Many entrepreneurial types dream of one day launching their own businesses. However, although launching your own business can be a hugely rewarding undertaking, it is also a very challenging one. The majority of new businesses will fail within the first few years of their life span. Those that survive find themselves competing against increasingly crowded and cutthroat marketplaces.
The odds have always been stacked against those who start their own businesses; the chances of failure are higher than the chances of success. This is no reason to shy away from the challenge of launching your own business, however. Instead, it should inspire you to take a more cautious and considered approach. The better prepared you are going in, the better your chances of survival in the long term.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius
Studying for a master’s in business administration degree is an excellent step to take for anyone preparing to launch their own business. Earning an MBA degree may take a couple of years, but the difference that it can make to the way that you run your business when you launch makes it more than worth it. An MBA degree will prepare you to launch your own business in a way that no other degree can. Below are just some of the reasons that studying an MBA degree before launching an e-commerce business is a great idea.
Launch the Right Way
It is hard to overstate just how much of an impact your business launch can have on those all-important early days. It doesn’t matter what type of business you are running, or when you enter the market, there are always going to be significant challenges and obstacles that you will need to overcome if you want to survive.
In other words, your business will need every advantage that it can get in its early days if it is to stand any chance of surviving. Your business launch is your first opportunity to set the right tone and ensure that your business arrives in style. Just as you only get one chance at making a first impression with other people, you will only get one chance at making a first impression with your business. If your launch is a disaster, it is going to be very difficult to shake a bad reputation.
The key to a successful launch lies in the planning. If you properly plan ahead and ensure that all the components of your launch are in place ahead of time, the chances of running into issues are minimal. The time leading up to your launch will also be crucial as it is during this time that you will try to build the initial hype for your business. By the time your launch rolls around, you should already be confident that you are going to be able to attract at least some customers.
However, while your launch is undeniably important. it is equally important that you are not entirely dependent upon your launch for the success of your business. There will always be room for unexpected eventualities that could derail your launch. Should this happen, you don’t want it to sink your business before you have even started.
Studying for an MBA is some of the best preparation that you can possibly have for launching a business. You won’t only learn how to manage and lead a business, but you will learn how to plan one and launch it from scratch.
Learn Valuable Skills
The MBA degree has long been considered a gold standard when it comes to assessing someone’s managerial competence. An MBA is still widely regarded as a reliable indicator of quality when hiring new applicants. Many major corporations will now only consider applicants for management and leadership positions who have earned an MBA. Of course, if you are starting your own business, then you don’t need to impress any potential employers. However, the value of the MBA goes far beyond simply showing other people what you are capable of.
The reason that the MBA is held in such wide regard across the board is because it is such a well-rounded course that provides students with a grounding in numerous important areas of business. You don’t have to have an MBA to launch your own business, but those who do possess the degree will be at a clear advantage over those who don’t.
If you are planning on seeking outside funding for your business at any point, then having an MBA to your name will make you a lot more investable.
Naturally, the main value of an MBA to any business person comes from the business lessons you learn while completing it. The basic purpose of the MBA is to prepare students for taking on management and leadership roles within other organizations, or within an organization that they have started for themselves. Consequently, the MBA covers all of the most important aspects of running a business in today’s world. The MBA has also been designed to be versatile, so you can study the MBA regardless of the specific industry you intend to launch a business in.
There are a number of valuable lessons that you will learn when studying for an MBA, and some of them are listed below:
- Finance and accounting: To most businesses, money is like blood. The more money that is flowing through a business, the healthier it is considered to be. Conversely, the less money a business is making, the less healthy it is considered to be. Through the course of studying an MBA degree, students will come to understand the complex relationship between a business’s finances and its future plans. The MBA will teach you to look beyond the balance sheet and to consider the long-term financials of your business.
- Marketing: Good marketing is vital to the long-term success of any business. Without marketing, people aren’t going to know who you are or what you do. If your business is struggling, then the right marketing campaign can completely reverse your fortunes. On the other hand, an ill-considered or rushed approach to marketing can end up costing you a lot of money for no tangible benefit. Students studying for a master’s in business administration will learn all the fundamental principles of marketing as well as how business leaders formulate marketing strategies based on their current circumstances.
