How an Executive MBA Can Help Your Startup or SME

Sponsored by ESCP Europe Business School

The way the world works has changed dramatically over the last decade, and all around the world new and daring business ideas are making their debut.

Starting a new business means working demanding hours, dealing with high levels of stress and facing a low chance of success. Fortunately, funding opportunities are becoming more accessible, and the ability to be in control of your own life on both a professional and personal level more than makes up for the possible downsides.

As an entrepreneur, you’re going to want to ensure your startup or SME is the best it can be. But you’ll inevitably need more than just drive, ambition, and creative ideas to make it a success.

An Executive MBA may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to boosting your startup or SME, but it can be the ideal route should you want to sharpen your business tools, develop your specialized business skillset and business knowledge.

We spoke with Yogesh Gupta, an Executive MBA graduate from ESCP Europe Business School to find how the executive MBA has proven its worth when it came to his own startup.

Where does the Executive MBA fit into all of this?

Prior to enrolling on the Executive MBA program at ESCP Europe Business School, Yogesh set up his own business, SIIMAC Consultancy Ltd, which focuses on building client portfolios and delivering solutions in business turnarounds and strategic transformations, as well as operational excellence, change management and asset management practice.

“The business model of SIIMAC is to co-create through Alliance Partnerships with niche consultancies operating in strategic regions globally, enabling us to expand our service portfolio beyond our core services,” explains Yogesh.

Startups and SMEs tend to be made up of small and specialized teams, where vital business skills and expertise are needed in order to execute and implement the vision of the business in a logistic and economical manner.

To attain and nurture such a skillset, the Executive MBA is a safe space where you can bring in new professional perspectives, test new ideas and put theory into practice. For example, ESCP Europe Business School’s International Consulting Project allows students the opportunity to collaborate with one another for 12-14 months and develop credible solutions for a real company that’s facing genuine strategic challenges.

Yogesh was also awarded the EMBA Entrepreneurship Scholarship and recalls how receiving the scholarship felt like a significant achievement.

“Receiving the EMBA Entrepreneurship Scholarship recognized my entrepreneurial spirit and strength as ‘technical’ entrepreneur. I’m enormously honored to have received this distinguished scholarship.”

A challenging curriculum that offers a transformative experience

Entrepreneurs are considered natural risk-takers where their eyes are always on the prize. They usually know what they need to do to get to where they want to be, so taking advantage of every opportunity possible isn’t anything new.

Yogesh says he was “looking to further sharpen my entrepreneurial capabilities,” and his Executive MBA helped him diversify his skillset in leadership, management and entrepreneurship. It also allowed him to apply the valuable knowledge gained in his studies to his own career and business straightaway.

The Executive MBA at ESCP is specifically designed to encourage applied learning from drawing on ‘real-world’ business challenges.

“I expected the EMBA would be another step forward for me to develop myself beyond technical specialist and into a global leader,” says Yogesh.

“Through the EMBA, I wanted to enhance my capacity to apply state-of-the-art management techniques directly into my day-to-day business at SIIMAC Consultancy.”

Networking is also key

The Executive MBA is more than just about the rigorous curriculum. It’s also about the networking opportunities students will have in order to help support their business and even find potential investors.

“I found ESCP Europe Business School was highly connected with the business community in various countries which allowed us to participate in a number of expert-talks as well as networking events,” says Yogesh.

“The support we received from our career development teams was also excellent, helping us to sharpen key components of competencies enabling us to pitch for senior level roles with comfort and confidence.

“It’s been a transformational experience which has provided me with a distinct opportunity to embrace global business perspective and take my leadership style forwards.”