Which is a better option? (time, international, income)

[NikhilB]

I am a little confused with what would be a better choice in my case -
I am a Finance major currently, but I would love to add another major (double major) as either Marketing or Business Economics.

My dad has his own business of diamonds, and in the future I will definitely run his business. Therefore, Marketing or Business Economics, which would be a better option?

Thank you.

[TylerJAX]

What aspect of the diamond business is your father involved in? Or in other words, where in the supply chain is his business located?

[415_s2k]

If he's a diamond supplier, then business economics would be good because you'll be in a position where you are running a business that is, most likely, dealing with international clients in multiple different markets. Learning how to properly distribute income, capital, and labor through the proper channels to maximize profit and growth in the proper markets would be imperative. Generally, suppliers don't get involved in the sales aspect unless they intend to do direct distribution, which is certainly possible... but even in this case, it would be better IMHO to study business economics because it would better equip you to manage and run the business itself. You can easily hire a marketing company staffed by professionals to handle your marketing needs; at that point, you just need to monitor their performance and assure that you're getting your money's worth for their services, rather than doing all of the foundation work for a marketing program at the same time that you're doing running the daily operations of the business itself.

Now, if he owns a retail business (or two, or three), would like to grow, and doesn't intend to stop managing it any time soon, then it may behoove you to get a degree in marketing and think of yourself as the marketing manager for the company, and let that be your primary focus for the time between when you graduate and when you take the reigns of the business. During that time, you can learn his trade from working alongside him while also building up the business via marketing.