Get your degree! You can even try to start a business locally while you are still taking classes and grow it over the next two years where you can expand to other markets after you graduate.

There is no “correct” answer to your question – everyone’s life is unique, and nobody knows what is going to happen. It is a factual statistic that, on the average, college graduates earn hundreds of thousands more in a lifetime than do those who do not graduate. On the other hand, Bill Gates never finished his BA in business at Harvard, dropping out before his senior year to go to work in the personal computer software business. He did get in on “the ground floor” – his starting job was at the company that invented the very first desktop computer, the Altair. Gates was both smart and lucky, and, when it comes to getting rich, smart and lucky matter more than does education. There is no specific education that prepares you to be in business for yourself. There are bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration that teach many useful things, but you learn more about a particular business by working there than by going to school someplace. Most independent business people do not get rich, and most work very long hours for not much money, until and unless they sell out for a large sum. The vast majority of business start-ups go broke in the first five years. A good college degree in a subject that leads to a career guarantees you a decent living as a worker in someone else’s business. A college degree in a learned profession is the most reliable way to make a good living. The only good reason to go into business for yourself is drive – you want to be the boss, you like hard work and long hours, and you want the chance to get rich. The lack of the credentials to earn a decent paycheck as an employee will give you few other choices anyway. So, the “smart” thing to do is to finish a degree in business and then go into business for yourself, if you must. There is no guarantee either way, no matter how anybody you know or have heard of has done. You are not Bill Gates – you will need to find your own luck.

If you can afford to go to college, definitely finish your degree. The failure rate of small businesses is extremely high.