Distance learning and Entrepreneurship

The recurrent advice given to many looking to start up their own business is to focus on building an online presence first and foremost. More often than not in today’s technologically-driven world, a successful startup will have roots online before going on to conquer wider markets.

Starting a business online holds many advantages for entrepreneurs with limited time and seed money to invest. The benefit of being able to work from home while juggling other priorities such as work or family means that the risk of financial insecurity is lessened as well as the strain to start making big profits straightaway.

Distance learning, for example an online MBA, has similar benefits, appealing to those who want to continue to learn without the disruption of having to travel or give up full-time work. To entrepreneurs looking to start their own companies, a distance learning MBA can be good practice, requiring as it does self-motivation, working in isolation and relative uncertainty over outcomes.

From this it’s clear that distance learning and entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It takes determination and a strong will to persevere with a course spanning up to four years while working full-time as it does for a life-long career. But if anyone is to have this determination it is an entrepreneur, keen to get the skills required to turn a passionate business idea into a reality.

What distance learning means today

Although some still understand the term ‘distance learning’ as referring to isolated study with little to no student or faculty interaction, today distance learning means so much more.

The ubiquity of technology and social media means that distance learning has inevitably become less of a solo endeavor. The online MBA is the fruit of this, with many programs seeking to, as far as is possible, recreate the feel of a real classroom in a virtual space.

‘Blended MBAs’ and ‘hybrid MBAs’ are also becoming terms more widely used to describe online and distance learning MBAs, simply because they do better at depicting the level of interaction now seen on many of these courses. On-campus days are also central to such programs, as schools realize that face-to-face interaction can spur students’ motivation and productivity.

Dr Mike Nicholson, director of the Centre for Global Learning and Executive Education (CGLEE) at Durham University Business School, stresses the importance of online interaction as well as face-to-face opportunities at Durham. “Our programs are either blended or wholly online, and have a strong synchronous emphasis. I think this is an ideal medium and delivery mode to encourage an entrepreneurial outlook on life. On the human side, it fosters networking among participants from a broad range of backgrounds and geographies increasing exposure to different ideas.”

Instant application of distance learning

The part-time aspect of a distance learning MBA allows for a continual application of learning, not only into everyday work life, but also in building a coherent entrepreneurial business plan.

Shaun McCormick, formerly a member of senior management at a large pharmaceutical company, told The Guardian how his distance learning MBA from the University of Leicester School of Management has given him a more entrepreneurial mindset. “The course content challenges your thought process, and the strategic and creative thinking made me look at just about everything I was doing,” he says. “I kept asking myself ‘why not set up a business with the ideas you are generating?’”

MBAs vs. MOOCs

With online MBAs still costing anything from US$10,000 to US$90,000 (on average the range is US$35,000-US$50,000), the question for some will be, why not enroll on a few MOOCs instead, for free?

As the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) market continues to grow, more students are realizing they can get a lot of information online for free, similar to the information they’ll be paying for in business school. Despite this, the MOOC market is both a new one and an unrestricted one, meaning that not all courses are verified by academics and rarely do they offer any sort of qualification upon completion.

If you’re not looking for a formal qualification or official validation of your newly acquired skill (for entrepreneurs, often this certification of ability is not needed), then MOOCs look appealing. And to those already established in business, MOOCs allow their users to brush up on old skills or learn new ones.

On the other hand, not all good information comes for free and many MOOCs are offered online by top business schools as no more than an introduction into each subject, meaning that you could come away with gaping holes in your business knowledge. 

While MOOCs are good vehicles to improve introductory skills then, they still fail to measure up to rounded, tried-and-tested courses that give feedback, offer student interaction and hand you a degree at the end of it all. Often, the structure and investment in a formal MBA program is essential for an efficient and disciplined use of time, with a specific goal of completion as incentive. For aspiring entrepreneurs as well as startup business owners, this structure can mean the difference between failure and success.

Online MBA vs. Traditional MBA

Although from the last point it is clear the online MBA is by no means a cheap option, many online programs are in fact markedly cheaper than their traditional brick-and-mortar counterparts (which are between US$80,000-US$130,000 on average).

And, while not quite in keeping with the ‘low overhead’ mantra every startup entrepreneur should employ, an online MBA may just be the lesser of two evils in terms of keeping your costs down. Additionally, unlike during the full-time MBA, most online students manage a job alongside their studies in order to remain in the business game as well as financially afloat.

Choosing an online MBA however is difficult however as there are so many programs on offer. The newness of the market means that good courses can often get overlooked because the program may not have a long history of success, but just as easily a bad course could get wrongly picked.

