Can An MBA Help Entrepreneurs Be Successful?
Many people dream about starting a business. And naturally, they ask themselves what is necessary to be successful. The main consideration is about having the personal qualities necessary for this occupation. This is true for any profession. You can’t be a good teacher if you don’t like kids. So, what personality traits are necessary for being a successful entrepreneur? Mostly it’s about the passion for your business, the idea you want to implement, and the ability to take risks. The list can go on further as the abilities to hold up well and being a leader are also very important. But many young people who dream about becoming entrepreneurs ask whether it’s necessary to have MBA to be successful in business. On the one hand, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs didn’t have any. On the other hand, there are hundreds of entrepreneurs who have created huge businesses after getting MBA degrees, like Phil Knight a Nike co-founder, or Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO. If you ask present-day business school students and graduates, the opinions will differ as well. Some will vote pro getting MBA, others will be against. Let’s consider their opinions.
Some Considerations against Getting MBA
These are the opinions of some business school grads expressed in their blogs. These opinions are disputable, but they are definitely something to think about.
1. MBA degree as it is can’t make you successful. Students at business schools work hard and then they take pride in putting the information about their MBA on their business cards. But in reality without an idea of a start-up, without passion for their business, their MBA degrees won’t help.
2. The modern world is developing rapidly, but many case studies and other practical and theoretical studies at business schools are based on information that is decades old. Maybe that is fine as for theory, but such knowledge is of little help nowadays, as life has changed drastically since the time of the case.
3. Cases when professors of business schools have ever run a successful business themselves are very rare. But first-hand and modern entrepreneur experience is essential for students studying for MBA.
Business schools and universities are different. For sure many of them deal successfully with the problems mentioned above. So, if you decide to study for MBA, you need to choose your school very carefully.
Why Getting MBA is Necessary for an Entrepreneur
Business is a science in a way. There are certain rules according to which markets work. So, knowing those rules won’t be useless for an entrepreneur. Besides, studying for MBA can give students a lot of other knowledge and skills that will be necessary for an entrepreneur. So, what are MBA advantages?
1. Studying for MBA will allow you to make friends and possible future partners. After several years of studying together, you get to know a lot of people who in a few years will run their businesses in different spheres and those contacts might be helpful for your business.
2. Usually, business schools provide their students with a lot of mock business activities when they can get on-hand experience on how to start and run a business.
3. Business schools usually offer a variety of courses, like financial statement preparation and analysis, enterprise growth and innovation, strategic decision-making in a changing environment, International management, high technology management, finance, supply chain management, etc. Such courses will help an entrepreneur to be successful through all years of running his/her business.
4. Business schools give students the knowledge and skills necessary not only for starting their businesses but also for running them successfully. With the business development, new skills and knowledge will be on-demand for sure. And probably writing a human resource essay while studying for MBA will help an entrepreneur to run his/her business successfully.
Studying for MBA at a good business school gives future entrepreneurs knowledge and skills that might help them to make their business prosperous. But the degree isn’t a pass for success. A person should have special personality traits. So, if you have already got an idea for a startup and a good business plan, you might start your business. But still, consider taking at least some business courses at existing educational platforms or even studying for MBA online.