School Drop Out Billionaires Without College Degrees
Table of Content
1. Bill Gates
He is the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, the world largest software company. Dropped out of Harvard to focus on building Microsoft. According to Forbes magazine, Bill Gates has held the position of the world richest man for thirteen consecutive years and he not showing a sign of letting go that position.
To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks. Bill Gates
We were young, but we had good advice good ideas and lots of enthusiasm. Bill Gates
2. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison was labeled dumb and scatterbrain by his school teachers but he went on to become one of the worlds greatest inventors and founded General Electric one of the most powerful companies in the world.
Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison
3. Orji Uzor Kalu
He is one of the richest men on the soil of Africa. This young billionaire was rusticated from college for his participation in a students protest. Instead of lamenting over his predicament he started trading on palm oil and from that humble beginning, he grew his business into a conglomerate Slok Group. Though he was later pardoned by the school authorities, he rejected the amnesty offer thereby refusing to return to school.
4. Li Ka Shing
5. Richard Branson
6. Lawrence J. Ellison
I have had all the disadvantages required for success. Larry Ellison
7. Michael Dell
8. Steve Jobs
9. Henry Ford
What Is Your Personal Brand
Personal branding is how you distinctively market your uniqueness.Bernard Kelvin Clive
Today, the job market is very competitive and tough. Having a great CV will only let you go so far because everyone has a CV, but no one else has your distinct personal brand! It is your personal brand that differentiates you from everyone else and that is what people buyyou.
Your personal brand is your mark on the world. It is how people you interact with and the world see you. It is your legacyit is more important than a business brand because your personal brand lasts forever.
I have coached people who have very successful careers, and they come to me because they have suddenly found that they are not getting the opportunities or having the conversations that would them to their next role. They are having what I call a career meltdown, all because they have no personal brand.
A personal brand helps you become conscious of your differences and your uniqueness. It allows you to position yourself in a way that makes you stand out from the pack, especially among other potential job applicants.
Dont get me wrong, having a great CV and a is important. However, there are a few steps that you have to take to have a CV and LinkedIn profile that is aligned to who you are, the value you offer to the market, and the personal guarantee that you deliver results.
How To Get Rich Conclusion
Not everyone is suited to college, but everyone can learn how to get rich. Plus there is no shame in deciding to venture down another path.
Instead, it is important to take inspiration from the many entrepreneurs who have become a success without a college degree.
You simply need to find or make a path that suits your personality and skill set.
With positive thinking and determination, you could join the long list of people who have become rich without the expensive college education.
Have you got any entrepreneurial advice you would like to share? Leave a comment below to share your words of wisdom.
You May Like: Berkeley College 41st Street
Most Graduates Spend Years Launching Their Careers
Jeffrey J. Selingo, author of There Is Life After College, interviewed 752 young adults between the ages of 24 to 27. He found that they all fall under one of three categories: Sprinters, Wanderers, or Stragglers.
Sprinters launch their careers immediately after college. But Wanderers end up spending roughly five years just to get started, and Stragglers spend most of their 20s wandering aimlessly.
Many people plan for their post-secondary education. The problem is that they dont plan how theyre going to spend their time in school, and dont prepare for their transition into a career.
Success isnt merely about finding or getting into a good school its about spending that time productively and wisely, something two-thirds of students appear not to do. If you arent sure about what your next steps will be after college, your education could end up costing you without anything to show for it until youre well into your 30s.
Stop Looking For A Mentor
Theres nothing wrong with mentorship. It can actually be really great for building your career.
Most people dont want mentorship though, they want someone to do all the work for them.
Entrepreneurship and being successful is all about taking ownership.
You talk a big game about wanting freedom, but when it comes to designing your first store, you ask for so much feedback.
At Oberlo, were always happy to help with a store review .
But what you need to realize is that the best thing about entrepreneurship is that you can create your business any way you want.
And if you get a mentor to help you make decisions its basically like having a boss oversee your work you start to lose that freedom that you really wanted.
If you constantly have people guiding you on your journey, your wins arent really your wins and your losses arent really your losses.
If you dont take ownership of your wins and losses, you never really get that OMG! I DID IT! feeling.
And you also never learn from your mistakes because they werent your mistakes in the first place.
Youre going to make bad decisions but youll make some great ones too.
You dont need a mentor to teach you how to be successful, especially if your goal is to live life on your own terms.