The QS Distance/Online MBA Ranking 2014 is an effort to help students find the best of what’s out there, taking a number of elements into account to sort the best from the rest.

Entrepreneurs see gaps in the new market

The mindset of an entrepreneur can differ wildly than that of the MBA student headed for a career in finance or consultancy, for example, due to the fact that entrepreneurs often shun big companies in order to create their individual success.

This year, especially in the UK, entrepreneurs are set to have an exciting time. The economic climate of recent years meant that business meant survival and little else. This year however, with the UK economy predicted to grow by 2.4%, investors and financers are taking risks once more and entrepreneurs given the opportunity to think big again.

Simo Dragicevic, a former MBA student from Cass Business School decided to quit his job as a director at Barclays Bank to become an entrepreneur. He tells the Financial Times that today’s students “see entrepreneurship as a way to have much more impact, and impact much sooner, than they could in almost any other post-MBA job. They are excited about heading out into new terrain, developing ideas and businesses that fill needs that aren’t yet being addressed. They are heading into that terrain with far more knowledge about what awaits them and how to avoid the recurring pitfalls that have plagued the dreams of past entrepreneurs.”

“Over the past four to five years, we have seen a growing demand for elective options in the broad areas of entrepreneurship, new venture creation and social enterprise,” Dr Nicholson remarks on Durham University Business School’s student intake. “This mirrors the general trend in Europe towards more and more MBA graduates choosing to start their own businesses, something that has been steadily increasing since the global economic downturn.”

New generation of MBAs

For young entrepreneurs, the internet is a weapon of choice and the question they’re asking is; why not use it to gain a master’s degree as well?

“Academically,” Dr Nicholson says, “the skills gained through online collaboration and the broader range of business models students are exposed to through social media is far more effective in encouraging the entrepreneurial mindset than any on campus program could hope to achieve.”

George Whitehead, a venture capital investor at Octopus partners which backs young businesses, told The Guardian, “With lower job security across both the public and private sector, including professions such as banking and consulting – which have traditionally attracted the top graduates – [there's been] an explosion in interest in entrepreneurship,"

A growing entrepreneurial focus on MBA programs

So, the lure of becoming an entrepreneur is rising in the 21^st century. This is reflected in the number of tailored MBAs and specialized courses in development.

To those not on board with this change, Dr Nicholson says this, “Business schools in general need to keep in mind the growing trend towards new venture creation and business startups among MBA graduates. The curriculum of MBA programs has historically been largely focused upon the world of big business and founded on the assumption that graduates will be shaped up by large multi-national corporations. This is simply not the case anymore.” Dr Nicholson is skeptical however about the speed of development in distance learning programs in the UK, compared to the US, and notes that this could be partly to blame for the downtrend in part-time MBA recruitment in the UK.

Distance learning MBA in developing economies

A large majority of students enrolling on distance programs are from overseas, with the University of Liverpool reporting that nine out of ten of its online students are international. “There’s a strong demand for entrepreneurial education,” Alan Southern, director of e-learning at the university tells the Guardian. “But it's a different type of need, so we’ve responded with modules on starting up a business in emerging economies like Brazil and China. It means our online MBA is just as valid for someone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur in Germany, the UK or Nigeria.”

“There is massive appeal to students from emerging economies, particularly when it comes to online MBA provision,” Durham University Business School’s Dr Nicholson agrees. “If we take a key market such as China, for example, we are still seeing rapid growth in the economy with SMEs [small and medium enterprises] as its engine. Students from economies such as China greatly value the opportunity to learn new ideas from around the world and, conversely, participants based elsewhere gain an invaluable opportunity to make contacts in an exciting global marketplace. This two way relationship makes the online MBA an important tool to facilitate growth and development.”

Entrepreneurship at Durham University Business School

This year Durham University Business School has been developing its MBA programs to appeal more to entrepreneurs. Dr Nicholson outlines the changes, “Firstly, our global MBA program in particular has adopted a ‘flipped’ classroom delivery mode. This exposes students to the key concepts and frameworks in entrepreneurship through online lectures and seminars before they even arrive in the classroom. The subsequent intensive residential element can then be devoted entirely to group work, simulations and a whole range of other experiential learning activities to help students apply academic knowledge to the real world of business. This is a very valuable experience and it enables the taught element of an entrepreneurship module to offer a more incubator-style experience to develop new business ideas and plans. The second key development at Durham has been the launch of a specialist executive master’s in entrepreneurship for those wishing to pursue this in greater depth. Launched in April 2014, this program fully exploits the ‘flipped’ model and is specifically geared towards the budding entrepreneur.”

View the QS Distance Online MBA Ranking 2014  ›