I was just wondering, has any of you in class planned on shifting gear in your career after you all graduate? For example, in my case, I got my undergrad in finance&accounting majors and I had been working in finance industry as an analyst before entering MBA. Recently, I have just been thinking about where I want to end up in a year or so (thanks to Prof. Macpherson' short assignment in class), whether I want to keep pursuing career in finance or doing something else. The idea of starting my own business has intrigued me ever since we had all these great lectures and seminars /visits on thinking as an entrepreneur. The problem is, I have been so comfortable in working in finance so I don't know if giving up career in finance and shifting gear into entrepreneurship will be worth the risk. As you all know, being an entrepreneur involves taking a lot of risks. We've seen the stats and the tour guide at Plug and Play also mentioned about the high rate of failed start-ups. How could you raise enough money to keep the business running? How can you find stable customers who will be willing to purchase your products/services? Those are just scary thoughts for me.
So are any of you in a similar situation like I am? I'm wondering how many of you plan on sticking with your previous kind of job because that's the area you feel most comfortable with (i.e staying in your comfort zone) or wanting to change to something else you 've never been in like going from finance to entrepreneurship in my case ?
After hearing the speaker at the UPS seminar couple weeks ago by Jim Beach, the professor from Georgia State U, I was intrigued hearing his story where he took a bet with his class that he would do importing business from any of the country his class chose. He ended up going to Pakistan trying to find interesting products to sell and he finally found kilim chairs as his choice. He won the bet basically but the thing that caught me was how did it seem so easy for him to just get going and make business in a short period amount of time? I decided to google him and true enough found a simple good article about him. In the article, he gave valuable advices in my opinion that says
"The solid advice to the would-be entrepreneur was to start a low-risk business. It was not about creativity, it was about stealing a good idea and doing it better. Of course it is also important to do something you enjoy. You should build the business with money on hand. Start small and slow as long as you own your own company"
I think those are pretty important lessons that we should start small, low-risk business and found a way to do it better than the rest of the pack. I hope my sharing can be useful to all of us and I look forward to hearing thoughts, advices, sharing from you guys who are as inspired as I am to run a business or willing to change career track.
Thank you.
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3 comments:
Derwin,
I am completely changing careers, that's why I'm here. I have no interest in going back to property management.
I took some time to talk with Mitchell earlier this week to talk about my "game plan". I'd like to get into the Social Responsibility and non-profit side of things. Seeing as I have no experience (besides donating my time or money to local non-profits) I asked for help obtaining an internship for the fall. All our classes (or at least the ones I'm taking) are at night. So this leaves the perfect opportunity to get an internship and get my feet wet. I will probably try and get another internship in the spring so I can obtain as much experience as possible before we graduate.
I think working in the industry that you may think you want to move to in an internship capacity is the best way to test the waters. Take advantage of all the networking and connections USF and our program can offer. You can bet there have been many students before us who were in our exact position, and now those people have jobs and can help us.
Good Luck!
yes Candace, i like the idea of getting your feet wet first by getting internships, expanding networking, learning from others, etc etc.
I am going to maximize my time at USF and use all the resources the school has like Career Service Center, valuable advices from professors, etc.
Definitely, it shouldn't be just about reading books, doing assignments and exams. We should balance them out with out of class activities. Being involved in Entrepreneur or finance club would be a good starting point.
Thanks for the share!
Hey Derwin,
I don't think I am going to change careers. I was and still and very excited about the industry in which I want to work. Maybe I have an advantage because my father is involved in the industry, so I have a deeper connection to the work or maybe I just really really like it!
I know that it would be a dream come true to eventually take over his company. My father has always been big on education, citing the fact that his business might not be there for me to work for someday if he sold it, and putting my future in his hands was a bad idea. I think his emphasis on building my own future drew me back into school to educate myself and make myself a stronger business person in the industry, be it for the family or for another company.
I have to be honest and say that there are times that I wish I didn't know what I wanted to do or in what industry I felt compassionate about. I consider myself very lucky to truly know what I want to do, but think about what I could potentially be missing...
Each opportunity you try and realize is not for you is another notch on your experience belt. It is just as important to know why you don't like something as to know why you like it. Should you try entrepreneurship and decide its not for you, you will inevitably be a stronger person, having tested the waters. You will bring that entrepreneurial experience to whatever endeavor you choose to tackle next. I have never heard of someone not getting a job because they had too much experience...
Due to my focus, I feel I might be missing some of those experiences and trials in other industries. Therefore, I think you should take the risk and try something new. You are only young and without serious responsibilities for so long (wife, kids, house, etc.). Go out and try whatever comes to mind!
TJ
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