I want to be a business owner someday, I would like to know what's the difference between business and entrepreneurship and what would be a better route for me? especially if I'm interested in finance?

Hi Briana!

Entrepreneurship is the act of starting your own business. A background in business would absolutely help in this endeavor, but there are plenty of successful entrepreneurs who don't come from a business background.

Working in business and for a business, you would be working fora company and helping that company succeed. You would then share in that success as an employee.

Entrepreneurship is much more than just finance - it's management, marketing, taking on significant risk, and overseeing everything to make your business successful.

Depending on the type of finance you are interested in, you can absolutely become a business owner within the field. Financial planners often end up owning their own firms.

Good luck to you!

Briana<span style="color: rgb(67, 58, 83);"> </span>Essentially the question you’re grabbling with is, “Do I want to be the owner of a business or work for an established company. Plenty has been written on the subject entrepreneurship but it usually comes down to a few variables.   1. Your aversion to risk. 2. What drives your interests and 3. One good idea.  In the end getting some practical experience in the field is a good first step.  I don’t have any data to offer you on this, but it is my sense that most successful businesses are born out of opportunities that are discovered while gathering that practical experience.  

Going to work for a company an learning the in’s and out’s will reveal those opportunities and help you position yourself to be able to take that risk when you’re ready. 

A business degree, such as a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), typically requires study in several fields and normally a concentration in a field as well. Fields of business study could include finance, accounting, marketing, international business, or in some cases, entrepreneurship.

You could get an MBA with a concentration in marketing or accounting, and become an excellent marketer or accountant, but have very little background in, and be poorly prepared for, entrepreneurship.

If you study finance, you'll typically be prepared for jobs such as stock analyst, investment banker, commercial banker, accountant/CPA, and other jobs like that which involve detailed analysis of financial records, either to run the finances for a business (accountant) or evaluate how a business runs their finances (stock analyst).

To be an entrepreneur, you need to know how to run different all aspects of a business, from creating a product, to marketing it, to financing it. Or, you need to know how to hire people who can do those areas for you. Entrepreneurship requires the ability to network, recruit, innovate, and many other skills that are generally not needed to be successful in finance.

Depending on where you study, you'll want to see what choices you need to make and what options are available to you. Can you get a business degree with a concentration in both finance and entrepreneurship from your school? Or do you need to find another school with those programs, or choose just one concentration? Do you want to be able to get a job easily (a finance degree helps) or try to make your own job by starting your own company (an entrepreneurship degree will help but will be much harder than finding a finance job)?