Have you ever heard of Peter Thiel?
Thiel was a co-founder of PayPal and the first outside investor of Facebook in 2004. He sits on Facebook’s board of directors. He is one of the wealthiest businessmen in Silicon Valley.
In 2010, Thiel created the Thiel Fellowship, providing $100,000 over two years to 20 individuals age 22 and younger each year to drop out of college and start their own venture.
The Thiel Fellowship website describes one of the reasons why he has done this: “College can be good for learning about what’s been done before, but it can also discourage you from doing something new. Each of our fellows charts a unique course; together they have proven that young people can succeed by thinking for themselves instead of competing on old career tracks.”
I believe Thiel is misguided by encouraging young people to drop out of college. The media glamorizes the fact that Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all dropped out of college. You could argue that each of them caught lightening in a bottle with their success. The odds of winning the lottery may be less than starting the next Google.
Operating a small business is difficult. Many more enterprises fail than succeed, so it seems very shortsighted to pass on getting a degree.
I jumped into the restaurant business at age 30 after getting my education and some work experience. Here is my advice for college-age people interested in starting their own business:
Finish your education
Get your associate degree.
Even better, get your bachelor’s degree.
Even great business ideas sometimes don’t work out. You’ll also likely have less financial resources and business experience than your competitors. Therefore, it is important to have a marketable degree to fall back on. You’ll never regret having a bachelor’s degree in your back pocket.
Get work experience
One of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century was the founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc. Amazing but true: Kroc didn’t start McDonald’s until he was 52 years old. At the time, he was selling milkshake machines.
There is value in gaining real-world business experience before you launch your enterprise. Learn from seeing how a successful business is managed, products or services are marketed and finances are controlled.
Launch your business part-time
Consider launching your business part-time while you are in school. Visualize the tinkerer in the garage who eventually brings a product to market. There is no hard and fast rule that every business start needs to be full time.
Continue to get feedback on your idea, tap one of your business professors to get their ideas about your business. Use your spare time to continue to work on your business plan and develop different prototypes of your product.
Don’t forget about building a product or service
It seems like every young entrepreneur I meet wants to create the next great social media tool, or app or video game. Don’t assume future riches are only in Internet-based businesses. Lots of folks are jumping into those markets.
Go old-school — consider building a new product or creating a new service. Tweak an existing product or service and make it better.
My bottom line: Even if you are 100-percent sure you want to own your own business, don’t quit school.
Think longer term.
Take the time to prepare yourself for a career as an entrepreneur, but have a back-up plan, if the entrepreneurship dream doesn’t work out.
Pat Sisneros is the vice president of college services at Everett Community College. Send your comments to psisneros@everettcc.edu
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