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What MBA did to me?

5 years after MBA after I look at myself and compare was I better off without an MBA?
LIFE HAS NO PLACE FOR IFS AND BUTS

So now I have to stay with the ‘degree’  next to my name for rest of my life..
While I was having a marathon run from pillar to post during my admissions for MBA never would I have imagined that I will be writing such an article after 5 years.

Not that I regret being an ‘MBA- Marketing’  for a simple reason that I enjoy marketing…. even reading makes me happy!!

But like any Marketing Post Graduate would feel; I do- ‘I didn’t do marketing for Sales…

Sales is important for your life… it builds your character..  but when it blocks your doing-talking-marketing’ dream; it starts to choke.

SO what MBA did to me? Character?  Perseverance? Grit? Knowledge? Dreams? Hopes? Happiness to my family? A yes to all of above..

But it also gave me an education loan,  a no-one-achieves-targets job, dragging along with it a confidence killing feeling.

One would say what’s big deal with huge targets jobs? Its a phenomenon of jobs in India not just sales. Imagine a person who is not cut-out for sales? He has landed into sales to learn what happens at the ground level and then graduate into a marketing role enabling him to understand his work in a better way. Confidence KILLER…

Not that jobs was on my mind all the time.. But coming from a middle class family with parents retired from govt job, I was always expected to do a ‘service’ instead of a business.

However; my DNA was different. Being in std 7th had come up with a magazine along with my school friend Mandar. We both were deep drenched in cricket. We wrote articles, trivia, poems in the magazine.. With whatever resources we had we printed first edition black & white at my partner’s place and made photocopies of the same and sold it for Rs.10. The cost/copy was much more than that.   We had to price it so low coz:

(a) We had to sell it to school children &

(b) We were competing with the high gloss finely color printed Sportstar and others in the league which were ranging between Rs. 10 & Rs.25.

With every copy sold we were ensuring a loss… But it gave immense satisfaction to do a loss making business… Serious happiness!!!!!

So did MBA teach me to learn doing business in a profitable way?? A big NO.

Your instinct never changes..  I again as time phased; started to look at options what good to get into. Had decided one thing; whatever it is; it has to be something to do with the consumer directly.. A consumer product or a service.

The idea cropped when I faced problem paying a my credit card offline as there were no payment centers in Kolhapur (that was the place where I started my career post MBA from Mumbai). An Offline bill payment service.. Its not rewarding as much and not as lucrative and easy as it sounds… I decided to continue pursuing the idea. I finally have reached a stage where I can say I am ready to start my business.

So did MBA give me the idea? OR MBA give me the problem which I felt to solve and think of a service which would ease bill payment problems of a customer?

NO

But the things MBA gave me (my education loan, and other family responsibilities… which come with time) were over powering my instinct.

MBA helped me have a structured thinking which you get on Google these days. Dont know what else I got coz of the degree..

One thing is for sure… MBA is not something for young entrepreneurs. You will be better off without it… Limit your liabilities. Limit expectations.. give more time to your dream..

Kapil Bhatia.

RODINHOOD (NOT MBA FOR A CHANGE)

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8 Comments

  1. kapil…

    whoa!

    you know what your post did to me? it forced me to moderate at night – something i try to avoid! i saw the headline and couldn’t resist. i started reading and had goosebumps all the while. 

    all the very best for your venture. pls share more about it. i’m sure other rodinhooders would love to hear about it and give you valuable feedback as well.

    and yes, keep writing!

  2. I agree with Asha..
    Impeccable writing sir!

    Hats off..
    Waiting for many more articles from you!

    Cheers,
    Tejas

  3. HI Kapil,

    Hats off, I read it almost twice, just to go back to my childhood, where i sold chewing gums and let me say I was making 100% profits on each sale, as the kids didn’t want to go out in the heat, and looking at the demand, I started the supply, unfortunately got caught in the end by a school teacher, and have to give away with it, but yeah till the time it ran I was having a gala time, eating Ice-creams, drinking soft drinks, having chips, it was awesome but then. 

    Its an awesome post, I really liked it a lot. Thanks a lot Kapil for a wonderful flashback.

  4. Thanks to Asha, Tejas & Karan for taking out time to read my post.

    Asha; the headline is the packaging needed for my product to sell… 😉

    But a big thanks for the motivation 🙂

  5. KApil I didn’t get this line-

    “dragging along with it a confidence killing feeling.” Or Killing confidence?

    I see quite often at RH that people try to link MBA & enterprenuership.

    Which should not be linked together..I think those institutions which have incubation labs and accelerator programme for MBA students somwhere able to,do that rest of them just produce an allround manager.

  6. I am not inclined to do MBA but I feel MBA helps to get access and credibility…. I mean to say, if I want to meet Mr. X and convince him about my idea then if it takes me a week to access him and convince him, with MBA degree it would only take 3 days. Also if you pass out from a esteemed institutes like IIM, you make great contacts, you never know your batch-mate may become GM  or CEO of a company which would provide you easy access.

    But agreed with all the points you mentioned above.

  7. Love these words…”Sales is important for your life… it builds your character”..and let the good positive words..flow.

    Enjoyed reading..it…:)

  8. Doing MBA for access or Contacts is not worth it Aman… You can get email id of the md of any company from the boardline and if u r a sweet talker; even the direct no.

    MBA is definitely not needed for this..

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