Is MBA degree right for entrepreneurship?
For graduate students, there are various career choices – take up a job, go for an MBA degree or start business as an entrepreneur. And with more choices comes more confusion. Should I go for MBA before I start a venture? Or should I start right away and learn on my own. Like any other decision in life, the answers may vary from person to person, and I am happy to share my experiences. Let us look at what factors to consider:
1. In long term, entrepreneurship will pay more than any job
Lot of our decision making is influenced by the amount of money we can make – so students chose to get into areas where they get more money but little satisfaction. In the long term, entrepreneurship will always make you more money than any job in the world. Being on your own gives you a chance for an unlimited upside, with a risk on the downside; while a job may give limited upside with less downside risk. So if you chose to be an entrepreneur, make sure you learn from your MBA program the key ingredients of how organizations are started and build, not how they are ‘managed’.
2. MBA is not only about degree, but also about the attitude
MBA degree is generally the 2nd degree in your life, and you are expected to be more mature while taking this program. The curriculum and way of learning in a MBA program is lots dependent on you as an individual, your positive attitude, your participation in the industry interactions, organizing college festivals, networking etc. So do not join MBA to get another degree, but to get the right attitude and mindset to struggle and succeed.
3. Chose the best college for your MBA degree
There are 1000s of colleges which have recently come up with zero focus on quality, lack of faculty and other support – that thrive on expensive marketing campaigns. And then there are well known names like IIMs which provide quality management education. So do not compromise on the college that you chose – you can wait for a few years before going into the best MBA colleges as there is no age bar to education.
Considering the above factors gives you a chance whether you can learn and have the right attitude to entrepreneurship – with the right inputs, you can be your own boss rather than a manager in a large company!
