It might not seem in the first glance that music and entrepreneurship have any correlation. But the reality is far from it. From successful examples to common sense, there are various reasons for people to believe in a positive relationship between the two fields.
In fact, many successful entrepreneurs, old and young, are musicians along with being pioneers in their line of business. For example, Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, has been a musician since he was five years old.
One of the reasons for us to believe that musicians become good entrepreneurs is that the two careers share several traits. When you get to the core of what it takes to become a musician, you would be surprised to find the majority of it is the same as what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, some Music Majors assume that their degrees put them at a disadvantage in the business industry. They feel like having a background in creative arts makes them ineligible to enter a competitive market that is full of business graduates and MBAs.
This lack of confidence is mostly credited to what the business industry has set as standard requirements to become an entrepreneur. For instance, it highlights skills such as negotiation, strategy formation, leadership etc. Since these are specifically nurtured in business majors, music majors feel that they lack these traits.
But you’ll be surprised to find out that this isn’t true at all. Like we said previously, being a good musician and an entrepreneur requires many of the same traits. To test this theory yourself, you can ask a seasoned professional musician and a successful entrepreneur about how they got to the position they are at.
Things like self-discipline, persistence, attention to details, flexibility, and adaptability are only some of the traits common between an entrepreneur and a musician. When one’s learning how to play the guitar, they need to keep practicing regularly for months just to get the hang of the basic chords and build calluses. This simple instruction teaches self-discipline and persistence in one go.
These two qualities are essential for every entrepreneur, especially when they are in the beginning phase of setting up their business. When you are answerable to no one and work for yourself, it becomes very easy to lose focus, making self-discipline imperative. Along with that, consistency and persistence also become equally important as they push you to keep going even when you fail.
This example only proves that music majors learn dedication and various other skills that nurture traits one needs to become an entrepreneur. The other things that music majors benefit from include creativity and strive to be original.
These two traits are the very reason why people become entrepreneurs. Music only nurtures it, teaching music majors to gain new perspectives and look for something different in midst of the chaos. Having the ability to do so is what helps develop the entrepreneurial mind in music majors. They are able to look at things differently, come up with ideas and find business opportunities that someone else might have missed.
This gives music majors the capability to become some of the best entrepreneurs, especially when there is a need for creative entrepreneurial geniuses with an innovative take on mundane aspects.