 Why Graduate School is the Best Time to Start a Business

Many students go to business school with entrepreneurial aspirations. But why wait
until you graduate to start turning your goals into reality? Graduate school is a great
time to start a business! Here’s a closer look at five reasons to launch your startup
while working toward your MBA. 

1. You’ll have freedom and flexibility you won’t have after you graduate

Unless you’re able to pull off starting your own company straight out of your
MBA program, you are likely to end up with a corporate job. But corporate jobs
come with corporate commitments, including long hours, limited vacation time,
and other constraints. While MBA programs are demanding, they also have
more flexible schedules with built-in time off during the summer as well as
throughout the year. 

MBA graduate Sanjay Patel told Business Insider, “There is, of course, a lot
going on during business school. With all the classes, group meetings, clubs,
and socializing, time to work on an idea can be short. But in reality, you can
make a lot of free time for yourself if you actively want to. I probably took a
nap 4-5 times a week, went out to dinner/drinks 3-4 times a week, and
watched almost as much TV as when I was 10 years old.” 

While Patel waited until after business school to start his business, he urges
others to take a more proactive approach. “Don’t make the same mistake I did
– use this free time to work on your business,” he urged.

Furthermore, if you’ve got a corporate job, you will likely have to tread
carefully when it comes to using company time and resources. These
concerns won’t be factors when you’re in graduate school — especially if you
choose an entrepreneur-friendly program. 
And then there’s the fact that the longer you stay within the safety of a high-
paying corporate job, the less likely you will be to break out alone, with all of
the risk (as well as freedom) that comes with it. Conversely, starting a
business while in business school typically involves far less risk. Ultimately,
the phrase “now or never” applies!

2. You’ll have an abundance of expertise at your fingertips

Faculty and staff, guest visitors and speakers, alumni, and fellow classmates
are all invaluable resources. While these resources may not be easily
accessible in the real world, they’re all readily available for students. Whether
or not you have class with a particular professor, it’s always possible to seek
advice and feedback. A robust alumni network, meanwhile, can further
increase the number of doors that open in front of you. 

Patel adds, “The combination of your peers and professors makes up a once-
in-a-lifetime pool of resources. Your classmates will always be more than
happy to bounce ideas back and forth and help you develop your business
model. Most of your professors, who often charge large sums of money to
consult to companies, will be excited to work with you for free (let’s ignore the
cost of tuition for now) to develop your sales strategy, marketing plan, revenue
model, financial projections; they’ll even put you in touch with investors. These
are all services that you would pay tons of money for in the real world, so put
your tuition dollars to work and take advantage while you can.”

And who knows? You may even find your future business partner sitting next
to you in class! After all, huge companies such as Microsoft, Facebook,
Yahoo, Reddit, Wordpress, Google, Time Magazine, and Dell all trace their
beginnings back to university.
3. You’ll be able to capitalize on connections

Starting a business in business school isn’t just about gaining access to

knowledge; it’s also about gaining access to real opportunities. In addition to
theoretical coursework, many contemporary MBA programs are increasingly
focused on helping students learn to apply the topics learned in the ‘real
world’. Additionally, many 21st-century business schools offer other programs
aimed at further supporting entrepreneurship, such as incubators and startup
labs.  

4. You’ll be ready to hit the ground running when you graduate

Not only does starting a business in business school allow you to immediately
start using what you learn, but it also gives you a serious jumpstart when you
do graduate and enter the real world. Plus, you will have had the chance to
work out any kinks within a supportive and nurturing environment designed
specifically to help you move forward. 

And then there’s the fact that, if your business does succeed, you’ll be spared
from the job hunting process while positioning yourself to work for the best
person in the world for the job: yourself! “The recruiting process is miserable.
Yes, I said it. Countless cocktail receptions, company presentations, and
interview prep all to get a job that, based on what my peers are telling me,
most people don’t like. So start your own business, and if it’s good enough to
get some funding, you’ve got yourself a job by the time you graduate – a job
where you are the boss and control your own destiny,” said Patel. 
Even if your business doesn’t take off, it’s likely you won’t really be worse off
than if you had not  given it a go. You can still get a job — and with your new,
entrepreneurial skills showcased on your resume. 

5. Some business school programs are uniquely ripe for innovation and
entrepreneurship

Not all business schools are created equal. Some, particularly the Rady
School of Management at UC San Diego, which was ranked 10th in the U.S.
for entrepreneurship by Bloomberg Businessweek, put innovation and
entrepreneurship front and center! This is no better shown than with the
school’s flagship Lab to Market course series, an immersive experience
unique to Rady during which participants learn how to transform their ideas
into viable market opportunities, while simultaneously acquiring the skills they
need to make it happen. 

Aimed at creating growth-oriented managers for both emerging and

established companies, Lab to Market begins in the classroom and
progresses into a project-based environment over its three-course sequence
-- all the while with access to Rady’s network of external advisors and
coaches.

Julio De Unamuno, from Rady’s FlexWeekend 2014 program, is just one Rady
School alumnus making waves in the business world. He identified a key
issue for biotech startups — gaining access to expensive laboratories. Just
five years on, his San Diego tech startup LabFellows, which makes software
helping labs automate paperwork and thus frees up scientists from menial
tasks, is being used by some of the biggest names in consumer science,
including Impossible Foods, which counts no less than Jay-Z, Trevor Noah,
Katy Perry, Jaden Smith, Serena Williams, and will.i.am as investors.  

“Rady has made a big impact on my career and my career growth. I went from
an individual contributor to now leader of a startup,” he says. “Lab to Market
was a great experience. In fact, I really think of Lab to Market as a process. It
taught us the lean process. How can we build a sustainable business model
and look at the value proposition we are trying to offer — and take it apart?
What are the riskiest pieces that your business model hinges on? And how
can you really find out — quickly — if it’s a winner...or a failure?”

He also has high praise for StartR, Rady’s startup accelerator program. He

says, “[It] was a great experience for us as a team. I started as a solo
entrepreneur and I was able to work with the network that comes with Rady to
work with and attract a passionate team who saw this vision and wanted to get
behind it.”

Sher Ali Butt, co-founder and CEO of biotech company CB Therapeutics,

which specializes in the biosynthetic production of cannabinoids from sugar, is
another Rady Lab to Market success story. Butt says, “CB Therapeutics was
put together while I did my full-time MBA.  I learned the different aspects of the
art and science of startups, and applied them to get an idea on paper [and
evolve it] to a company with a 10,000-square-foot production space in
Carlsbad. It really helped to make local connections in the San Diego area,
while Rady was a huge help getting our first lab space (1,645 sq.ft.), and
subsequently our new pilot facility in Carlsbad. Lab to Market is a great
course, and I highly recommend it to anyone considering startups while at
Rady.” 

Why dream about starting a business one day when you can start one while in
business school?