Also Check: Is Central Texas College Accredited
Start With What You Have
AfterSchoolAfrica has been around more over 10 years as a website. Millions upon millions of people have used the website and hundreds of thousands have benefited from winning scholarships, competition, business funding and other opportunities we publish. But what most people do not know is that I started After School Africa with a mobile phone Nokia 3230 to be precise. Its not even a QWERTY phone. Without money to buy a laptop, I had to start with what I had my research and writing skill and my Symbian OS Nokia phone. I wrote articles, even wrote a book from my phone.
Today, according to Samsung Insights, your smartphone is now more powerful than your PC at least most PCs I believe. People go to extra lengths to buy an iPhone only to use it to take selfies and post on Instagram.
The common response from people listening to advice like this is to talk about lack of capital, lack of equal opportunity and all those kind of excuses. Really, the fact that you can read this article shows that you have something to start with. We may not all have started with equal opportunities, but where you are and what you have, is all you need to start. Milk every tool and resource you have at your disposal to your advantage. Turn that phone into a money-making machine. If you dont have anything at all to your name, start with your hunger to succeed. Look deep inwards, find what you are interested in and start developing your skills and knowledge around that thing.
It’s Possible To Start Consulting Right Now
There is no degree required to become a consultant and you also don’t need to be a foremost expert to launch your services. Work on identifying areas where you can solve someone else’s problems. Look at B2B services you can offer, from email marketing to on-site optimization.
Just don’t fall into the trap of believing that you don’t know enough to consult. If you know more than your clients and can coach them in useful ways that solve their problems, then you can look to consulting. I have years of experience in content marketing and consult entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses. Although I’ve had a lot of success, there are plenty of other people out there who are more experienced and earn more than me. There’s room for people with various strengths and niches in any industry.
You May Like: Is Central Texas College Accredited
Climb The Ladder Without A College Degree
You dont have to launch your own company or earn a college degree to become rich.
For example, you could become a web designer, detective or pilot without a degree they will just require some training.
Love him or hate him, you have to admire music guru Simon Cowell, who started his music career in a menial job in the EMI publishing room.
However, he climbed up the ladder to become one of the most recognizable producers and entrepreneurs in the industry.
How Ceos Without College Degrees Got To The Top
In a dataset of 2,600 CEOs, analysts were surprised to discover that 8% had no college degree. In a world where a third of jobs that once required only a high-school diploma now demand a four-year college degree, and one in four jobs that used to require a bachelors degree now require a masters degree, how are these degreeless leaders getting to the top anyway? The analysis found three main factors. First, degreeless CEOs were more likely to be industry or company insiders, with deep expertise in their niche. Second, these CEOs overindexed on results, and tended to come from sectors like sales where outsized performance is tangible and measurable. Third, they were more likely to hire great people and rely on their insights.
Employers are continually upping the ante on academic credentials. Nearly a third of jobs that once required only a high-school diploma now demand a four-year college degree, while one in four jobs that used to require a bachelors degree now require a masters degree. Meanwhile, 75% of Americans believe that higher education is unaffordable and out of reach.
Employers often overvalue pedigree out of desire to play it safe but hiring mistakes still abound. Meanwhile, a huge number of potential superstars are being overlooked.
CEOs without a degree also stayed on average 25% longer in roles and held 13% fewer roles than their college-graduating CEO peers. It typically took 15% longer for them to get to the CEO seat.
Read Also: Is Ashworth College Recognized By Employers
Can You Be Successful Without A College Degree And Could You Be The Next Steve Jobs Or Bill Gates
Has Bill Gates ever asked how to be successful without college/school himself? Think! Hard work and determination certainly have their place in achieving success, andif you have an entrepreneurial spirit, connections with angel investors, and a mind for tech trendsits possible to follow in the footsteps of Jobs or Gates. However, for the rest of us , the path to making it will be steadier and more traditional.
Also, not everyone has what it takes to risk it alland if you look at those who made it big on a dream, they often face huge setbacks. Gates, for example, started a failing data company before Microsoft, causing him to start from scratch. Without a backup plan, an incredible support system, and an unfailing work ethic, most of us cant sustain these types of setbacks more than once in a lifetime. So can you be successful without a college degree, and are we actually be successful with just a college degree?
How To Get Rich
You can also choose whether to charge by:
- The hour
- A lump sum
- Advanced payment
You could bundle many services into one package to provide a customer with value for money, whilst you will receive a return on your investment.
