Looking for some advice - young entrepreneur

darragh13

Hey
So i'm 18 years old and doing my Leaving , 3 years ago I started buying in bulk from China and selling on eBay , amazon and a few of my websites. It has been successful and I have enjoyed it . At the moment I make enough profit for me to live on comfortably(If i were to move out)
School has always got in the way and I think that if I did this 100% it could turn into something big .
The problem is do I go to college or not..
My parents want me to try it out at least , personally though i'd prefer to go on my own and work on my business.. That said would it be a better option if I went and did college on the side? I know that if i do go to college I'd complete it fully because I don't like to quit things..
Not too sure what to do really.. Cao is submitted and I have loads of business courses down.
Any advice at all is welcome!

Peterdalkey

Well done on your achievements to date, lots to admire. I am sure you would make a go of it on your own but if you stick on a quality 3rd level qualification turbo, your potential to go very far is hugely enhanced. You are young and have plenty of time on your side, set yourself the goal to be the very best you can. Give yourself every advantage.

There are people who are just not college material, it is just not for them. You don't seem to be suggesting this is the case with you, quite the opposite I sense.
You will never regret going to college, but you could very well regret not going. Your impatience is a classic entrepreneurial characteristic, use it to your advantage. You will have more time to keep your business moving than presently with school hours.

Good luck with making the right decision for you!

jimmii

I did the same at your age I was trading on eBay for a long time (until the post strikes put paid to that!) you learn a lot from it for sure so its great you have that experience. I would agree with Peter get that qualification and it should set you up a lot better.

ImDave

Good advice from the posters above, and I would encourage you to do the same. I was also similar in a way when your age (but not as successful mind you!), but a business degree which places a good emphasis on the practicalities of entrepreneurship is a good idea if possible. A course which will provide an insight into taxation, accounting, company law etc. will all stand to you in future.

Also remember that you may have plenty of time whilst studying to pursue your business activities, particularly in the first two years of most business degrees.

Markcheese

Nothing wrong with college, and don't be afraid to do something that's not exactly all business...can you defer a college placement for a year or two( if you have a definite plan for your business ) not just to go surfing with your mates...although you've gotta do that too... Would traveling suit you to broaden your horizons and make a few contacts...
The world is full of college graduates who don't work in the field they studied... Many of them waiting tables...
Look at your options, no point having a nice little business that you run from a small flat that you only leave to go to the post office while all your mates are off in town at parties

College is the most fun time of your life for that reason alone I would go! The real world comes fast enough with its problems.

You'll learn some useful things that can only help with your business. And given you can still run what your doing and pay your way through college I would definitely go.

DubTony

Absolutely go to college. I've never been "into education", and back in the day it was the exception to go to third level (because it wasn't "free"), so I didn't have that experience. So what I know about business is all self taught, hunted down, learnt from books, gleaned from experience etc.

I'd see a good business course as a short cut. You should be able to learn the necessary skills, and how to use the many business tools that are out there. For me it wouldn't be about the degree so much as the knowledge that can be gained.

Buttercake

Well done Darragh

I started my first business at 17, i had to skip one of my leaving cert exams because i had to go to a client meeting!, I didn't care and all i wanted to do was leave school and run my business. Looking back I really wish I took my time and went to college when i finished school even for a diploma course, because I made a lot of mistakes when starting out with my head in the clouds and if I went to college I would have easily accelerated mybusiness more efficiently by me having a better understanding of business. I have done night courses and a evening degree since but i wish I did it when i was younger!

Things are different these days, not to sound like a "back in my day..", but running an online auction/ebay business can be setup to be pretty automated and you could manage a course and the business at the same time?, You could easily employ someone/member of family to manage aspects of the business while you are studying.

Best of luck.

lucky john

Sorry darragh, its another pro 3rd level vote. Like many above I didn't go but for many reasons really regret it. Apart from the educational benefits it is the whole social side of it. Consider it a market reseach and networking exercise into your peers and future customers. Take a year out if you want but a degree or another qualification will not be a big weight for you to carry for the next 60 years of your life.

Gloomtastic!

I remember when I started working in an ad agency after going to college (Diploma in Advertising) I was told that everything I would have learnt bore little resemblance to the real world. When I went to further my education after working a few years I walked out after a few weeks because the lecturer was talking absolute rubbish most of the time!

