I plan to major in Business Administration. by Patrick

I plan to major in Business Administration. by Patrick - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

I chose Business Administration as my major course of study. The reason for my choice is that I would like to open my own small business in the future. I hear many different statistics on the success rates of small businesses and all of them seem to indicate that the majority of people who try to start a small business fail. While I accept this as a risk I hope to use the skills and knowledge acquired in my study to mitigate risks and keep losses, if any, to a minimum. The college program will hopefully allow me to avoid costly mistakes and common pitfalls people encounter when "going it on their own". I figure that even if a business a open inevitably fails the experience I gained in the process coupled with my schooling will propel me forward. Many people open businesses because they are passionate about the product or service or the have a natural talent for the particular skill and feel they can make a larger profit working for themselves.
I am more interested in finding a consumer or market need and filling that need or demand. The product or service is not the focus of my interest but rather the mechanisms of the market that allow me to fulfill that need in a profitable way. By becoming skilled and efficient at building systems and hiring the proper talent I hope to become a builder of businesses. Businesses that fulfill all parties involved from the customers, my employees, the surrounding community and our families. I believe businesses are not simply a way to gain wealth or extract capital for myself but a system that supports all of those involved. Much as our ecosystems must have an harmonious balance to work most efficiently and benefit everyone that participates so too should our companies.
I believe that when a company is fulfilling a need for its customers as well as fulfilling the employees and owners everyone prospers. If we start thinking about our systems on a personal level keeping the people and ecosystems in mind when building the structures we can all gain together as a community. If enough people begin to build their systems and structures with these principles in mind we can effect the world in a positive. People have a tendency to try and instill the change they would like to see by remodeling existing structures. Often times the people who want to see this change do not have the right, authority, or means to require this change to existing structures. Relying on protests, legislation or regulations to force existing structures to bend to their views. This inevitably causes large scale friction and is ultimately futile because of the nature in which it is implemented. A better approach to changing systems is to offer an alternative that has been designed from the ground up to work the way the designer envisions it. Allowing your system to showcase its capabilities as a viable, reliable, alternative to the existing structures in place. This allows for a smoother transition between the two and mitigates disruption in the ecosystem.
If I can apply the fundamentals I learn in these courses with a personal touch and a more socially conscious mindset I believe I can change our existing structures for the better without the abrupt and often costly "disruption" many people in the business market often talk about. Market and industrial disruption may sound cool, groundbreaking and innovative but the fact of the matter is that disruption doesn't serve anyone. Smooth seamless transition from existing structures to updated, cleaner, more efficient systems is a much better alternative. So instead of demanding change from others I hope to accomplish the change I would like to see by proving it in the free market provided to us by the structures currently in place. Let the market decide.