Which MBA Should Entrepreneurs Have?
In a previous article, we have seen what is the Entrepreneurship definition from a market experience view and here we focus on the educational view. We also showed that an entrepreneur does not need to have of the characteristics mentioned or experiences at the same time. He can earn some or he can outsource the others, especially if he's not going to be involved in the business execution.
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| MBA for Entrepreneurs |
As an educational background, it is preferred, not mandatory, for an entrepreneur to hold an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) degree for the reasons explained later in this article.
An MBA degree is not a monopoly for entrepreneurs only, any student willing to work in business can apply for such degree. There are MBA certificates in many majors including but not limited to: Finance, Marketing, International Management, Economics, Entrepreneurship and many others.
Factors entrepreneurs should look at when applying for MBA
An important fact that any student should look at after Covid-19 pandemic is that the learning might become online fully, although I don't believe in it. We have seen many institutions, including Google, that started to build education platforms online, providing much less costly degrees with less time and efforts.
It's worthy to watch such trend from time to time to see if the learning future is going to be transformed to digital and when. The impact of such decision is going to affect all universities and staffs working in those universities, as well as the learning experience earned from the education.
Also, another trend worth monitoring related to career's future of employees and fresh graduate students. The forward path after Covid-19 for careers is going to be skill-based not certificate-based, and new career platforms like LinkedIn should implement a more advanced skill-based criteria selection and earning for subscribers.
Authenticity and authentication can be achieved through online exams using Camera and Audio systems to watch applicants. I've seen a cyber security website implementing this concept for their exams, so it is achievable easily.
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| Factors to take into consideration for MBA degree |
When it comes to entrepreneur's decision for MBA selection, sometimes one factor can make up your mind, and other times a matrix of factors, with weight or importance for each, can be studied to decide.
Here are the most important factors from our perspective:
Purpose
The purpose from earning an MBA degree is always to learn, but the concept of purpose here is to know whether you are applying for MBA and willing to complete another higher degree after, or you will start your business after graduation.
If you select the first option, you need to look for your MBA certificate's accreditation and recognition before applying. The higher education might require certain accreditation not available in your MBA and you won't be able to apply for the higher level's degree.
Curriculum
A lot of students look to apply for well recognized universities like Harvard and others for many reasons like reputation, recognition, accreditation, almost guaranteed job after graduation, practical aspects of study compared to theoretical, and much more.
The key for entrepreneurs here is to look for the rate of graduate students who launched their own business after their graduation compare to other universities. The entrepreneurship spirit is earned, and it can be taught in universities who focus on practical cases rather than theoretical. We mean by practical the validity of subjects studied in the actual market and the applicability to current norms and rules available.
The most important courses that every entrepreneur should look for in the curriculum are (not ordered):
- Leadership and strategy
- How to think strategically from starting a company to daily operations, how to set the company vision, mission and core values. Exposing students to real life examples and testing their decisions is crucial for their strategic thinking
- How to realize your dreams and how to generate innovative ideas.
- Emotional Intelligence
- Entrepreneurs should know what are their emotions, how to contain/control them, what are other's emotions and how to contain/control them. How and when to practice empathy and how to focus on achievements rather than time attendance. Managing the work/life balance for themselves and for others is very important
- Banking and Finance
- What is the banking system and how it works, who are the authorities governing the banking system and what is the entrepreneur's relation with them. What are the possible interactions with banks in case of local and international transactions (Letter of credits and bank guarantees)
- Basics of accounting and finance. Financial modeling and forecasting for practical cases from the market using available public information for IPO companies. Modeling balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash flow statements for multiple scenarios including but not limited to: mergers and acquisitions, IPO,
- Investment
- Types of investments and company valuation. What to look for when investing and how to evaluate your results. How to create an investment portfolio company and diversify your revenue streams
- Study of business risks and risk evaluation and mitigation
- Economics
- Micro and Macro economics. a little theory and a lot of practice
- Marketing
- Marketing plans, segmentation, targeting, positioning, building brands and identities, consumer behavior, digital marketing, foreign market analysis and data analytics
- Trading
- Local and international trading
- Laws governing the trading market: locally and internationally. This course could imply more theory than practice but universities can cooperate with trading authorities to train students on real life examples and how to handle case by case with government interactions
Cost per value
When the MBA study focuses on practical examples and tests, the cost is always worth it and the value will be compensated as quick as possible. Entrepreneurs can achieve income with a value much higher than the little costs incurred during the study.
Value is relative to the entrepreneur. It's better to focus on starting your business as quick as possible after graduation and without procrastination. Take the risk by starting your organization and start practicing what you learned. Everybody is going to fail at certain stages, be an optimistic and convert your idea to reality.
Accreditation
For entrepreneurs, and as indicated above Purpose section, accreditation is important when you plan to apply for additional degrees and the new degree provider requires accreditation. Accreditation currently can provide a huge value for employees not entrepreneurs because the latter focus on practice.
Location
Online or requiring travel, costs can be added to your education expenses and entrepreneurs can think about part time jobs to cover their internships. Part time jobs can add a huge value to entrepreneurs in terms of experience and in being exposed to a real working environment. If you are required to travel abroad or locally, make sure to plan your expenses in advance by setting expectations with the highest accuracy possible.
For any consultation, please do not hesitate to contact me for alternatives evaluation.
Good luck entrepreneurs!
