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My options

DannyJ

New Blood
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Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
15
In our school we pick options in year 8 and I was thinking of studying business for my GCSE's. I don't want to so much run my own business, but maybe work within an office space. Has anyone had any experiences in an office (or does/has someone got their own business?)

Another thing, what level must you have in mathematics to qualify for a business job? Thanks.
 
DannyJ said:
In our school we pick options in year 8 and I was thinking of studying business for my GCSE's. I don't want to so much run my own business, but maybe work within an office space. Has anyone had any experiences in an office (or does/has someone got their own business?)

Another thing, what level must you have in mathematics to qualify for a business job? Thanks.
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Are you in the US? I'm going to assume you are not. None of this makes any sense to me.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Are you in the US? I'm going to assume you are not. None of this makes any sense to me.
Click to expand...

Of course, very little does make sense to you.


I have had experience in both, and both are rewarding and both can be tedious and much trouble. A lot your success depends on you, your type of business, and how much alcohol you can drink while still functioning.

As to math requirement: I have no idea.
 
Thanks for the little insight. I'm aware it probably is a right pain in the a*se as my dad works in a warehouse and that stresses him out enough.
 
Danny,

My education is a bachelor's degree in Cross Cultural Studies (which involved study of world cultures, world literature, world history, world philosophy, etc....but no math). Today, I'm in the process of starting up my second successful business (well, the first one was successful, and it looks like the second one will be).

I have absolutely no formal business education; and I rarely if ever need to do much beyond basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division. For anything more complicated, I hire other people who do it for me.

So, is it necessary to study business, or to be good at math?

Certainly not.

But, would it be advisable? I'd say that yes, it is. When I went to university, my plan was to travel the world, living in different countries as an English teacher. So there was no point in studying business. It wasn't until later in life that I changed to pursue this particular path. Had I known back then that I was going to do business, I most certainly would have chosen to do studies related to business, and to at least learn the mathematics necessary for accounting skills (including how to do accounting).

In my experience, the odds are that your plans and goals will change at least two or three times after you graduate. Much of what you study now may well turn out to be distantly related at best to what you actually end up doing. So I'd suggest a job that is going to teach you more general skills and abilities that will be relevant in many jobs, rather than trying to pick one narrow focus.

Most important among those -- the skill of working your ass off; the skill of patience with incompetent bosses; the skill of communication; the skill of doing things you think are pointless; the skill of persistence/perseverance in the face of significant obstacles; the skill of solving problems on your own; the skill of learning new knowledge/skills quickly.

If you master this stuff, you'll be well set for pretty much anything that comes at you later in life. So...look for opportunities that are going to challenge you, that are going to put you outside of your comfort zone, forcing you to learn things and do things that you haven't done before.
 
DannyJ said:
In our school we pick options in year 8 and I was thinking of studying business for my GCSE's. I don't want to so much run my own business, but maybe work within an office space. Has anyone had any experiences in an office (or does/has someone got their own business?)

Another thing, what level must you have in mathematics to qualify for a business job? Thanks.
Click to expand...

What sort of office job? There are heaps of different types and skill levels, form unskilled to highly specialised and skilled office jobs.
 
DannyJ said:
In our school we pick options in year 8 and I was thinking of studying business for my GCSE's. I don't want to so much run my own business, but maybe work within an office space. Has anyone had any experiences in an office (or does/has someone got their own business?)

Another thing, what level must you have in mathematics to qualify for a business job? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think the problem you have here is that there is no single “office job”/“business job” function. They can be as myriad and varied as you want, I may of-course be entirely wrong but I would assume that a business GCSE would have a pretty broad curriculum. From a very basic Google search a typical Business GCSE curriculum seems to cover:

1. External Environment and Business
Pupils will learn: How businesses effect and are affected by Legal, environmental, social, political and economical factors.

2. The Ownership and Control of Business
Pupils will learn: the different types of business organisation, how they are set up, run, managed and how they grow and develop.

3. The Management of People Within a Business
Pupils will learn: How a business or manager can recruit, train, lead and motivate their workforce.

4. Finance
Pupils will learn: How businesses manage and control their finances, including how to produce a business plan and practical financial skills.

5. Production
Pupils will learn: Techniques and processes in how businesses create valuable products from skills, resources and raw materials, and explore how businesses do this efficiently and profitably.

6. Marketing
Pupils will learn: How businesses communicate with, and satisfy, customers and how successful products and services are created.

Whilst all of the above look to be very worthwhile, I’d bet my bottom dollar that there are more people running their own business without having formal qualification that with. My wife runs a small business, a huge amount of her time is taken up with the mundane aspects of resource management, pay roll, staff performance and monitoring, sorting out a leaky roof, securing on-going funding sources etc. To be personally successful with your own business seems, to me, to be massively determined by the individuals character. Tenacity, self-confidence, mental stamina, desire and of course a business idea.
 
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Wolfman said:
Danny,

My education is a bachelor's degree in Cross Cultural Studies (which involved study of world cultures, world literature, world history, world philosophy, etc....but no math). Today, I'm in the process of starting up my second successful business (well, the first one was successful, and it looks like the second one will be).

I have absolutely no formal business education; and I rarely if ever need to do much beyond basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division. For anything more complicated, I hire other people who do it for me.

So, is it necessary to study business, or to be good at math?

Certainly not.

