Qualified For The Job: Where Entrepreneurs Hone Their Startup Skills

School for entrepreneurs

You don't need a qualification to start a business, but you do need a specific set of skills to be a successful entrepreneur. The question is, how do you acquire those skills and attributes; from academic study, including dedicated entrepreneurship courses, or the school of life?

The business world is full of founders who left school with little in the way of academic qualifications, yet went on to achieve extraordinary success. But have they missed something? Strategic business venture consultant Katrina Young insists that education plays a significant role in shaping successful entrepreneurs equipping them with a diverse range of expertise, from business management and finance to marketing and strategic planning.

“Formal education helps them understand various aspects of running a business and navigate challenges more effectively,” she says. “However, education alone does not guarantee entrepreneurial success. Real-world challenges, networking, and learning from failures are equally important in honing entrepreneurial skills.”

And some entrepreneurs agree with the principle that education contributes to being a successful entrepreneur. Jo Molek, CEO and founder of Best Offer Ohio says: “People often disregard education for practical experiences, but don’t realize the way that classroom lectures, curricula, and textbooks are designed to teach things from the bottom up. It gives you a deeper understanding of business principles and the ability to be firm in what you're doing because you've learned it inside out. People who argue otherwise rely fully on trial and error.”

Nevertheless, a lot of successful entrepreneurs have never studied their profession in an academic way, and question the value of doing so. Alex Sudron has founded and sold two businesses, a ski holiday business he started at 21, and a consultancy to creative businesses that he sold to a private equity firm. He is currently six months into his current startup, Plia Parasols. His view is that studying entrepreneurship simply delays getting stuck into starting a business.

He says: “Nothing compares to learning on the job, and the challenges that come your way will be hard to predict. Entrepreneurs can pick themselves up from that, problem-solve quickly, and keep going in the face of adversity. Some business and finance education can be helpful, but once you are on your entrepreneurial journey, it’s more about practical learning applied to live challenges, not just theory.”

Others are nothing short of scathing about some of the formal entrepreneurship education programs currently being taught, including Mike Maven, founder of Top Growth Experts. “In today's fast-paced world, it takes about a week for tactical information to get old and outdated,” he says. “Often it is being taught by someone who is a complete theorist and has no idea about what it takes to run a successful business over a long period.”

What budding entrepreneurs need to be taught, he says, is long-term business principles, for example, researching to find a solution to a problem that lots of people have and then finding people who have the money to pay for that solution.

“You can collect funds from people with just an idea on paper and get them to pay for it upfront while you develop the solution,” adds Maven. “You can offer it to them for half the publicly stated future price, in return for being an early committed buyer. People don't teach this type of stuff and often you have to learn by trial.”

Others insist that lessons in entrepreneurship can be learned from more general areas of education. Jon Morgan, CEO of consulting firm Venture Smarter, believes there is a hidden power to be found in old-school classroom knowledge.

He says: “I'm not talking about textbook memorization. The real value lies in the way formal education strengthens your thinking muscles. Take philosophy, for example. It might seem far removed from the daily grind of building a company, but grappling with complex ideas and deconstructing arguments hones your critical thinking skills. When you're staring down a business challenge, you'll be better equipped to analyze the situation, identify biases, and come up with creative solutions that go beyond the obvious.”

The subject of history can be another surprising weapon in an entrepreneur’s arsenal. Diving deep into past economic shifts, technological revolutions, and even social movements can provide a fascinating lens for viewing the present. “You start to see patterns, understand how seemingly unrelated events can ripple outwards, and anticipate potential disruptions in your own industry,” says Morgan. “It's like having a historical crystal ball that helps you to future-proof your startup.”

Formal education, specializing in entrepreneurship or otherwise, is not a magic bullet, which is evident from the vast numbers of founders who never stepped foot in a university, but it can provide a unique set of tools and perspectives that can take your startup journey to the next level.

Hugo Cannon, CEO of Velloy studied philosophy, politics and economics at University College, London (UCL) and found it hugely helpful in building his company, but for unexpected reasons.

He says: “The entrepreneurship societies and extracurricular events helped me grow as a person, and I met cofounders there outside my actual course, which I wouldn't have done if I hadn’t been attending in the first place. Since graduating I have never been asked once where I studied, unlike all my job-seeking friends for whom, a decade on, it is still vital.”

Since leaving UCL, Cannon has invested in ‘self-education’ via expensive courses and programs that teach practical skills. He adds: “Interestingly the ROI there has been much clearer than the £50,000 or so cost of going to a traditional university.”