- Management and Leadership: Arguably, the main focus of any MBA course is going to be on the management and leadership aspects. After all, the ultimate purpose of the MBA is to prepare students to take on senior roles in their professional lives. The lessons that you learn about leadership and management over the course of an MBA will prove invaluable if you intend on starting your own business. The world of e-commerce is incredibly competitive, and while the MBA has been around a lot longer than e-commerce has, the MBA degree will still prepare you to enter into this industry.
- Self-Organization: In order to succeed at any university course, students will need to be able to organize themselves and manage their own time effectively. Both of these skills are also things that business leaders need in order to be effective, and the MBA degree is one of the best places to learn them.
Studying an MBA has never been a more realistic prospect for many students. There is now a plethora of online options that enable students to study remotely. Studying online means that students don’t need to be restricted by educational institutions that are located physically near to them. For example, a student who lives in New York could study for an MBA Michigan online from their home. Students who study an MBA online are able to save themselves money and will also have the option of completing their studies on a part-time basis.
Manage Your Business Efficiently
Throughout the lifespan of your business, you should always be able to manage it as efficiently as possible. That means making sure that you are minimizing expenses, maximizing profits, and eliminating waste wherever possible. Of course, it is one thing to understand on a theoretical level what good management requires, but it is quite another to be able to find these things in yourself.
Over the course of studying for an MBA, students will learn how to manage a business efficiently, both on a day-to-day and long-term basis.
Surviving in the long term in the e-commerce space is going to require an adaptive management style. As with other industries that are rooted in technology, things can move incredibly fast within the e-commerce space, and businesses who are not able to keep up and adapt will soon find themselves falling behind. Studying for a master’s in business administration will teach you everything that you need to know about how to manage your business effectively through thick and thin.
Marketing Matters
It is impossible to overstate the importance of marketing for a business. It doesn’t matter whether your business is just launching, preparing for its launch, or is in its second or third year of operations; regardless of the circumstances, your business needs to have an effective marketing strategy.
You don’t need much business acumen to know that marketing is important, but you do need good business sense to be able to formulate effective strategies. Good marketing doesn’t just let people know what your business does; it lets them know who your business is. Marketing should convey something of your brand’s ethos and identity to consumers. This enables you to connect with them on a deeper level.
When you are responsible for overseeing your own business, it is even more important that your marketing is on point. Your business will rise or fall on the back of its marketing, and the quality of your marketing will have a huge impact on how those first few months ago.
Future Proof Your Skillset
The world of business moves very fast. New trends emerge all the time while others fall to the wayside. It is notoriously difficult to predict the direction that these trends will flow in, especially where technology is concerned.
E-commerce businesses are among the businesses that are most susceptible to these unpredictable market forces. The rules for e-commerce sellers have already been rewritten several times in their relatively short existence. Those of us who can remember the early days of e-commerce know that e-commerce, as we know it today, is an entirely different beast. It only seems logical that in 20 years from now, the e-commerce industry will be just as different. Because of the unpredictability of this industry’s evolution, it is very difficult to get ahead of the curve and preempt the next big thing.
Studying for an MBA will not just provide you with skills that are useful now, it will also give you the tools that you need to be adaptable in the future and take on challenges that are not specifically covered by your degree. Studying for an MBA is, therefore, a great way of future-proofing your skillset and earning a degree that will never be obsolete.
The e-commerce industry has been growing consistently for well over a decade now, so it isn’t that surprising that so many aspiring entrepreneurs want to work in this field. However, what many of them don’t realize is that the e-commerce industry, while growing, is also becoming significantly more competitive.
Anyone looking to make it in the e-commerce industry today is going to need all the help they can get. The more preparation they do beforehand, the better chances an entrepreneur has of surviving. Studying for an MBA degree is among the most thorough preparations that any entrepreneur can make for entering the e-commerce industry.
MBA degrees have never been more accessible, with more universities offering the course than ever before, and a wide range of online options to boot. If you are planning to launch an e-commerce business, then you should seriously consider studying an MBA beforehand.