Does It Help To Pursue A Degree In Entrepreneurship?

Do entrepreneurs really require a degree?

Entrepreneurship is a practical field, so why does anybody need a degree? The question is correct, but not to a larger extent.

Entrepreneurship requires domain knowledge of fields ranging from finance, technology, and marketing to hiring. It needs a solid theoretical understanding of the functions that must be executed. Hence, an entrepreneur is expected to know the basics of these subjects to run the business smoothly.

A degree helps to understand the subjects from a foundational perspective so that entrepreneurs can get the required knowledge to know how a small business works. It becomes the launchpad to kickstart an entrepreneur's journey.

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Still not convinced? Let us talk about what degrees teach.

What Do Entrepreneurship Degrees Teach You?

Degrees in entrepreneurship cover aspects from idea generation to post-funding scalability. Let us understand this with the curriculum of the majority of such courses:

• Identifying and building new business opportunities
• Building an MVP or prototype of the product
• Pricing models for monetisation
• Growth marketing to reach customers
• Understanding key business ratios to achieve profitability
• Learn business modelling and financial planning
• Raising funds from angel investors and VCs
• Managing self and team
• GST, TDS and legal compliances
• Effective business leadership and communication
• How to blitzscale smoothly?

The entrepreneurship course covers the background data of building a startup from an idea to a scalable business proposition. It helps a first-time entrepreneur understand the challenges and pain points of building a successful startup from scratch.

But more than giving the theoretical framework of running a company, a formal degree does help in getting some other added advantages. Let us understand that in detail:

Other Benefits Of An Entrepreneurship Degree

Large Network Of Students: The benefit of doing a degree course is the access to an extensive network of students that someone gets. These students may be your co-founders, customers or even early investors for your startup. Your NetworkNetwork is your net worth in entrepreneurship.

Diversity of the Class: The beauty is the diversity of the class in a BBA/MBA class. The students are from different backgrounds and fields and bring a wide array of experiences. As wisely said, humans are the best books to read. Every experience and every lesson in the journey counts. You might also interact with students globally and understand the global landscape and the problems, which will help you while going global. These lessons are a goldmine and become a base learning ground for anyone aiming to become an entrepreneur. For example - If you are from a commerce background, you might get the opportunity to meet with engineers and learn the facets of emerging technologies from them.

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Incubation/Funding Support: Many colleges offering entrepreneurship offer incubation and funding support to students. This support includes but is not limited to office space, mentorship support, equity-free grants and strategic partnership opportunities with relevant customer groups and institutions. For example - The incubators at IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad have been some of the top incubators mentoring and funding early-stage startups, which the college students run.

Brand Image of an Alumni: A brand image helps in many ways to establish the trust and credibility of the founder. Though it may not be the deciding factor, a good college background puts the entrepreneur on a higher pedestal in the business world. And the best part is that the brand image is everlasting, so it can be used to an advantage anytime, especially for first-time founders.

Entrepreneurship requires domain knowledge of fields ranging from finance, technology, and marketing to hiring.

Change of Surroundings: A startup journey is very challenging, and there are several times an entrepreneur is stuck in it. Issues may be dynamic, ranging from commercialisation and funding to the supply chain and distribution of the product/service. A change in surroundings does help to release some of that pressure building in the mind of an entrepreneur. Pausing in your journey and going to study entrepreneurship enables you to get back to things from a fresh perspective later on.

High-Pressure Environment: A college perfectly creates a high-pressure environment with assignments, projects, vivas, and exam preparations - all done in a super-crunched timeline. The urge to excel from peers builds up even more pressure from the inside. A student who learns the art of prioritising goals and managing their time has the potential to go ahead and become a great businessperson.

Get A Creative Edge: The course also throws various practical assignments to you. From creating your pitch deck to interviewing a successful entrepreneur, the degree helps you get a creative edge in completing your tasks and projects.

After all - Entrepreneurship is all about creativity and innovation. Isn't it?

The benefits are well-rounded and boost a business journey from every lens. But, it is time to be the Devil's advocate and look at some of the cons that might put an overall thought to your decision.

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Cons of doing an Entrepreneurship Degree

Lack of Monetary Support: Since entrepreneurship is a specialised course, the course fees are higher than any other regular course. A person lacking a solid financial background or monetary support would find it hard to afford it.

Time Off The Business: An entrepreneurship course (BBA or MBA) requires a lot of time and attention to the class and the myriad of assignments a student gets along the way. Though the course teaches the value of time management, that time is still from when you could be doing your business. There is always the opportunity cost you are chasing - learning on your own or through a degree.

Not Much For Second-time Founders: The course may not be helpful for a second-time founder who has already run a startup in the past. They would already have the Network, wherewithal and requisite knowledge. They may find little value in the degree.

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Understanding both sides of the table would help you decide whether to pursue a degree in entrepreneurship. Either way, entrepreneurship is about learning and unlearning new things outside your comfort zone. Developing the right mindset to think as an entrepreneur would help in entrepreneurship and life. The definition of an entrepreneur is someone who assesses risk and leverages it to make the best use of an opportunity at hand. Isn't it something supposed to be done in life too?