MBA anyone?

[arlo]

does an MBA education really help an entrepreneur do business? i need suggestions before making a decision to enroll in one or not..

[cocaine]

yeh, i've come to that crossroads, got accepted into many great uni's such as cardiff, Bath, Aston etc. All good for business, applied for LSE also, didn't get back to me so i canceled on them

But i've decided not to go to uni anymore, as i've come to a new conclusion on money etc, becoming financialy smart instead of being smart in education (Rich dad poor dad, and rich dad poor dad cashflow quadrant). MBA would be good to have if you were applying for a job, but thats not what i want to do, it would also be good to have to advance on your business knowledge, but they teach you things which you don't need to know + alot of useful stuff.

what i'm going to do, when i leave school in the summer, i'm going to look for courses in college for financial education, and read alot into financial documents, such as cashflows, balance sheets, income statements etc, invest, build my own business, etc.

I don't have an MBA so i can't comment if it really helps but i've given some suggestions on what i'm doing which you can do also. I've found out which many havn't that university is not the only way to go, i can say that about 90% of the people in my year, are going to university becuase they think it is the norm now.

[The Stealthy One]

I think it can certainly help, but you must first consider your background. How much do you already know that would be covered by the courses? Additionally, would the school of your choice provide great networking opportunities? (Sometimes, that can make the cost of the MBA well worth it.) Also factor in that you could have a great "fallback" option in case your entrepreneurial endeavors failed.

[AstarothSolutions]

For an entrepreneur I wouldnt have said that formal qualifications are of much use other than in industries where they are required.

In the world of the employed there is almost a cycle between wanting experience and wanting pieces of paper. When I worked for a bank in their strategy department most of my colleagues had MBAs (and all of our senior managers) but all felt you can only get the most out of an MBA after already having several years of management experience (though some had done theirs straight from university). At the moment the cycle is in between the two and my former department are currently asking for 5-10 years experience and preferably a post grad degree such as MBA or ACCA... if you have the postgrad then they look at shorter experience, without it the longer end.

[Bestmiler]

MBA is not necessary to do business. I know plenty of people who are successful entrepreneurs without MBAs. It is all about the person and the dedication/commitment they have.

[Hemo]

It depends on you. If you decide to spend some years on having a job, it is needed. But in the real world, experiences will teach you what you have not been taught from MBA. In fact, it's just a certificate. Entrepreneurs don't need certificates. They just need ideas, motivation, determination,.....

[Mikey1205]

This one is down to personal choice , there is no right or wrong decision go with your heart.

[jasaunders]

Speaking as what seems like the only person on this board that has or is pursuing an MBA, I of course disagree with most other posts.
To say that you can make up an MBA education with experience is just completely untrue; or at the least, it will take you 10+ years to even come close. And to answer the statement "How much do you already know that would be covered by the courses?" I can tell you that even if you have an undergrad in business, very little will be stuff that you previously covered. Also to say that an MBA is geared towards working in a job compared to owning a business is far from the truth.

In Business School, your first basic courses, you will learn about Operations Management, which is incredibly significant to running any type of business. Learning about project management, product development, forecasting models, quality and lean manufacturing, product selection, etc... is just all invaluable to running a business. You will also get a course in Organizational Behavior, which is incredibly valuable to run a business so that you can effectively manage people and deal with the human resources issues. You will get basic accounting and statistics classes, which maybe if you have a business undergrad these won't be incredibly useful for you, but are still very important to running any business.

These are going to be your first 3-4 classes and to say you can learn this all by experience is a misnomer. Beyond that, if you do decide to concentrate in entrepreneurship, you can take classes on private equity, obtaining VC, growth stategies, Corporate Ventures and Intrapreneurship, Managing Service Operations, International Business, Leadership Theory, Business Plan Development, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, Change Management, Negotiation Skills, Managing Innovation and Technology Change, and many, many more. If you think these won't give you a significant advantage in running your own business, you are mistaken.

Furthermore, the networking and opportunities you get are invaluable. You will meet hundreds of people that will be successful, both in the corporate world and as entrepreneurs. I can guarantee that you will cross paths with some of these people in the future, whether they are executives of companies you are doing business with or a venture capitalist that is going to buy into your new company. In the program you will get opportunities to meet face to face with VC's to present business plans and talk about what they are looking for, and if you have a good idea, actually get funding. You will hone your skills on giving presentations, becoming a better speaker, and working better in teams.

In fact, most business schools are much different than undergrad programs. Do not make your decision thinking an MBA program is similiar. An MBA program is much, much, much more hands on. You don't sit in hour long lectures and just read hundreds of pages out of a book to take a couple tests. Almost every class is very interactive, with your classmates discussing their experiences in the workplace and their ideas; in most classes, students talk more of the time than the professor will. You will be in classes with engineers, sales people, mutual fund brokers, financial planners, marketing people, operations managers, and just about every title you could think of inbetween, of which you will gain valuable lessons from all of them.

Yes, there are people who don't have MBA's which are very successful. But there are many more that do have advanced degrees that are very successful. Is an MBA necessary, no. Will it hurt? Definately not, it will only help you. Of the top CEO's in the U.S. (by compensation) 4 of 5 have advanced degrees and 7 of 10.

My advice, before deciding what you want to do... talk with people who have MBA's. Ask them what they thought about school and how it has helped them in their career. Attend information sessions at Business Schools, you will meet current and former students and get a better idea of what B School is about.

[Businessceo1]

What are the average years on a MBA degree?

[jasaunders]

to complete the program?
Full-time an MBA can be completed in as little as 1 or 1.25 years.
Part-time an MBA can be completed in as little as 2 or 2.25 years.

[Businessceo1]

That's it! I expected it to be more than 4 years. I guess it's not that much time, so it might be worth it.

[radreality]

I have a friend who is graduating this year with a 4-year degree in Entrepreneurship (his college actually offered that program). He chose to go that route and I chose to go the route of no formal education and just jump into starting businesses and learning on my own from various resources. He has an advantage in some areas as far as actual operational theory within a company, but I have the advantage when it comes to what it actually takes to start a company. The things that he is most versed in, I hired other people to do for me.

So it all depends on what you want your job in your business to be. Do you want to be doing a lot of the work or do you want to have other people do it for you. There are a few different opinions out there as to which way is best.

Having a business degree doesn't mean you will do more work within your company, it just means you will most likely know how to do more tasks, so you are more inclined to spend your own time on it than having someone who is an expert do it for you.

I chose not to get a degree and I am happy with that choice.

[arlo]

wow

it turned out to be a controversial topic. thanks for all your help. i will deeply consider all your advices. but disu=cussing this topic lead me to another question :
how important is having working experience (in established companies/working for someone else)??
*should i post this question in another thread?

[arlo]

wow

it turned out to be a controversial topic. thanks for all your help . i will deeply consider all your advices . but discussing this topic lead me to another question :
how important is having working experience (in established companies/working for someone else)??
*should i post this question in another thread?

[pacificfame]

So is a MBA an actual degree? I don't know much on it.