Should I get an MBA?
I want to start a company. Should I get an MBA?
If I had a nickel for every time I was asked this question, I would have about $5. Well, maybe I might have $10.
“I want to start a company. Should I go back to school and get an MBA?”
My answer is always this:
An MBA could do several things for you, such as:
- Introduce you to a new group of business networks who could help you get a new job or a new sale
- Increase your salary at the current company you work for or increase your asking salary when you look for another job
- Allow you to use the career services of the school to help you find a new job
Do you notice the theme here? See – the amazing simple truth is this:
GETTING AN MBA CAN HELP YOU GET A BETTER JOB.Getting an MBA will not help you start a company; in fact, it will probably deter you further from starting your company. Here’s why:
- An MBA will cost a minimum of $15,000 to attain – that takes away from possible start-funds you may have available
- An MBA will take up a minimum of 10 hours of your time each week – that takes away from time you could spend starting your business
- When you get the MBA and get a promotion – that’s more incentive for you to stay in your job and not start that business
If you find yourself in a transitionary phase of life and are thinking about starting a company the last thing you want to do is go back to school. Of course, there are exceptions, for instance if you want to start a chiropractic center and need to get a license to practice, you will need to go to school. But a standard college degree will not help you, and especially not one from a business school. Business schools are great at breeding employees, but the suck at breeding entrepreneurs.
Here’s a typical example:
I have a good friend who wants to start a bakery. He has a great line of recipes from his grandmother and really wants to start a hip little bakery in a cute, urban neighborhood. He currently works in the entertainment industry. He asked me if he should go back to school because he has no business background. I told him, instead of wasting $25K on a degree, take that $25K and support yourself so you can work at a bakery for six months.
Yeah, he thought I was nuts too.
But here is the hard truth: If you want to start a company in an industry – you need experience in that industry. That experience will help you:
- Gain credibility from everyone from your investors to your parents
- Help you uncover the problems in the industry that your company can solve
- Develop the networks you need in the industry to build a company
Don’t want to give six months of your life up pounding dough? Then I doubt you’ll want to spend the rest of your life doing it.
However, there is another less drastic option available. A great company concept was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine called Vocation Vacations. This company is focusing on just this issue. I am a big fan of this company. It’s a great way to test out an entrepreneurial venture before you decide to bet your house on it.
In my friend’s case, he can go be a baker for a three days and work along side the owner and learn what a day in the life of running a bakery is actually like. Anyone who tries this strategy out is likely to find that there is a big difference between what you think a day of an entrepreneur is like and what a day in the life of an entrepreneur is REALLY like. Just ask one.
The cool part is – you will have found out what you like and what you DON’T like, without ruining your credit.
-Robb
