As a person who hires and manages business professionals, I will tell you I put more stock in experience than I do in a degree any day. I love hiring people that have run their own business because they know the value of a dollar and they don't throw money away on frivolous things. Don't sell yourself sort, the value of running your own shop for many years speaks volumes. If you were in an then went bankrupt in a year I would agree with you, but keeping things going for any length of time in this economy takes some skill. My neighbor runs a couple of used car lots and it is a cutthroat business. You either have to go huge and spend a ton of money, or compete with the guy that sets up his lot for a month on the street corner and sells broken down crap and then disappears. The real money is in the service work if you have a facility...no one works on cars anymore. My dad would roll over in his grave if I paid for an oil change.....lol