I always liked the idea of having my own business. Being my own boss, having lots of responsibility, being able to contribute to free trade and enterprise as well as the dream of becoming a self made millionaire all held an attraction for me.
I had gotten the entrepreneurial bug whilst in the last year of my Law and French degree. Due to the abysmal lack of onsite entertainment, I set up a student quiz night which was self-financing i.e. the money collected from entering was shared out as prize money. The highlight of this was when we raised money for charity. Anyways, I liked running it (as well as relishing being the boss of five guys) and it planted the seed and got me thinking. But it was not until I completed my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) that I really got the bit between my teeth and started the process. So what was the difference?
First and foremost, the MBA requires hard work and dedication. I was ready to quit about three times but had already invested so much in terms of money that it didn’t seem fair to do so and so I stuck at it. My mentality was, ‘just stick it out this month and see how you go and if you get through it, then you can get through the next’ and that was how I got through it. So it taught me to be prepared for hard work. Starting a new business is not necessarily hard, running one is and the MBA taught me how to apply myself when the going gets tough.
Secondly, it taught me to go the extra step. As I already stated, studying for it was hard enough with multiple assignments almost constantly and the preparations for the dissertation. It was during this time, that I decided to enter (with a team) a business planning competition. This was risky as it was a lot of extra work, extra meetings, extra research that we had to do possibly at the expense of our core subjects. However, the risk paid off and we came highly recommended in our group in the competition. So with this, I took the bold step of setting up my own writing business two years later.
In addition to teaching me about taking risks, studying for my MBA taught me about the importance of planning. As you have read in my factoids, I am a big fan of preparation especially in the area of business. You can never have too much research as far as setting up a business is concerned. When I set up my student quiz night, I did some preliminary checks and research checking to see what people wanted and to see if what I was offering was something that they liked. On a much larger scale, this is what is needed.
One of the key things that I learnt was that teamwork is not only necessary but crucial. Even as a sole trader, you need a support network around you. A lot of our assignments involved working in teams. If you didn’t listen to them or work correctly with them, then it is not only the work that suffered but you as an individual.
Finally, the most important thing that the MBA taught me is that I am stronger than I think. So are all of you entrepreneurs and business hopefuls….
God bless and take care readers….
