PaulSB 09-12-2006, 06:12 PM I have been a small business owner and operator for the past 3+ years and I am looking into pursuing an MBA. I have basically been in the business of building businesses during that time and would like to get opinions on whether the experience I have attained would be smiled or frowned upon by business school admissions. I have some other experiences but the following two are the onces in question:
Initially I was hired by a local retail music chain to take over the operations of a fledgling e-commerce retail venue which was intended to support their existing brick-and-mortar business. I took their existing platform off-line and I rebuilt their back-end operations and put into place all personnel, technology and tools to support new business going forward. After operations re-commenced I managed all day-to-day web-site development, sales, marketing, customer service, vendor contact management/relations, purchasing, fulfillment, and inventory management. I managed a team of between 4-6 employees. Before I took over operational control the business was squeeking by at measly $12,000 a month in revenue. Within eight months of overhauling the operations and putting into place stable business processes and support functions revenues had reached $220,000 monthly.
After leaving this position I decided to take what I learned and embark on a small business project of my own. This time it was from absolute scratch. I went out and found a commercial location and got started. I guided all startup and ongoing business development operations including new dealership acquisition and vendor relationship maintenance for over 30 manufacturers. I supervised the design and participated in the construction of multiple e-commerce retail venues using one web developer employee. I developed and maintained supply-chain management solutions for all business to business and business to consumer operation channels. I was accountable for the management of all sales, marketing, customer service, vendor relations/negotiations, purchasing, fulfillment, and inventory management. This two-man business was operational within a few months and demonstrated first year revenue of over $500,000.
I apologize for the long-winded tale that is my most recent work experience but I felt it necessary to detail what I have done. I have been reading so much on these forums about other people’s more conventional (and impressive I might add) experiences that it makes me wonder whether this experience I have will even be viable in the eyes MBA admissions. I am eager to compliment my in-the-trenches type experience with the real training and instruction an MBA program can offer. Any advice or opinions from people who may know more about this would be greatly appreciated.
BTW- I graduated from UCSB with a degree in Biopsychology. My GPA was considerably low but I intend to score high on the GMAT to offset this. I have very strong and relevant recommendations and because of my undergrad GPA I won’t be applying to any “top” schools. More around the top 20-30 variety. Thanks for any assistance in advance.
Icemastr 09-14-2006, 04:58 PM Your work experience sounds good and with a good GMAT score I think you shouldn't have to much problem getting into a Tier II or III schools. An important questions is going to be what are you going to do with your business while going to school. You might want to consider doing an Executive, evening or distance MBA program. If your business is doing as good as you say it is your school choice should lead you to one that will give you contacts in the industry you deal with, fits in your budget, and most importantly provides the knowledge you need. Since you talked alot about e-commerce I would assume you will want to learn more towards a program that attracts a lot of technology people. Obviously you leave a lot of information out that is important to an admission decision so continue researching and do the best you can on the GMAT. Top 30 schools have average GPAs above 3.4 and GMATs above 670 or so.
PaulSB 09-14-2006, 05:23 PM I appreciate the response. One thing I forgot to mention is that I sold this business to a partner a few months back so I am not tied to it any longer.
I am 28 years old and I am looking to apply for fall of '07 enrollment. My biggest concern is my extremely low undergrad GPA. My cummulative GPA at UC Santa Barbara was around 2.5. Yeah, I know it's rough. Einstein got bad grades too right? Unfortunately, like I am sure everyone else would say who is in my position, I am a world away from that person who had no idea how to manage college the first go around. I was a Biopsychology major so getting pounded by organic chemistry, calculus, biochem and physics for four years while lacking the maturity to put my head on straight contributed to that.
I feel fairly confident that I can score in the 700 range on the GMAT but I fear it will not be enough to offset. I am an extremely confident communicator and would do very well in any school interviews but the key for me will be getting that opportunity. Thanks for the advice and opinions.
Rocco 10-03-2006, 11:09 AM Why would you want to attain an MBA ? It seems to me that an MBA is for people who want to enter corporate life. You won't learn anything of value in an MBA program that will help become a better business person. Look at the silly course requirements for most MBA programs and you will understand what I mean. You seem to have the valuable skills necessary to be an entrepreneur. I would think that the corporate enviroment would be very confining for a former business owner like yourself. You don't learn "how to do business" by reading a textbook, you learn it by doing it.
goldctrsteve 10-03-2006, 08:38 PM It sounds to me like you could teach a course on entrepreneurship yourself.
I agree with the previous respondent: Why would you want an MBA? Personally, I think it would be valuable, because you'll be more well-rounded, but you need to think it through carefully. What is your ultimate goal? How would an MBA program help you to achieve that goal?
|
