Although it may surprise you, employers who want someone with an MBA (Master in Business Administration) increasingly look for those who have an entrepreneurial concentration. As such, if you have completed an Entrepreneurship MBA, you have the opportunity to enter the workforce, or to start a company of your own. This is the type of job security that few others can give you.
The fact that regular employers are now looking for those with an Entrepreneur MBA has particularly attracted those who thought that it was not worth holding such a degree. They felt that there was no real return for the fact that, when running their own business, they are responsible for everything and everyone. You also have to make a significant financial and personal investment in earning that MBA, and you may not see a return for a long time. Additionally, you have to remain highly motivated, particularly when you consider 70% of new businesses going out of business after no more than one year of business.
Why Earn an Entrepreneurship MBA?
It is important to note that you cannot learn passion from school – you have to have it from the start or at least you get to develop it. If you do have passion, then there is a chance you could make it as an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, completing an Entrepreneurship MBA gives you a number of specific benefits:
• It will give you the confidence to know when to take risks and when not to.
• You will learn about all the important elements of business: sources of capital, finance, and marketing.
• You will be more likely to raise capital to start up a business.
• You will be able to network with others like you, and perhaps work with them in future.
• You will learn about the innovation life cycle, which will help you develop ideas and introduce new services.
• You will learn how to spot new and emerging trends.
Admission Requirements
Exact admission requirements for an Entrepreneurship MBA vary depending on which school you go to. Those set by DePaul University are pretty common, however, and include:
• An essay
• Letters of recommendation
• GMAT/GRE scores
• Resume
• Interview
• TOEFL for non-English speaking students
Curriculum and Courses
Again, the exact curriculum you will follow will depend on the school. However, the curriculum at Darden UVA is quite reflective of those of other schools:
• Strategic Thinking and Action
• Starting New Ventures
• Venture Capital
• Acquisition of Closely-Held Enterprises
• Entrepreneurial Finance & Private Equity
• Entrepreneurial Thinking
• Innovation and Design Experience
• Entrepreneur as Change Agent
• Entrepreneurs Taking Action
• Creative Capitalism
• Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Social Responsibility and Entrepreneurship
• Markets in Human Hope
• Management of Smaller Enterprises
• Small Enterprise Finance
• Negotiations
• Introduction to Business Law
• Developing New Products & Services
• Technology Accelerator
• Managing Turnarounds and Workouts
• Leadership & Theater: Ethics, Innovation and Creativity
• Strategy
• Post-Merger Integration
• Strategy Seminar
• Investigations into the Nature of Strategy
• The Consulting Process
• Strategic Thinking: Integrating East and West
• Competitive Dynamics
• Emerging Medical Technologies
• Corporate Innovation and Design Experience
• Organic Growth: A Challenge for Public Companies
• Creativity and Design Thinking
• Global Business Experience: Strategy as Design
Recommended Online Programs
Career Outcomes and Job Titles
With an Entrepreneurship MBA, you can become many different things, earning very interesting salaries. Some examples include:
• Marketing director
• Software product manager
• Senior product manager
• Business development director
• Chief financial officer
• Product management director
Job Salary & Outlook
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, top executives earn an average of $102,690 per year, at bachelor’s degree level. Obtaining an MBA is known to increase salaries at an average of $15,000 per year. However, calculating a salary for an entrepreneur can be difficult, not in the least because your salary will be very variable depending on when you are and are not working.
Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration has reported that entrepreneurship is gaining in popularity, mainly due to its various benefits. These include being able to set your own hours, being able to direct every action within your business, being able to turn vision into reality, and using employment and innovation to grow the economy as a whole. Statistics have shown that 25% of new businesses remain operational for at least 15 years, which could make the Entrepreneurship MBA your stepping stone towards a career for life.
Scholarships and Grants
• Zonta Foundation: The Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship, which notes that women represent around 50% of the workforce around the world, but too few are found in corporate boardrooms and senior management. The Zonta Foundation aims to change this and attract more women into entrepreneurship through 32 $1,000 regional scholarships per year, and 12 $7,000 international scholarships per year.
• Native American Scholarship Fund, which understands the lack of qualified people within Native American communities, which is mainly due to the abysmal quality of education. Less than 1% of Native Americans in this country attend an Ivy League school. Through grants, they seek to encourage more Native Americans to complete degrees. 85% of those who have received a grant or scholarship have gone on to finish their degree.
• Rapid Formations Entrepreneur Scholarship Program. This recently launched program aims to give people the necessary skills to drive creativity and innovation in the workplace. All individuals in postgraduate studies at accredited institutions can apply and they may receive one of 20 scholarships of up to $750 towards their studies. Rapid Formations offers a very straightforward application program and is now in its second year, with the first year proving to be hugely successful.
• BlueVine Young Entrepreneur Scholarship. It is designed to help small businesses address their needs in terms of capital, allowing them access funding very quickly. They now also have two scholarships available of $5,000 each for those who want to become entrepreneurs. Their Young Entrepreneurs scholarship program is already proving to be very popular and aims to recognize how small businesses contribute to the economy through their important work.
Additional Resources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Entrepreneurship and the U.S. Economy.
The Startup Mag: Offers advice for startups.
Entrepreneur Magazine: News and articles for entrepreneurs.
