These days it’s very usual to find entrepreneurs of mostly funded startups who say to be a dropout. It’s obvious that most of them are really successful and people follow them as inspiration.
But, the question arises is that what made them to actually ‘drop the college’?
- Was it a because of Compulsion due to financial difficulties of their families?
- Was it a matter of option, whether to take admission (willingly occupy a valuable seat in the institution which could be a blessing to someone needy) and then casually discontinue to establish a corporation (and apparently they have sufficient money to burn in the form of fees for some time)?
- Was it a Casual Choice?
- Is that they couldn’t crack the entrance examination or successfully the course due to some personal reasons?
- Or is it they have been suspended/ forcefully pushed out of the institution?
I hail from a typical middle-class family. While I was about to go for my professional education and take admission in the college, I was patiently and seriously asked (rather confirmed) by my parents that ‘are you really willing to take this step’? ‘Are you sure you can do justice with our lifetime’s hard earned money’? And I said Yes. After that, my parents invested their entire lifetime’s hard earned money in my choice of college to pursue my dreams and become a successful person. I never had such a choice (or say option) where after investing my parents lifetime savings in my college as the fees (and other expenses), I discontinue my studies to be a ‘self-acclaimed proud college dropout’.
To all my friends who aspire to become Successful Entrepreneurs and Establish Big Corporations and become Business Tycoons, don’t just get driven away by the inspirational stories of dropout startup founders without thinking logically and clearly understanding the financial situations of your families. Complete your studies (if you get such opportunity) and then take a plunge.
If you do a thorough research, in almost 99% cases, you’ll find that most of the so called successful college dropout startup founders/entrepreneurs have a handsomely solid financial background. 99% are from financially struggling families, where the kids have one and only one dream, i.e., to successfully complete their studies (possibly with the best marks) and get a job in a reputed and stable organization to end the era of financial struggle of the family and gift a few good moments to their family members, who have spent almost their entire life in dreaming of having a 1BHK house and 1 vehicle of their own.
Today we hear entrepreneurs/business startup founders proudly say to have ‘willingly dropped out’. Were they so much confused about what they wanted to do? Were they not clear that they wish to be called as an Entrepreneur OR a Corporate Employed Professional? What made them to ‘kill’ someone needy’s dream, where he/she could at least complete his/her studies with all sincerity and be a support to his/her struggling family? I understand all have uniform rights. They have the right to choose what is right for them. But at the same time, we also expect at least some logical or rather a mature approach from such ‘so called inspirational leaders’ to be clear of what they want to become or do. They are not kids, but quite grownup and mature.
Being a Dropout Entrepreneur / Startup Founder is a Luxury in almost 99% cases. For a handful of people, spending 2lakhs or above in college fees (and after a few days leaving away comfortably) could be not a big deal. They already have a really great financial backbone, and most of them hail from a quite reputed business background. BUT, not every aspiring entrepreneur have such luxury. At least it wasn’t in my case, and could in the case of you as well. Most of the people invest their life’s hard earned savings and even sell their everything to afford college fees and other misc expenses. They live in the rooms which are mostly of the same sizes of the washroom found in most of the houses. It’s sad that such aspiring people take a wrong step by getting influenced by the stories of other so called successful dropout leaders and discontinue their studies.
My fellow readers, I could be wrong. Many won’t agree with my point. There are a lot of thoughts and questions still in the back of my mind which I could share with you if you wish.
To All Young, Sparking & Aspiring Minds, who wish to become tomorrow’s business leaders and establish their own startups, think as many times as you can before dropping out from your college. Your reason should be justifiable and practical to yourself (and if possible, to your family as well). Don’t just read inspirational stories and withdraw from your college.
We all have different dreams, and so our exact financial and non-financial situations, which only we ourselves know better. It’s good to be inspired by success stories, but ‘attempting to copy such stories without understanding the feasibility on all possible parameters could be a poor choice.
Author: Rishi Mathur is working as Founder @ Soletrix, Asia’s first Solar & Renewable Energy syndicate marketplace and business distribution platform. He can be found here.