We’re all potential startups now. In fact, some are calling the startup a new form of trial and error-based business education. Folks with different specialties come together, create product/services and shape modern companies around themselves or an idea. However, oftentimes someone with an MBA isn’t on the team.
This isn’t necessarily good or bad really, but there are a number of reasons to have someone with serious business savvy on-board. In this article we’ll explore probably the top four reasons without getting too technical. Let’s get straight to it, shall we.
Reason #1: To Stay in the Green & Maintain Growth
It’s almost cliché these days to read about startups drowning in debt before they come to market. Typically they survive/expand in the red hoping that once their platform goes viral the money and profits will come flowing in. Obviously this is more often complete nonsense.
An MBA understands the accounting angle, the many tax implications, expenditures, incoming vs. outgoing income streams and marketing budgets in a way that a web designer, programmer or social media expert probably doesn’t. They can also dramatically increase the chances a fledgling startup with promise will be able to attract funding through connections or knowing the routes to these types of investors that most people simply don’t.
Reason #2: To Make Wiser & Strategic Investments
Many business owners really have no idea how to invest their budgeted money and profits. An MBA can help make much wiser decisions that have a much higher chance of positive ROI. They’ll avoid debt whenever possible, in most ideal situations anyway.
Their ability to really define ideas and then quantify them will be outside the reach of most other people who have no experience with these types of things. Furthermore, they’ll probably be able to navigate through contracts and get better deals from service providers.
Reason #3: To Keep a Closer Eye on the Hard Data
There’s the business owner doing their thing, along with the project manager keeping the team on-task and directed at bigger goals that have to do with more than money. Meanwhile, who is keeping an eye on the hard data? Is there even any analytical or data collection software in play? An MBA understands the value of the math, the hard data that business owners and their teams either shy away from or don’t understand.
If the MBA can’t get it themselves, they’ll make sure that a system is in place to capture it so that new directions can be based partly upon them. They are likely to keep startups accountable to the hard data (reality).
Reason #4: All the Added-Value They Bring
An MBA comes equipped with experience. Most programs require them to put in at least 3 years of direct work in the trenches. They’ve seen how a business works from all the angles firsthand, while it’s quite common today for startups to be composed of 20 or 30 somethings who have never ran a business for a day in their lives.
They bring a very plan-orientated approach, that again, takes into account positive growth, marketing budgets, branding, the works! Every startup needs a qualified manager with a more seasoned holistic perspective on growing a company from the ground up. They’re both a qualified teacher, manager and are already used to working in teams.
If you’re thinking of building a new company or brand, make sure that when you consider who to have on your team, you take into account everything that someone with an MBA brings to the table. They’re not cheap, but neither is failure!
By Ali Asjad
Ali Asjad is a content strategist based in Stockholm, Sweden. He helps companies in vast and varied verticals be more successful and visible online. Circle him on Google+ to further the conversation.
