I get asked a lot by business owners if I think a few college classes would help them learn how to better run their business. My answer? 

Yes, as long as it’s at Hard Work U!

I’m only halfway kidding because College of the Ozarks here in Missouri is called Hard Work U. I thought it was a joke for a long time because Justin went there…but I kid you not. It’s a real school! 

Will college help you be a better business owner? Maybe…but I’m also not the person who is going to tell all of my kids that I expect each of them to go to college. If my kids tell me they want to be a doctor, lawyer or veterinarian, I’ll tell them to get good grades and work hard to get into a good college. If they tell me they’re not really sure what they want to do in life, I’m not going to tell them they should go to college to figure that out. I spent nine years in college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I did a little bit of everything until I figured it out. I have a degree in journalism. Am I a world-class journalist right now? 

No. I own a cheer gym and with the exception of these blogs and proofing communication that goes out from my gym, very little of my degree is used daily in my gym. 

I also started my MBA program though. At one point I recognized my interest in business. I went through about ⅓ of the program before we opened our gym and I realized I really couldn’t do both. The information I learned in my program was relatively unrelatable to my day-to-day tasks in my business. I found contract law incredibly interesting, but also realized I was never going to self-interpret contracts without the legal advice of an attorney who specializes in that. I enjoyed the corporate finance classes because I’m a nerd and love math. I have never used that same math in my business though. In fact, in our business, if I have more than two numbers after the decimal point, I did something wrong. Instead, if I have financial concerns I’ll discuss them with my CPA or financial advisor. 

I took some basic marketing classes that dealt with theory, but no one was there teaching me how to run an effective Facebook ad and helping me establish my target audience. I took Human Resource classes as electives thinking they would help me learn how to better manage a staff. I learned a lot of legal jargon that my attorney could easily translate today. I also found the information I was taught in relation to hiring legally varied by state and was out of date within a year or two. 

I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t go to college. I am telling you that it’s likely not the best use of your time if you’re looking to become a business owner. I spent 8 hours per week sitting in graduate classes and another 8 hours per week on homework. Before finals, I spent double that. I paid enormous amounts of money that thankfully was reimbursed in part by the Air Force. Were it not for those veteran benefits, I would have gone into quite a bit of debt to make it happen. 

If you love school (and it’s OK to admit it, because I do…) and you have both the time and finances to spend, then you should go to college. 

What I don’t want you to do is go to college because you think you’re not credible. Don’t go because other people who aren’t in your shoes are telling you how much it would help you. Don’t go because you’re overwhelmed and aren’t sure what you should be doing every day to grow your business. Don’t go because you’re terrified of running a business and think a professor will help you understand the ins and outs of a business. Not a single professor in my grad program had run a long-term successful business. I’m certain that’s a requirement at a bigger university for some departments, but it wasn’t for mine. 

If you’re feeling those ways and not sure where to turn, pick up a business book or download one on Audible. Check out the Next Gen podcast. Go to our website and start consuming all the blogs. Most importantly, check out the Next Gen Academy. We named it the “Academy” for a reason. It’s applicable education from people who have done what you’re trying to do. 

We’re also smart enough to tell you when you need to pass something by an attorney, CPA or financial advisor. I’m not qualified to review a contract, bill of sale or lease and understand the legal implications of latin terms. My attorney is. I’m not qualified to look at the fine print of the terms of employer retention credits and find out if my business qualifies. My CPA is. 

Then what am I qualified to do? I’m qualified to interview those positions and hire the right experts to help me with my business. I’m qualified to read business books and ask my CPA how I can benefit from tuition reimbursement for my staff. I’m qualified to train others to do the hiring, evaluations, daily sales tracking and marketing for my business. All of that can be taught through great leadership, and you’re so very capable – whether you truly believe in yourself right now or not. As a Next Gen coach, I actually KNOW that with the right tools and hard work, every gym owner is capable of success.