I want to start my own business immediately after grad school but I am lured by a consulting firm offer too. Would it be a bad idea to leave the offer? I think this job could really help me later in my business but I am desperate to start now.

You know the old line, "don't quit your day job"? Well, here is where it applies. Start the job, and start your business at the same time.  Then you will have income.  When the business needs too much time, and is making enough money, THEN quit your day job.

Consulting is a high paying profession. You will find it very hard to quit a fat salary to go for a no-salary for several years while you bootstrap your company. Chances are, you will never become an entrepreneur if you travel down the consulting route.

now I'm starting my own business, but for achieve it I had to wait 4 years gaining experience in my job. If you want start your own business you must know your market and a nice way to do it is employing yourself in a job.

These questions will give you thr answer of your question.... 1. Do you have a planning of your business? 2. Do you have enough capital to start your business immediately after your graduation? If yes then leave the offer and if not then get the job...

Answering out of my experience of moving out of campus to choose business.  I was a fresher and completed by masters from , one of the top colleges in country and then moved out of placements to take up entrepreneurship. You can read about how the last 5 years were in the blog post here: http://diaries.coherendz.com/5-years-of-seagull-in-me/ I would help some insights into the same.: Money: you are a business man, you look at profits over anything else. you are  an entrepreneur so you look at long term gains.  Your high paying job can increase by max of 20% per annum. But the company you start today, in a period of say 8-10 years, has a potential to give a 20x return. But remember, high returns mean high risk. Risk: you are at risk, but the earlier you start the better it is, you can fail many times. If you fail, will you be able to get a job? No you may not get a consulting or managerial job in an MNC, because you have already run a company, you will be hired in positions of senior management, CTO & CXO's. People will give their company to you to manage. Experience: I stand as a personal testimony, there is nothing that can beat this career option. Entrepreneurship squeezes you all the way to bring out the best in you. You will grow much stronger. Happiness: The purpose of life for me is to be happy, i took the chance as i did not want to keep repenting all my life of Not doing things i wanted to do. Few other quick checklist: if your parents are dependent on you, please make the choice keeping their expectation in mind. You would definitely face a lot of difficulties, to face them you need to be absolutely be in love with what you do. Also question yourself why you want to do business? if your answers are - money, fame or i do not want to work under someone, you are on wrong track. Lack of experience / money would definitely not be your barriers. Start and your will find a way. Get Going!

Tough choice! Having gone through the same dilemma here are my 2 cents Consulting job exposure can give you great exposure and contacts that will help you in your future business The key is to be clear about your entrepreneurship dream and not get used to corporate lifestyle or emi trap then it becomes difficult to venture out