But, would it be advisable? I'd say that yes, it is. When I went to university, my plan was to travel the world, living in different countries as an English teacher. So there was no point in studying business. It wasn't until later in life that I changed to pursue this particular path. Had I known back then that I was going to do business, I most certainly would have chosen to do studies related to business, and to at least learn the mathematics necessary for accounting skills (including how to do accounting).

In my experience, the odds are that your plans and goals will change at least two or three times after you graduate. Much of what you study now may well turn out to be distantly related at best to what you actually end up doing. So I'd suggest a job that is going to teach you more general skills and abilities that will be relevant in many jobs, rather than trying to pick one narrow focus.

Most important among those -- the skill of working your ass off; the skill of patience with incompetent bosses; the skill of communication; the skill of doing things you think are pointless; the skill of persistence/perseverance in the face of significant obstacles; the skill of solving problems on your own; the skill of learning new knowledge/skills quickly.

If you master this stuff, you'll be well set for pretty much anything that comes at you later in life. So...look for opportunities that are going to challenge you, that are going to put you outside of your comfort zone, forcing you to learn things and do things that you haven't done before.
Click to expand...

What kind of businesses did you start?
 
DannyJ said:
In our school we pick options in year 8 and I was thinking of studying business for my GCSE's. I don't want to so much run my own business, but maybe work within an office space. Has anyone had any experiences in an office (or does/has someone got their own business?)

Another thing, what level must you have in mathematics to qualify for a business job? Thanks.
Click to expand...
At GCSE level I recommend choosing an additional maths option (I assume that regular maths is compulsory), sciences (physics or chemistry or both), humanities (geography or history or both) and languages (French or another). If you have any timetable space left then economics or art if you like art. Not "business studies".

The reason for this is that I think it is like trying to understand a book by reading someone else's review, rather than the book itself.

If you eventually go on to higher education, a GCSE in business studies is not required for anything as far as I know. My recommendations will stand you in much better stead. If you go straight to employment after GCSEs, I think you will find that employers regard the "hard" subjects more highly than a (pardon the expression) "wishy-washy" soft subject like BS. (Hey the initials are apt!)

Good luck. Hope I have got my point across :)
 
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MilwaukeeMike said:
What kind of businesses did you start?
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I've started two.

The first one, started in 2000, was a training/consulting company that focused on Cross Cultural and Corporate Culture issues. For foreign companies coming to do business in China, we focused on Cross Cultural training/consulting, helping them understand how to integrate Chinese staff into their company, how to deal with Chinese partners/suppliers, how to understand the differences in the Chinese market, etc. For Chinese companies, we focused more on Corporate Culture consulting, as these were previously state-owned companies that had been privatized, and were facing massive struggles as they had no cohesive corporate culture.

I sold my half of the company to my partner a year and half ago, in order to free myself up to start my new business (the website for my first business is at www.newleaders.com.cn).

The new business, which just got up and running, offers parents training in using sign language with pre-verbal babies. I'm the first one to do this in China, and anticipate that it will be massively popular. Our first training center just opened last month; but within 5 years, I plan to have at least 50 training centers across China, and also to expand throughout the Asian region, including S. Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia...and possible Australia and New Zealand, also.

ETA: I just saw your post about JREF members lying about their background, etc....hope that the link to my company website (which includes a picture of me, by the way) helps confirm that I'm not "one of those" (if there are many of "those" to begin with).
 
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Wolfman said:
I've started two.

The first one, started in 2000, was a training/consulting company that focused on Cross Cultural and Corporate Culture issues. For foreign companies coming to do business in China, we focused on Cross Cultural training/consulting, helping them understand how to integrate Chinese staff into their company, how to deal with Chinese partners/suppliers, how to understand the differences in the Chinese market, etc. For Chinese companies, we focused more on Corporate Culture consulting, as these were previously state-owned companies that had been privatized, and were facing massive struggles as they had no cohesive corporate culture.

I sold my half of the company to my partner a year and half ago, in order to free myself up to start my new business (the website for my first business is at www.newleaders.com.cn).
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Very interesting. I have been investing in Chinese companies (Listed here in the USA) for about a year now. I made a lot of money with Shengda Tech (Nasdaq) (SDTH). I also invest in China Fire and Security and Fushi Copperweld. (They just changed their name today) One thing that really surprised me was the level of communication between top level management and investors. It was amazing, I felt like I was the biggest investor in the company. The individual from Shengda Tech has answered several investor emails in the recent months on the other bog I follow... Investorvillage.com... That kind of "investor - - management" relationship was something I wasn't expecting, yet delighted to receive. You never get such honest responses out of investor relations offices here in the U.S.

I have a few more questions for you. The fact that you are actually living in China, you see first hand what’s going on over there. Is the Chinese economy really headed for a bubble? Pundits keep saying that over here and small cap china plays are getting hammered. Do you feel, someone who is actively involved in business, that China's economy is headed for disaster? I personally don't, but I am all the way over in Wisconsin.

Second, I have heard of some "success stories" of business people from the west going over to China and starting hugely successful operations. ( I can't remember if you were born in China or moved there) Are such opportunities a reality? Is mandarin a must, or is business getting done in English? Thanks for your time.
 
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Mike,

All good questions...but perhaps better discussed in a separate topic, where we'll draw more comments from others (there are several others here working in/with China).
 
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