Student Gives Advice on Seeking a Path to Success
By Charles Greco | Observer Contributor
You don’t have to be a Business major to have a desire to become an entrepreneur. Every major and degree program can help create opportunities to open your own business in the future, as well as developing an employment career path.
We are nearing graduation day, and some students will be moving on to four-year schools and perhaps beyond while others will begin thinking about leveraging their education sooner rather than later, finding decent starting jobs with potential for growth. Both graduating students will have equal opportunity to develop a strategy for becoming an entrepreneur. What’s really important is that long-term career decisions don’t have to be made on graduation day.
Those students moving on to higher-ed will have more time to study market opportunities as industry landscapes shift often; markets that are hot today can easily grow cold tomorrow. Students entering the job market will have the opportunity to choose a profession that will allow them to garner practical working experience. Both graduates will have the chance to experiment helping them to make career decisions. In the end, both students come out at the same place.
For those aspiring owning a business one day…what will it take to get there? Most would answer that question with one word: “money.” But in fact, that’s not true. Money can actually be the easiest part and it’s at the bottom of a long list of requirements. What it will take is you to get there. Every entrepreneur starts with a vision. The vision doesn’t need an “end-game,” just a plan of where you want to go, and how you want to get there.
Ask yourself:
Do you have the passion and commitment to do what’s necessary to reach your goals?
Do you have a strong work ethic? Are you prepared to be the first one in the office and the last one out?
Do you have determination? As an entrepreneur you will face challenges and even failure. Are you ready to get up and do it again?
Are you creative? Being creative helps you to find commonalities between different situations that were not necessarily tied together.
Are you competitive? Feel certain that when you decide to start that business, others will be there already. Deal with them!
Are you open-minded? You may have started with great ideas, but once into battle, adjustments will always have to be made.
Are you confident in yourself? You will be challenged and you will even question yourself. Remember your vision and don’t forget what got you there.
Are you disciplined? Can you stay on track and not let people or circumstances sway you from your vision?
See? I never mentioned “money.”
All of us graduating in May will be starting from the same place and with the same foundation from which to build upon: an MWCC education and degree. What we do with that “head-start” is entirely up to us as individuals. Whether you go on to higher-ed, or you use your opportunity to begin a career, we will still have something in common: we will still be learning! Learning never stops.
Mr. Greco is a former award-winning International CEO with years of experience in successfully building businesses. He was identified by The Boston Herald as “one of the most influential people in the tradeshow industry today.” Boston Magazine in a feature article recognized him as an individual with “Un-Conventional Wisdom” and India’s Experiential Magazine called him a “Global Industry Change-Leader.” He has graced the covers of Tradeshow Week and EXPO Magazine while numerous other U.S. and international business publications have sought his views/opinions such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Fortune and many others. He is the recipient of a Massachusetts State Senate Proclamation; Pirandello Lyceum “Man of the Year” and Italia Unita “Man of the Year.”
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