A lot of people think of an MBA as something one studies in hopes of making a move to a board level role in the corporate world. It is certainly a highly sought after qualification when it comes to high level appointments in the professional world and is one that generally shows that somebody has a good, broad knowledge of business as well as considerable practical experience – given that to start an MBA a professional generally is expected to have several years of relevant working experience under their belt.

MBAs and Entrepreneurs

However, with more people than ever now considering starting their own businesses rather than going down the corporate career route, there are a lot of people who find themselves needing that wide knowledge usually associated with CEOs and other high level executives earlier in their careers as they become the leaders of their own businesses. Studying for an MBA here can be hugely beneficial, too.

General and Specialist Knowledge

An MBA program will give you a good level of applicable knowledge across a wide range of business topics, all of which are important in a business leader. Things like strategy and marketing, financial governance, business intelligence and other key things that can help someone to competently manage a company will be covered with real world applications and examples. This stuff in useful no matter what field you want to start a business in, however there are also MBA courses that are geared towards people who wish to specialize in certain sectors, such as this MBA program which has a healthcare management specialism.

Is a Specialist MBA the Best Choice for You?

A general MBA can be the best choice if you want to be able to operate in different sectors throughout your career, such as if you want to run different types of businesses depending on opportunities and ideas that come up rather than being focused on just one style of company or one industry. But, if you can only see yourself working in one sector, perhaps due to your background or the passion that made you want to start a business in the first place, then an MBA with specialisms geared towards what you want to do will provide skills and knowledge tailored towards you. Both options will give you some immediate benefits and level up your business skills considerably, but you need to think longer term to decide whether you want to study things focused on your initial chosen industry or gain skills that are flexible and versatile with a view to diversifying later on. Another factor to consider is availability, as general MBA courses are naturally offered by more providers than specialist ones, so you’ll need to think about this when deciding where to do your MBA.

An MBA is a fantastic qualification to gain if you want to lead your own business, but before you enroll, do consider whether to take on a specialist MBA instead!