# What kinds of courses/subjects are recommended if I am looking to start a business?



## Apdenoatis (May 23, 2012)

I am hoping to be able to start my own business in the future, likely in some kind of technology (still figuring out which.) I'm just ending freshman year, so I still have time to ponder things over.

Anyway, what kinds of courses should I take to prepare myself for this sort of endeavor? Macroeconomics? Microeconomics? Accounting? Statistics? :/

If it helps any, I've taken consumer economics and will be taking computer programming courses throughout high school; I also plan on joining the Federal Reserve Bank competition (mostly out of interest.)

As for technology - I'm interested in electronics, biotechnology, and innovative technologies in general, and will probably pick one over the others at some point. Until then, I'm going to be studying a lot of biology, physics, math, computer science, and other engineering-related things. I do a lot of science competitions and am in a lot of advanced courses. Any suggestions or feedback on this? Should I narrow my focus sooner, should I study specific things, or did I miss anything?


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## timeless (Mar 20, 2010)

To start your own business, at the minimum, you need to know accounting and how to calculate and pay taxes. Microeconomics is good too, but accounting and tax is the most practical necessity.


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## Temur (Jun 14, 2012)

None of those

Just have capital and get to know useful people


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## elixare (Aug 26, 2010)

For Economics I'd recommend only taking Micro, Macro, Accounting, Statistics, and the more advanced Econometrics...Taking Econ classes sort of has this diminishing marginal return quality to it....The first classes are so enlightening, useful, and exciting (for entrepreneurial purposes) but the higher and higher classes quickly become useless, irrelevant, pure drudgery, and frankly, a waste of time (and course slots)....

Instead, I'd focus more on the technology aspect since ultimately that is what your future company will be producing and is ultimately the most important aspect of the operation since it will be the main differentiator between you and your competitors...Not only that, you'd also gain lots of insights on how to run a company in general since tech related courses tend to teach its students on how to think in terms of systems, and system thinking is probably the most valuable asset to wield when running a company....If you can nail the hardcore technology/math courses, learning everything else that's necessary are like a walk in the park and you can do them on your own spare time....


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## kittychris07 (Jun 15, 2010)

Your career goals could very well change (I had no idea I'd end up an accountant when i was in high school), but in high school and/or college you might want to take Principles of Accounting (1 and 2 if it is a two-course sequence) and Microeconomics. Statistics would also be a very helpful course to take (not just for the business side, but also the science side). I'd also suggest that you take a financial management course, a business law course, and make sure you also focus on courses that help you build communication skills. You will definitely need strong communication skills to get a job (probably considered the number one factor for any job).


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## robespierre (Jan 11, 2012)

How about Computer Science and Economics?


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## dann (Feb 11, 2012)

School seems like a waste of time if ure going that route. Opportunity cost


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## AndrewGonzales (Jul 5, 2012)

Business courses. Of course


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## Blazy (Oct 30, 2010)

Before you even attempt to start a business, you should already be familiar with history of businesses, history of economics, marketing, statistics, microeconomic theory, practical macroeconomics, forecasting, e-commerce, HTML5/CSS/Javascript, psychology, speech, and physics. These are only the basics to run a successful technology business.


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## MyName (Oct 23, 2009)

Philosophy and some kind of ethnic studies. Just my two cents.


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