What are the best degrees for entrepreneurs?

While you’ll occasionally run across a prodigy that never had a formal college education and was able to build a successful multinational organization.

A proper education is a priority if you want to enjoy any type of lasting success in the business world. While a business education is always a plus, many degrees may give you a critical set of skills that may allow you to thrive and build a solid foundation on which you can build upon.

Here are some of the best degree options for future or current entrepreneurs.

Psychology

Having a deep understanding of the human mind and a solid psychology formation can give you a great advantage in the business world. For one, it can give you an edge when it comes to understanding things like selling and negotiating. Marketing and psychology are actually intertwined in many ways and understanding what makes people tick on a primal level can help you create advertising campaigns that speaks to their needs and connects with them better.

One can only look at someone like Edward Bernays, who happened to be Sigmund Freud’s nephew, who directly transferred his knowledge of psychoanalysis to business. In his early days, Bernays worked with various companies as a public relations consultant. His knowledge of human nature also helped him create particularly persuasive advertising campaigns. Some of the principals he used are still in use today and understanding the human psyche is a definite tool you can use in your day to day operations.

Computer science

At first glance, computer science might not be the most obvious choice for future entrepreneurs. But a computer science degree could give you a solid foundation that will allow you to enter many fields. It could also help you with things like building web and mobile apps or building web features for instance.

In a time where tech startups are all the rage, a formation in computer science is a definite plus. Many success stories had a small group of computer science majors at their center who simply had a great knowledge of how to build great apps. Facebook and Snapchat are two prime examples. Computer science skills are not only in high demand in the corporate world, but are highly valuable for business owners as well, so depending on your field, getting a computer science degree might be the best decision you could make.

Business administration

At the end of the day, not many degrees will give you a better-rounded formation than a classic business administration degree. With an MBA, you’ll not only touch on virtually all aspects of a business such as supply chain management, human resources, marketing and accounting, but you’ll incorporate a wide variety of soft skills that will help you as well. You’ll learn core leadership principles, negotiation tactics and how to attract partners and investors. You’ll learn how to cultivate a corporate culture and boost employee engagement. You’ll also learn how to look at a business from a holistic standpoint and learn how to scale it without over expending.

But you don’t have to stick strictly with an MBA. An international business degree can also be a great choice depending on your field. International business will give you a big picture view of global business and help you understand different market movements, business cultures and various global shifts. This will also help you identify emerging markets and the effects of global business trends on your operations.

If you’re thinking of enrolling in a business program, it would be wise to look at as many options as you can. Some degrees might be more entrepreneur oriented and the number of programs that cater to entrepreneurs is steadily growing. If you’re looking for the best business program for your line of business, you can discover a range of business degrees via educations.

Accounting

There aren’t that many skills that are as valuable as accounting in the business world. Good or bad accounting could literally make or break any business and some of the greatest business owners had some sort of accounting background. Accounting affects every aspect of your business and an accountant can see things before anybody else.

No one knows how to balance budgets and understand margins and production costs quite like an accountant. Also, if you were thinking of building your own business, chances are you won’t have the means to get an accountant on your payroll and may have to do the job yourself, so at least having a basic knowledge of accounting could help. Also, understanding how accounting works will prevent you from getting taken for a loop by your accountant or make you aware that they’re using tactics that could put your business at risk for litigation.

Economics

If you want to get an even deeper understanding of how finance works, then getting a degree in economics could be a great idea as well. A formation in economics will allow you to understand how central bank policies can affect global markets for instance. It will give you a better understanding on things like commodities, price movements, and financial hedging which could give you a leg up if you’re starting your own business. Having an economics degree in your back pocket will give you a huge advantage when dealing with financiers or venture capitalists. And if your business relies a lot on data, then you’ll have no choice but to have a solid formation in economics in order to crunch that data and understand how you can employ these statistics.

Marketing

Marketing has been referred to as the most beautiful form of art by many people. Great marketers often make great business men and there’s no better way to get a solid understanding of marketing than by getting a marketing degree. Getting a marketing degree will help you understand things like public relations, how to build and maintain a brand image, consumer engagement and retention, and a variety of different skills that will help you in a business environment.

Law

For a long time, law was regarded as one of the best degrees for people thinking of becoming entrepreneurs. If you’re running a successful business, chances are you’ll have to deal with some sort of legal issue along the way. Dealing with lawyers is something that is simply unavoidable in this field, so why not get the knowledge to do your own legal work yourself? Not only will it allow you to save on legal fees, but it will also help you identify potential legal issues before they even reach the litigation stage, which can be a huge advantage. Companies spend millions on litigation every year and being able to identify things like patent issues before they happen could make a huge difference. Corporate or patent law are two fields that are particularly beneficial to entrepreneurs. Tax law is also a great field to consider if you ultimately want to become an entrepreneur.

All these degrees will give you a great advantage if you’re either already an entrepreneur or thinking of becoming one. Never underestimate the power of a solid education and try to consider choosing one of these degree options if you want to build your business on solid ground.