Articles

Why Getting An Mba Can Be Helpful For Small Business Owners

2010-04-22

For many small business owners, the MBA programs available to them are often given little to no consideration because of an unfortunate mis-perception that MBA admissions are only for young, fresh-out-of-college students seeking entry into corporate America. The truth is that the increasing popularity of entrepreneurship as a specialization in and of itself has created an exponential increase in MBA admissions. Further, the numbers include more and more adults, young and old, who have already had their fair share of corporate America and seek to gain the tools necessary to be successful small business owners.

No one can deny that some people seem to be "natural-born entrepreneurs." Everyone has heard the inspiring stories of Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Donald Trump and countless others who had no formal training, only an overabundance of instinctual business-savvy skills and a vision. That said, small business owners usually fall into two categories: those who "have it" and those who do not; but even that dichotomy is not sufficient to distinguish who should enter an MBA program and who should not. There are entrepreneurs who have an innate business sense, but lack the confidence to execute their ideas. There are others who are literally spilling over with confidence and know absolutely nothing at all about which to spill.

Going to MBA colleges can be an endless internal battle. One can debate it ceaselessly without realizing that the real question that should be asked is "can I make an accurate, unbiased assessment of that of which my skill set is comprised?” If the answer is yes, then one can proceed, make the assessment, and determine exactly which knowledge sets are needed and obtainable at MBA colleges. All business, regardless of industry, is comprised of specific categories of knowledge: marketing, accounting, operations, etc. If the answer is no, however, and one's own skill set cannot be clearly defined, then proceeding to invest time and money as a small business owner can be as risky as a weekend in Las Vegas with an even lower ROI.

Another factor to take into consideration is that small business owners often make the best students. Having a more intimate familiarity with the risk and dedication required to run a small business seems to make one more dedicated, attentive and, therefore, successful as a student. All too often those fresh-out-of-college students take the knowledge presented for granted, staying more concerned with spring break than breaking even. When deciding whether to investigate the local MBA programs available, the adage to remember is "you don't know what you don't know " MBA college costs just might be your most valuable investment, one that can never be lost.