Just some of the service industries you can enter include content writing, DIY, designing or cleaning services.
Don’t Miss: Colleges That Are Still Accepting Applications
You Can Achieve Success Before Your Friends Even Graduate
Back when I was considering whether to go to college, I asked myself where I wanted to be one day and how I could get there the quickest. If I’d wanted a leadership position in a large company, I would have made a different decision. But my goal was to be my own boss and work hard on my own projects, not someone else’s. I don’t disagree with studying in principle, but if you know in your heart that you don’t want to work for any company but your own, you can make better use of your time. While others spent years studying and commuting back and forth between exams and parties, I built a seven-figure company in the same amount of time. I’m not saying it was easy, but it was the only path I could see for myself and I would choose it again today.
, founder and CEO of NYBA Media GmbH, a fast-growing digital marketing agency in Germany that generates nine-digit revenues for their customers connect with Markus on , , and
So Can You Be Successful Without A Degree
First things first, different people see success in different ways. Someone may have their dream of living in a hot climate, whereas others dream to be the owner of a multimillion pound company .
Heres some info that might shock you , a number of the worlds most famous billionaires actually happen to be college dropouts. These include Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. However, this doesnt mean they havent worked incredibly hard to be where they are now.
Around 80 per cent of millionaires have been to university which is a huge percentage and supports the fact that it is mostly beneficial to have a degree to make money. These include Michael Bloomberg , Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos .
The main decider on this questions narrows down to what industry you want to work in. A lot of industries these days only require apprenticeships or short college courses such as hairdressing or plumbing. These areas simply dont require degrees and therefore you can be successful within these fields without one.
However, other professions such as doctors and scientist do require degrees of which tend to be over a lengthy period too with a pharmacy degree ranging from 4-6 years. These jobs require a lot of training and experience due to the intensity of their work and the amount of responsibility that comes with their jobs.
We have a number of exciting graduate jobs on the site, click here to take a look.
Recommended Reading: Lowest Gpa Requirement For College
Its Never Too Early To Start
Whether youve only just turned 18 and decided not to go to college, or youve hit 40 and realised its time for a change, its never too soon to start exploring new opportunities. For this, Google is your new best friend. Search for information on any new career youre interested in from learning a specific work-related skill, like coding, to reading up on how other non-graduates made it happen.
Even if you feel like youre years away from being paid to do the thing you love whether its being a business consultant or inventing a new app, you can benefit from starting now. Some businesses fly on their 23rd or 24th versions. You may not succeed the first time you take on a professional challenge. So start now and get the experience that will help you succeed when the time is right.
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Everything you want from life is just outside your comfort zone. And comfort is the enemy of success. Listen, the world revolves around one currency. That currency is not money the currency upon which the world revolves is courage. There is no place in the world for the timid.
I listened to the founder of Coscharis Group share his story of attending the University of the Street. His English was laced with his native tongue so much that you may wonder whether he was speaking English or Igbo language. Yet he has built a $500 million dollar business empire majoring in Automobile, petrochemical, ICT, agro-business and real estate. His companies employ thousands of graduates and MBA holders. It takes courage to ignore your limitations and demand for your place in the world.
One of the most discomforting things I ever did was moving from office to office selling female jewels while waiting for my national youth service. People will often marvel at this fine young man hawking jewellery for women. But for me, it was more about the challenge to push myself out of comfort than a venture to make money.
Recommended Reading: What Colleges Offer Mortuary Science
Take Full Responsibility For Your Education
Many people who go to school come out literate, but not educated. Both are two different things. Literally, education means to train and to mould. If we are to take it a step further, it is the process of knowing yourself and your environment. So if everyone who went to school were really educated, then we will have fewer people who dont understand how to navigate opportunities around them.
If you agree with me that education is about getting to know yourself and your environment, then you will understand why your education is your responsibility not that of an accredited higher institution. The first step to succeeding in our world without the standard academic qualification is to take responsibility for getting to know yourself and how to navigate the world around you.
For me, the simple question I asked myself was what am I good at? What would I love to do with my life? What do I need to improve about myself? And then where are the opportunities today around the things I can do?
At first, I had to try many things from working in the film industry to buying and selling, working in building construction, learning web development, writing and a few other things. This experimenting period was the most educating period of my life. I learned a lot about myself and the opportunities around me. Stop waiting for life to happen to you. Your education is your responsibility.