How a PhD in French helped (and hindered) my business

6 tips for academics in the business world

Hindsight is 20/20, right? It’s easy to take a gander back at the decisions we’ve made and the path we’ve chosen and analyze our every move. Three years into my Entrepreneurial Adventure, one might think that a PhD in Francophone Literature was about as helpful as a pair of ice skates in the desert. But I have come to recognize that many skills from my academic training can be applied in different ways to the business unknown. Here are some thoughts on channeling your inner MacGyver.

1. Research skills are awesome. Rather than spending hours tracking down the latest article on Foucault or identity politics, I now apply those same research habits to issues that impact my business development. Good research on current education and technology issues helps me to identify a customer’s needs and validate why my product does what I say it will do.
2. Writing rules. Business plans, pitches, product descriptions, and more…having concrete writing skills is essential for business owners. You’ll just be using words like “operational strategy” and “market forecasts” instead of “deconstructionists” and “postmodernism.”
3. Persistence pays off. Remember all those times you wanted to quit when your adviser told you to rewrite a chapter or two? Well, switch out ‘adviser’ for ‘customer’ and you’ve got yourself a business. Responding to the needs and desires of the consumer takes patience, persistence and practice to fine tune your product before obtaining the great diploma of Stellar Selling!

Understanding what academic skills can help move a business forward is just part of the equation. Some academic habits are not-so-business-friendly—and are hard to break! But identifying them is half the battle, so here goes:

4. Writing for business is DIFFERENT. Customers don’t want a 25 page treatise detailing the origins and evolution of your product line. They want a 60 second pitch containing about 100 words. Learning to distill information with a laser-point precision does not come naturally to someone who spent years expounding on post-colonial influences in five decades of Francophone historical drama. See what I mean?!

5. Isolation is your enemy. Writing a PhD is a very solitary endeavor. While you might bounce ideas around with colleagues, in the end, it is your words, written on your time, alone in front of your computer screen. Creating a successful business requires the contribution of many people with skills that are quite different from yours. Don’t be afraid to reach out to others and delegate tasks to a team—it won’t dilute your idea, it will help refine it so it will come to fruition quicker.

6. Time is not on your side. Gone are the days of waiting for the muse to strike while sitting in a coffee shop reading Sartre. (Not that I ever did that…really….) While it takes an average of 7-8 years to finish a PhD program, the market for your business will have turned over, changed direction, and shifted focus as many times in as many years. You have to act swiftly to get a hold of the market with the idea you have now. If you spend too much time perfecting the entire product line, the customer will have found something else to fill their need. Start with a minimum viable product and build as you go: learning, refining, and adapting with the market as it changes.

So while the proverbial ice skates of an academic degree might not help you glide swiftly along your new desert path, the laces make a great leash for camels and the blades shine brightly in the sun to signal fellow travelers that you have found the oasis. Keep trekking!

Surely there are other academic skills that can contribute to entrepreneurial success—please feel free to share them in comments section!

This post was partly inspired by a website that I recently saw here.