Starting a business is a challenge at the best of times. What holds many young startup entrepreneurs back is a lack of business experience and worst still, limited academic knowledge to fill in experiential gaps. This can lead to all sorts of problems in the early stages of the business when it’s toughest to survive.
In this article, we look at whether it is a good idea to study for an MBA while running a startup in the first year.
Will an MBA Help Bridge the Knowledge Gap?
An MBA covers many topics in depth over the course which typically runs between 18-24 months in duration.
Students cover major business topics that equip them to work at mid and upper management level or as the CEO and founder of a company. There’s also the chance with some courses to pick extra topics to specialize in, many of which will have relevance to the industry a startup is operating in.
Is the Knowledge Acquired Quickly Enough to Be Relevant?
Some MBA courses are designed to be studied one paper at a time over 6-8 weeks. Once that paper is completed, the student moves onto the next one. It depends on the course and how it’s being run whether it’s possible to arrange the papers in the preferred order or not.
Certainly, business fundamentals are covered early which will give startup founders a solid grounding. Other topics like corporate finance that covers raising money, and issuing bonds or new shares to raise capital, are highly relevant for founders of a cash-strapped startup too.
Also, an MBA is shorter than most people imagine. Given that the total course is often under two years, much of the information is learned in the first 9-12 months. This means that a founder won’t have to wait too long to be able to directly apply what they’ve learned so far.
Is It Practical to Study and Run a New Business?
It didn’t used to be that realistic to study for an MBA and also run a business. However, with the advent of online MBA courses where students don’t need to study on campus, that’s all changed.
The typical curriculum is balanced and tailored to study it online. There are usually pre-recorded seminars, study notes, and other course materials easily accessible for students to dive right in. To learn more about this type of online course, click here.
Studying is so much easier than it used to be in the past. Many people do so now in their spare time to advance their career or to fill in the knowledge gap.
While it used to be the case that founders had to rely on hiring extremely well to cover areas of the business that they were ill-equipped to handle, that’s no longer the case. With a bit of extra time and attention to address business know-how that’s currently lacking, a founder can quickly address the issue and get a confidence boost in the process. Never a bad thing when there’s so many other uncertainties to wrestle with as a business owner.
