A lot of wannabe entrepreneurs and managers consider getting MBAs in order to get ahead in the game. So is An MBA worth it? While an MBA might help you get ahead for promotions within a company (emphasis on might) the value of postgraduate degrees in a business that you start for yourself are minimal – if cash is the only thing you are after. The fact is, MBA programs are now increasingly expensive and their pay-offs are often minimal, even for their ostensible purposes.
MBAs are certainly not the only way. MBAs are great for some and not for others. You don’t need an MBA to be successful in business or to start one. However, a good MBA (here’s a list of Business Week’s top MBA’s for entrepreneurship) will open plenty of doors that you wouldn’t otherwise know existed. MBAs can help professionals with no previous business experience – doctors, engineers, etc.- get sufficient grounding for entrepreneurship.
However, there are many strong arguments against getting MBAs as this infograph from MBAOnline shows.
What’s driving the numbers against MBAs however, is likely to be the recent recession as well as the glut of diploma mills. If you feel you need an MBA, you’ll have to make sure it’s from a reputable program that’s actually worth it. If you only need an MBA to pad your CV, that would probably be the wrong approach.
The wide availability of free information has undoubted made an MBA a less important tool for success. With the cost of MBA’s often being more than the development cost of new business models, one must really think things through before going ahead and spending a fair chunk of change for a degree.
That said, if you’re short of time and have limited resources, you might want start your own business, rather than get just any MBA. If you want one, make sure it’s worth it.