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Question
I am 25 years old and have a bachelor's degree in business administration. I currently work as a store manager for a large clothing chain. I hate retail! My eventual goal would be to open a catering hall with my sister; do you have any advice on how to reach this goal?
Answer
I'll give you some advice, but also a word of caution.
First, the advice. Find a job in catering, preferably with a small company where you can apply your business administration skills to help manage the operation. This will expose you to all the details that go into running an independent business. Besides the fact that you hate retail, working for a large corporation keeps you too far away from the chain of command to learn anything about running a business.
And now that word of caution: before you get into the catering business, examine what it is you hate about retail. How will the catering business be different? Ultimately, both come down to dealing with the public and making them happy, so you need to be able to identify how the catering business will solve the problems you have with your current job.
First, the advice. Find a job in catering, preferably with a small company where you can apply your business administration skills to help manage the operation. This will expose you to all the details that go into running an independent business. Besides the fact that you hate retail, working for a large corporation keeps you too far away from the chain of command to learn anything about running a business.
And now that word of caution: before you get into the catering business, examine what it is you hate about retail. How will the catering business be different? Ultimately, both come down to dealing with the public and making them happy, so you need to be able to identify how the catering business will solve the problems you have with your current job.
Get Personalized Career Advice: Ask Richard
Richard has over 20 years of business experience in marketing, financial services, and management.
