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Why an Entrepreneurship MBA?
In the year since launching the GIBS Full-time Entrepreneurship MBA, I have been asked on numerous occasions whether it is possible to train entrepreneurs.
Professor Nick Binedell
People ask me whether a ‘real entrepreneur’ wouldn’t rather invest their money in a business idea than in an education. If entrepreneurs are supposed to be go-getters, why would they ‘waste’ a year doing an MBA when they could be rolling up their sleeves and starting their business?
These questions reflect the many false assumptions that exist about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. So here are some facts: most entrepreneurs are not 20-something high school drop-outs who saw a market niche or made millions from a great tech idea. Most start their first business in their thirties or early forties and have between five and ten years’ experience in their industry. It is estimated that around 80% of South African entrepreneurial businesses fail in the first three years but, importantly, the more education the entrepreneur has, the greater their chances of success.
This is not to say that the ‘better mousetrap’ idea isn’t still a critical ingredient to successful entrepreneurship – it’s just that ideas and innovation are no longer enough. The world of business has become increasingly sophisticated and people who want to succeed need the entrepreneurial business skills to scale their good idea so that it becomes a commercially successful and sustainable enterprise.
To achieve this you need to understand marketing, selling, how to build and manage a team, how to put together a business plan that’s attractive to funders, how to negotiate and how to handle the knocks you will unquestionably experience along the way.
These questions reflect the many false assumptions that exist about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. So here are some facts: most entrepreneurs are not 20-something high school drop-outs who saw a market niche or made millions from a great tech idea. Most start their first business in their thirties or early forties and have between five and ten years’ experience in their industry. It is estimated that around 80% of South African entrepreneurial businesses fail in the first three years but, importantly, the more education the entrepreneur has, the greater their chances of success.
This is not to say that the ‘better mousetrap’ idea isn’t still a critical ingredient to successful entrepreneurship – it’s just that ideas and innovation are no longer enough. The world of business has become increasingly sophisticated and people who want to succeed need the entrepreneurial business skills to scale their good idea so that it becomes a commercially successful and sustainable enterprise.
To achieve this you need to understand marketing, selling, how to build and manage a team, how to put together a business plan that’s attractive to funders, how to negotiate and how to handle the knocks you will unquestionably experience along the way.
Meeting Entrepreneur's Needs
Can these skills be taught? Yes, absolutely. However, they need to be taught in a way that takes cognisance of the unique nature and needs of the entrepreneurial business environment. It may be true that people don’t learn how to be entrepreneurs at business school, but that’s not because the skills required to be a successful entrepreneur can’t be taught. Rather it's because business schools have been teaching people entrepreneurship, instead of teaching them how to be entrepreneurs.This is where the GIBS Full-Time Entrepreneurship MBA focuses. Targeted specifically at meeting the needs of the entrepreneur, it provides students with the full set of skills they need to turn their ‘better mousetrap’ idea into a commercially successful business. The course covers all the necessary business, marketing, operational, HR and financial theory, but the material is presented with a bias towards practical implementation in the entrepreneurial environment. They will be exposed to a faculty of like-minded people who have first-hand experience as entrepreneurs themselves, and to a network of individuals and organisations that will prove invaluable in opening doors to future business opportunities.
Generating Economic Growth
So, to my mind, the question we should be asking is not, can we teach entrepreneurs, but why do we need to teach entrepreneurs. The answer to that question is simple. South Africa’s deepest, long-term problem is poverty and the only way to solve it is through an effective State and economic growth. Government can create the enabling environment but it can’t generate economic growth. This comes from entrepreneurship, recognised globally as one of the most powerful job-creation engines. Its relevance and importance to the current South African context cannot be over-stated, and the need to educate entrepreneurs has never been more pressing. We at GIBS aim to make a start through the Full-Time Entrepreneurship MBA.
However, the programme is not for everyone. As our first intake of students will testify, this is an extremely rigorous and challenging course. Entry criteria are necessarily stringent; we are looking for those individuals who have the personal attributes, ideas and business plan necessary to start a business. Many of them will be restless to break free from the corporate environment in order to bring their own business idea to fruition. Others will have started businesses already and found they need the skills, mentorship and network to scale their idea up. All of them will show that special brand of resilience and vision so characteristic of entrepreneurs.
If this describes you, I urge you to apply and I look forward to welcoming you as part of our second intake to the GIBS Full-Time Entrepreneurship MBA.
However, the programme is not for everyone. As our first intake of students will testify, this is an extremely rigorous and challenging course. Entry criteria are necessarily stringent; we are looking for those individuals who have the personal attributes, ideas and business plan necessary to start a business. Many of them will be restless to break free from the corporate environment in order to bring their own business idea to fruition. Others will have started businesses already and found they need the skills, mentorship and network to scale their idea up. All of them will show that special brand of resilience and vision so characteristic of entrepreneurs.
If this describes you, I urge you to apply and I look forward to welcoming you as part of our second intake to the GIBS Full-Time Entrepreneurship MBA.
Professor Nick Binedell
Director: Gordon Institute of Business Science
Published March 2010 | Editorial Disclaimer
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