I mention working hard, never sleeping, stressing over payroll, rent, supplier invoices and then making time for you and your family!!!

Don't get me wrong, starting a company and making it successful is tough! But boy oh boy is it the best job in the world.

Best of Luck and feel free to contact me if you have more questions,
Michael

Brad Wilder ⋅ Lexington, KY Intech Contracting ⋅ 8 years experience

No, you don't need a business degree to be a business owner. In fact, my observation is that many entrepreneurs don't. They more typically start with an idea or opportunity that they are passionate about and run with it, learning along the way. Business education is valuable, but you can learn the basics as you need them. Then as you grow you can hire people who are trained in the details to do those tasks (accounts, managers, etc).

For your second questions, no an undergrad degree is not necessary for an MBA. In fact, most reputable MBA programs don't want business majors to be over-represented in their programs. Part of the value of business school is learning from your classmates and their diverse experiences (which is also why work experience is usually a prerequisite to apply). If B-school was all business undergrads, the collective experience of the group would be too homogeneous and learning opportunities would suffer. At my alma mater, the typical MBA class breakdown is about 1/3 business majors, 1/3 engineering/technical, and 1/3 social sciences/humanities. I think this is pretty typical.

tamme tannehill ⋅ Louisville, KY Find Me A Franchise, LLC ⋅ 35 years experience

Hi JD.....I have been a business owner for 35+ years with a business degree. When I was working in corporate, a business degree was essential to advancement but as a business owner, the most important and essential skills you will need are exactly the ones you have learned in the military. In my opinion, the degree gives you good insight into business but there is no substitute for years of real life experience. As far as an MBA, no you do not need a business degree to obtain an MBA. You could go after one if that's a personal goal but if your ultimate goal is to be a business owner, you don't need an MBA to do that. So, no you are not being naive. With that being said, let me give you a statistic....regular start ups fail faster and more often than start up franchises. There are many reasons why. The biggest is lack of capital and lack of effective marketing. Not having systems in place is another big reason. Franchises give you everything you need day one of starting your business, including on-going support and training. There are thousands of franchises in 75+ different industries with various price points and various ways to finance it if needed. The key is making sure you find one that has a proven successful system that you can afford. There are many financial benefits that you can go after being a vet. If you would like to discuss this further, please send me a private message and check out my profile. Otherwise, I hope this helps. Tamme Tannehill

Maria Davila ⋅ Cleveland, OH U.S. Small Business Administration ⋅ 18 years experience

JD,
It is not naïve of you at all. Countless small business owners that I know personally and professionally do not have a degree - they simply employ and surround themselves with people that have the necessary skills to fulfill the businesses needs.

You do not have to have a Bachelor's in Business to complete an MBA. Personally I have a Bachelor's of Arts and successfully completed an International Master's of Business Administration program.

Hope this was helpful. I'm here if I can be of any further assistance.
Thank you for your service

Kristin Garcia ⋅ Norman, OK The University of Oklahoma, Tom Love Innovation Hub ⋅ 15 years experience

JD, these are great suggestions! I also wanted to promote that Stanford has an entrepreneur summer program for Veterans to give a crash course in business development. I encourage you to check it out and let me know if I can help you with your application. The deadline is 3 Mar 2016.
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/stanford-ignite/campus/post-9-11-veterans

Jim Rohrbach ⋅ Evanston, IL ⋅ 22 years experience

Hi J.D.!

What degree did Steve Jobs have to start Apple? (Does that answer your question?)

Let me know how else I can help you --

Jim "Da Coach"

Fouad Malik ⋅ Los Angeles, CA ⋅ 7 years experience

In my opinion, you do not need a business degree to start and operate a business. That will be absolute waste of time to pursue a degree just so that you can start and operate a small business. The competencies which are required to start and operate a small business can be easily derived through targeted short term training sessions which are readily available through organizations such as Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Centers (SBDC's), Score etc.

A lot of what business school will teach you is way beyond the scope of what is required to start and manage majority of small businesses. Just be realistic and use a lot of common sense in addition to ensuring that you understand your customers.

Further, it is not necessary to have a bachelor of business administration to pursue an MBA in most of the schools. However, you may have to take additional courses or complete a foundation if you have an undergraduate in another discipline.

Vivek Vadakkuppattu ⋅ Seattle, WA Amazon ⋅ 14 years experience

Lots of good answers here, so I will instead skip to one of the resources I have found to be very useful with my entrepreneurial journey:

www.clearerthinking.org: Started to help people avoid thinking traps and make improved decisions, to better achieve the goals they value most. Provides LOTS of great resources and free courses/tips.

