An anonymous poster left a post (here) on my site which partly stated:
“….if you had a business degree, then it would possibly be easier for you to obtain financing to finance your entreprenuerial dreams.”
Perhaps a guy in a suit who lives at the bank from 9am-5pm might think a simple business degree makes me a better entrepreur, but there is a way around this. Here are a few of the people I have met who have become extremely successful without the initial help of a bank:
- James Flores – CoFounder of Ocean Energy – He started his oil/gas exploration company when he had no money. He borrowed from family friends and maxed out close to 30 credit cards totalling over $120,000 at 26% interest.
- Robert Sek – Started an internet company with a relatively small investment. Rapidly grew his company and used the profits to invest in larger ventures.
- Tim League – Founder of Alamo Drafthouse chain of movie theater/resturants. Needed several hundred thousand dollars to convert a parking structure into a movie theater. He used his $50,000 of savings, his wife convinced her parents to re-finance their house, they got a small-business federal loan (which almost anyone can get) and they maxed out 26 different credit cards.
- Family Friend 1 – Built up small savings from working, then started buying/selling condos. From there he has moved onto multi-million dollar commercial properties and full apartment complex’s.
- Family Friend 2 – Was working an everyday job when he landed a small government contract for an environmental cleanup. Reinvested profits and the business grew into a multi-national environmental cleanup corporation with operations in almost every state in the U.S.
- Family Friend 3 – Worked an engineering job for many years, intelligently saved his money and bought his first piece of commercial property. He now owns a highly successful real estate company.
As you can see, the bank did not play a crucial role in the beginning of these lives. In a case such as Tim League’s, I think his borrowing methods actually drove him harder to succeed. If he didn’t succeed, he would have lost his family money, lost his savings and absolutely obliterated his credit score.
So even if a business degree can make you more qualified for a loan, there are always ways around it.
