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A long-term goal of mine is to own a business, but I'm unsure of what kind of business I want to have. How do I figure out what I want to do?

A dream of mine is to attend the College of Charleston and major in business. I want to be able to know what my plan is to achieve being a business owner, but first, I need to know what I want my business to be! #business #majors #entrepreneur #CofC #SouthCarolina

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Ken’s Answer

The most important and helpful way to answer this question has several steps

  • get to know yourself well enough to determine a suitable career path
  • get to know people who have successful businesses of the kind that might interest you based upon the previous information. Over the years, I have seen many people start working for a successful business, become the best possible employee, and then have the business turned over to them later or at least become a major player in the business. That way, they were able to become involved without having to make all of the mistakes of a new business along the way.

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
There is a great organization that provides free consultation and workshops for people involved in and starting new small businesses. To allow you to get to know what is involved in setting up a business, you can visit their site at SCORE.ORG.
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Daphne’s Answer

First step is to figure what you're good at, what's your passion? What are you interested in?

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Adria’s Answer

I could copy several sources for you to reference to, be let me give you first step advice. When you have time, sit down in a quiet place and write down ideas. Think about what you want to and why. Are you trying to make millions or wanting to help others but still make a living? What are you great at? That's your first step. Eliminate want you can't see yourself doing or investing money into and make that decision. Share those ideas with a other successful small business owners and get advice.
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