Dave Cooley ⋅ Denver, CO The YOU Network ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi, JD,

Of course a business degree, and particularly an MBA, would be a great benefit to you if you started a business ... but, you should consider franchising as an alternative that would enable you to capitalize on your skills and motivation without concern for needing a business degree.

Franchise companies have ironed out proven programs that include business management, financial management, business operations, marketing and advertising, HR management ... the works ... and they have effective initial training and on-going training and support that enables people of just about any background succeed in business.

So, with a franchise, you don't really need a business degree or an MBA.

But, what type of franchise would be best for your specific skills, experience, objectives and income/lifestyle goals? That's where a qualified, experienced and ethical franchise consultant can help you.

Doesn't cost you anything to engage a franchise consultant because the franchise sellers pay the consulting fees, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from allowing a franchise consultant to work with you to uncover several options that should make sense for you to review.

As a retired USAF officer with 18 years of franchising experience, including 4 years as a franchise consultant, I have helped many, many former and retired military find the right businesses. I know the franchise consulting process works.

Lots of franchise consulting organizations are available ... just Google "franchise consultant" and you'll see. But, not all franchise consultants are the same -- many "consultants" had zero franchising experience before they paid a fee to join a franchise consulting organization.

Therefore, look for consultants who had franchising experience BEFORE they became franchise consultants and if you can find a consultant with military experience, that would be a definite plus.

Reach out to me for more information/advice, JD. 720.259.9475 dcooley@theyounetwork.com

Don't give up on your desire to own your own business!
Dave Cooley, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)

Darlene Casstevens ⋅ Oxford, NC Liberty University ⋅ 13 years experience

Hi JD,
I helped run a successful family-owned computer business for 12 years. You absolutely do not have to have a business degree or an M.B.A. It sounds like you already have the skills to run your own business. The most important requirement is that you have a never-ending desire to succeed at whatever business adventure you have chosen to undertake. After that you have to believe in yourself and believe in your vision. If you hang in there, others will begin to believe in you and in your vision as well. It won't be easy and there will be days when you absolutely want to give up but don't ever give up. My daughter's sewing and alterations business is about to turn a profit this year for the first time. She has been pursuing her dream for around four years. Finally, now it looks like her dreams are going to come true. Best wishes to you and good luck!
Darlene

John Delmatoff ⋅ Murrieta, CA PathFinder Executive Coaching ⋅ 30 years experience

I've been coaching business owners and corporate executives for over 20 years and I can honestly say that a business degree has not been an advantage in most cases. Many times, these clients will try to apply "book-learning" to a business environment and they quickly realize that there's no substitute for practical experience. The smart ones will readily acknowledge their lack of experience and seek help. The others, usually driven by ego will try to BS their way through and end up embarrassing themselves.
If you're applying for a job, a degree may be required to get an interview. But if you're considering startling your own business, then don't let the lack of a business degree get in your way. If the business you're considering starting it's in a technical field, you can always hire someone with the requisite technical skills.
Some the the most successful business people I know have "only" a high school degree and they employ dozens or hundreds of people with advanced degrees. The owner's skills in understanding, leading and motivating people is far more important to success than their college education.
I say, go for it!

Gary Petito ⋅ Harlingen, TX Dell, Inc. ⋅ 6 years experience

Hi, I would agree with most of the answers above...I do not think a business degree is necessary, it sounds like you have a lot of common sense and can figure things out on your own. And there is help out there for things you do not know like taxes, hiring/firing, training, etc. I purchased a janitorial franchise for evening/weekend work while still employed full time and was able to work multiple jobs for 6 years and earn a franchisee of the year nomination. Good luck!

Jennifer Polhemus ⋅ Santa Monica, CA Precision Research (self-employed) ⋅ 25 years experience

Top two reasons some small businesses fail: lack of management expertise, and lack of capital. Those elements are more important than a business degree IMHO.

Emanuel Carpenter ⋅ Alpharetta, GA SDR Master Class ⋅ 20 years experience

JD:

Even though a degree is not required to be a business owner, I highly recommend you learn all you can about the business you plan to start. Writing a business plan will force you to think about your marketing plan, finance, competitors in your space and more. Free courses are everywhere online including at Coursera, Lynda.com, Udacity, and Udemy. And if you have education benefits from the military, use them to the fullest to take college courses. You've earned them.

You don't need a business degree to apply for an MBA. You do need an undergraduate degree though.