I’m a successful entrepreneur, so why start business school?
If you’re a business owner, as like I am, you may already know that it’s possible to launch and run a successful business without an MBA. Some entrepreneurs studied business as undergrads or perhaps had a mentor walk them through the finer points of business operations when they first opened their doors. The rest of us stumbled blindly through the startup process, hitting every rough spot but somehow figuring it out. Maybe we had an idea of what culture, leadership and costing allocations were, but how much did we truly understand and utilize these concepts?
Starting your own business is like a no-parachute plunge. After perhaps five years of nosediving daily into operations, marketing, finance and accounting, you start to get the hang of things. But this begs the question: Why should you fork out more than $100,000 to learn what you already know?
The answer is simple—because you may not realize that you can improve on how you’re do things. Do you have a cost allocation system? Does it allocate to revenue (an archaic concept)? Do you pay attention to the company’s culture? (You may not if you haven’t learned about its importance, especially when it comes time to scale.) I strongly encourage business owners to pursue an MBA or executive MBA. The thought-provoking coursework alone is well worth the fees, effort and time required. Sure, you may already have some successful business processes in place. You may even be seeing a satisfying cashflow. But it’s absolutely in your best interest to focus on honing your skills, especially as business trends shift and competition grows. Business isn’t getting easier, it is getting harder—and more competitive.
How much do you pay to speak to your lawyer? How much does it cost for your CPA to prep your taxes? Advisors are expensive. I have access to some of the finest minds in the world in the specialty of business processes—my MBA professors. They are very approachable, too. If you’re working on a new costing system after taking a Managerial Accounting course, chances are good that the professor will take the time to discuss it with you over lunch, free of charge. (Well, except that you should offer to pay for the lunch!) Until I entered the program, I never knew that instructors could be so approachable and willing to help. They want you to succeed not only because they care, but because it’s in the best interest of the program.
Another huge benefit of enrolling in an MBA program is the invaluable networking. You’ll meet people in your classes who are also at the top of their respective fields—in marketing, accounting and public relations, to name a few. They will crave your intel, and you will have access to theirs. As a result, you’ll see return on investment for years to come.
As a business owner myself, specifically in the small business realm, I love the fact that I can apply any of what I learn in class to my own business, immediately and with no roadblocks and zero paperwork. There’s an immediate payback and a positive impact in addition to picking up navigation techniques from some of the best minds in the business world. I do sometimes feel sorry for fellow classmates who work for large companies, as they may develop major insights in the classroom only to deal with countless meetings and red tape to try them out. But for me, MBA learning has truly been the best possible blend of theory and application I could ask for.
I don’t have a corporate background, so I didn’t know anything about culture, leadership or managerial accounting when I began the program. But since I did, I have been able to define and cultivate my business’ culture. My leadership coaches and instructors have helped me navigate the treacherous territory that lay between working in my business to working on my business. I have improved our costing systems with the help of my managerial accounting instructor, which had an immediate strategic impact overnight. Thanks to my stats class, I was able to build a modeling system to help with horsepower upgrades. These are the easily described changes, but the thought-provoking nature of the classes I’ve taken is perhaps the biggest factor that has allowed me to take my business to new heights.
You may be familiar with the Harvard Business Review article, In Praise of the Incomplete Leader, by Deborah Ancona, Thomas W. Malone, Wanda J. Orlikowski and Peter M. Senge. It was assigned reading in my leadership class. The authors present a theory for successful leadership that goes against our common assumptions about what a leader should be—flawless. As all small business owners know, in the face of adversity, we are supposed to be fearless and unflappable, particularly given the fact that we have no marketing or finance teams to fall back on. It’s essentially all up to us, because in many cases we’re one-man bands. This is why we must continuously learn, grow, pivot and adapt. Knowledge truly is power. The goal of being well-rounded as a small business owner is arguably even more important than it is for the CEO of a corporation.
Business ownership calls for an in-depth understanding of accounting, marketing and operations. But when is the last time you thought about the benefits of a leadership course or gaining a better grasp on analytics? I have been able to learn how to quickly master a business tool which in turn has led to significant wins for my business. I have learned how to define our culture and put its strengths to work while making changes to its weaknesses. One short sentence in a marketing book about Twitter’s conversion rate made a big difference in my case, leading to a dramatic increase in sales. A complete overhaul of your cost allocation system, thanks to a managerial finance class, may make the same difference for you. Every class seems to hit at the right time for the extreme benefit of my business.
There is a distinct belief among business owners these days that education is overrated. You’ve probably been subjected to some of them boasting about dropping out of school to start their business. We all have the tendency to ride the tailwind of our own successes, feeling indestructible and all-knowing. But it doesn’t last long. Even the most successful business owners will concur that the most successful professionals are those who make a point to continually improve themselves and the health of their companies every single day.
Is an MBA mandatory in order to run a successful company? Perhaps not. But no matter what industry you’re currently in, you can bet there is someone like me who understood the value of an MBA and will continue to reap its rewards while beating out the competition.
