Family Business and Entrepreneurship
Overview
It is estimated that family businesses generate about half of the gross domestic product and half of the total wages paid. About 90 percent of all U.S. businesses are family-owned or controlled; family businesses and entrepreneurs play an integral role in building our nation and keeping it strong.
What is a Family Business and Entrepreneurship Major?
The best way to predict your future is to create it. That's the thinking behind Saint Joseph's University’s family business and entrepreneurship (FBE) major. This program will help you learn the skills, theories and tools needed to launch your own business or assume responsibilities in a family business.
The curriculum is structured to expose students to family business and entrepreneurship on three levels:
- The first level (firm) covers financial planning, managing organizational change and overcoming family conflict and related issues.
- The second level (industry) goes into the value of innovation, resource allocation and how to gain a competitive advantage.
- The final level (societal) will encourage you to view a business in the context of the greater world and gain an understanding of societal trends and challenges.
The family business and entrepreneurship major provides students with a learning environment that promotes their transition to being an entrepreneur or enhancing their work in the family business.
WAYS TO STUDY FAMILY BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
You can choose to study have a major in family business and entrepreneurship or declare it as a minor. Many students often decide to double major or add minors to their studies. Some common additional areas of study that students interested in major also pursue include:
What Can You do with a Degree in Family Business and Entrepreneurship?
Family business and entrepreneurship students will leave the program with the tools necessary to act strategically in managing a family firm, launch a new venture or move up the ranks in the corporate world.
Graduates have pursued careers in a wide array of industries, including hospitality, retail, food & beverage, real estate, finance, marketing, information technology and so much more. Several students have started businesses while attending SJU, others have launched businesses after graduation and many have returned to family businesses upon graduation. Career opportunities for family business and entrepreneurship majors are extremely diverse, including:
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or C-level management
- Mid-level management
- Finance manager
- Business consultant
- Sales & marketing
- Research & development
- HR & recruiting
How will Saint Joseph’s University Prepare You for a Career in Family Business and Entrepreneurship?
Through the family business and entrepreneurship major, you will learn how to assess risks associated with business management, make responsible decisions and recognize opportunities within and outside your own businesses. Courses in the major take an experiential learning perspective; through case studies and experiential exercises, students have the opportunity to develop their business ideas under the guidance of their instructors. Students have the chance to build their network and interact with entrepreneurs via course guest speakers, the SJU Innovation Lab Lecture Series and numerous other lecture events across campus.
4+1 B.S./M.S. PROGRAM OPTIONS
Saint Joseph’s University offers an accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program that allows current undergraduate students in family business and entrepreneurship to start earning their MBA or Master of Science in organization development and leadership during their senior year. This model enables you to complete your undergraduate and graduate work in just five years, instead of the traditional six or seven. Combining your bachelor’s with a master’s degree can help you save time and money.
Family business and entrepreneurship majors interested in this unique option must apply to the graduate program in their junior year and be provisionally accepted before they complete their bachelor’s degree.