The only qualification I believe that would benefit you OP, and be respected in the real world, would be an MBA.

Peterdalkey

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I remember when I started working in an ad agency after going to college (Diploma in Advertising) I was told that everything I would have learnt bore little resemblance to the real world. When I went to further my education after working a few years I walked out after a few weeks because the lecturer was talking absolute rubbish most of the time!

The only qualification I believe that would benefit you OP, and be respected in the real world, would be an MBA.

So skip 3rd level and go to 4th, is this what you mean Gloomtastic?

Fridge

Maybe you could do a few County Enterprise Board courses which are one-off, from day courses to a few weeks part-time. Quite cheap.

I've been doing some recently and nothing else I've done has been so relevant to what you need to do now to promote your online business. For example with Search Engine Optimisation, what search engines look for changes constantly, so if you do actually cover this in a 3 year degree, some of it will be outdated by the time you start trading again, if you're taking a pause for full time study.

Obviously full time education is invaluable but if you've never had the chance to do your business full time yet, you could defer college for a year and when you do go into full time education you might have a much better idea of what you want out of it. You might be better placed to pick the most relevant course and you'll have more experience to back up what you're learning.

Gloomtastic!

Peterdalkey wrote: »

So skip 3rd level and go to 4th, is this what you mean Gloomtastic?

You can't do an MBA without some pre qualification I believe.

Peterdalkey

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

You can't do an MBA without some pre qualification I believe.

MBA is 4th level, hence my question/post!

darragh13

Thanks everyone for the advice , I have Business and economics courses on my cao at the moment , my top choice having only 9 hours of lectures a week so I could probably work around that
@Buttercake At the moment i'm doing that , I hired someone on elance to do the customer service for me and my mam does all the packaging. It's all completely automated at the moment which is fairly handy!
I think i'll try 3rd level anyways, thanks everyone!

Buttercake

darragh13 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the advice , I have Business and economics courses on my cao at the moment , my top choice having only 9 hours of lectures a week so I could probably work around that
@Buttercake At the moment i'm doing that , I hired someone on elance to do the customer service for me and my mam does all the packaging. It's all completely automated at the moment which is fairly handy!
I think i'll try 3rd level anyways, thanks everyone!

Good man Daragh, you'll breeze through a business degree and enjoy it, you have plenty of exciting years ahead.

terryhobdell

Darragh go with the advice I never went to college and regret it ever since I know I would have been better at what I did or have done something else better if I had. It's knowing what they need to know is the skill entrepreneurs have and college will help you.
Now ignore us all and become the next Bill Gates best of luck.

monthehoops

Darragh i can only reiterate what others have said. I think you should go to college. At the very least it might give you some fresh business ideas or approaches to doing business. You can carry on your sales business throughout, apply any relevant assignments to your business etc.

daviecronin

Hi Darragh I know it's months later but was wondering how things were going with you?:)

csm

Hi Darragh,

I know you've probably made your decision by now but I'm going to put my hand up for the 'No to college' option. Bear in mind I have benefited greatly from education and do a job that required going to 3rd (and 4th) level.

I am a great believer in the 'gap year' concept, which is to take some time off after secondary school to travel/run a business/do charity work and so on. It could be more than one year but a year minimum. For you I think it would be a great opportunity to see how far your business could grow if you had the time to give to it. It would also help you solidify what you want to do for the future.

If you worked on your business full-time for a year you could determine whether it was something you wanted to do for a good few years, or whether you'd prefer to work for someone else in a much bigger business for example. If you want to work for yourself then there's no need for 3rd level education really. All of the info is available online. If you want to work for a much bigger business then you may need to have a degree to get your foot in the door so to speak. And also to have a good grounding in business theory.

A degree is a means to an end. It can open doors for you but if you don't want to open those doors in the first place then why bother?

Rob

jamesbondings

an added benefit of college we all seem to overlook sometimes is contacts.

all your classmates will be doing a business course too, some of them you may notice certain traits in them that can enhance your business. Others may go on to work for multinationals or other companies which may benefit you in some way. College is great fun enjoy it....But these "lads" now can be a huge asset to you and your future endeavors.

Good luck with it all,
James