Can An Entrepreneur Succeed Without An MBA?

It doesn’t take any kind of experience to start a business. Right now, without any training, you could register a business name, purchase a location, and start offering products or services to paying customers. Odds are that your business wouldn’t last long.

Why?

Because you don’t have a plan.

While you might not need anything more than funding and a name to start a business, you need to have a plan to be successful. Education and experience can help make it successful. That is why many entrepreneurs spend time pursuing their MBA. MBAs do not always create passion in business ideas or help students become more comfortable with risk.

MBA grads should leave school with a enhanced skillset and knowledge base. If you are eager to become an entrepreneur or if you’ve already started a business without proper preparation, you should consider enrolling in an MBA program. Here are some reason why.

MBAs Grow Business Knowledge and Skills

You might have a brilliant business idea. Aside from trademarking the name and starting a branded Instagram account, what is your next move to build a strong foundation for your startup? Is it more important to have cash on hand for emergencies or to reinvest income in your business to help it grow? When is it appropriate to reevaluate your initial business strategy?

You need to know how to start and run a business if you hope to attain success. An MBA program will give you the answers to the questions you have about entrepreneurship. With focused study, you can understand the ins and outs of business management. This helps you gain the skills you need to accomplish your goals.

MBAs Provide Access to Role Models and Mentors

If your current entrepreneur role models are the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, that’s great! Few entrepreneurs ever build empires worth billions, the way Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg did.

The best online MBA programs will put you in touch with entrepreneurs, and business professionals, from whom you can learn about the world of entrepreneurship.

Your professors can easily transition into mentorship roles. They can help you realize the potential of your ideas and skills. Mentors and role models can provide guidance even after you graduate. Mentors can provide sensible advice as your business gets closer to that Fortune-500 status.

MBAs Bring Together Distinct Disciplines, Ideas, and Cultures

Without an MBA, you will be forced to run a business using your experience. Even if you have an associate or bachelor’s degree in a business-related field, it’s unlikely that you understand how business disciplines interact. Examples of this are in finance, accounting, marketing and advertising.

An MBA provides in-depth education on facets of business. You can gain more insight into the working parts of your future enterprise.

You might not know how to target it for different audiences and markets. In fact, your idea might have already been attempted by other entrepreneurs, whose case files you can read about and learn from during your program. Gaining an MBA can help you expand your idea into new, unexpected areas.

All types of people seek MBAs. By participating in your MBA program, interacting with fellow students and professors, you will encounter different cultures and backgrounds. This experience could help you develop your business structure and strategy. Diversity is important in the modern workplace, and you can begin by experiencing greater diversity in your business education.

MBAs Offer a Career Parachute

Running a business is always a risk; even with an MBA, an entrepreneur can fail. If your idea isn’t perfect, if the market isn’t right, if some unforeseen catastrophe occurs, you could find your business venture has failed and plenty of business loans to pay.

While you might be eager to pursue your business ownership dreams, it doesn’t hurt to have credentials that can get you hired anywhere, any time. An MBA is like a self-made golden parachute, and you would be insane to turn that down.