How an MBA Helped Me Save My Family’s Business During COVID-19

Last year was a difficult one for established businesses and start-ups worldwide. Between shifting to remote work, reducing staff, or even shutting down for good, the COVID-19 pandemic posed extraordinary challenges to entrepreneurs across industries and sectors.

Nevertheless, some industries were hit harder than others, and it’s hard to imagine how some entrepreneurs could have survived – let alone thrived – during these difficult times.

TopMBA caught up with Fabio Borgia, Project and Sales Engineer and current MBA candidate at MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Management, to find out how going to business school helped him modernise and save his family business during the coronavirus pandemic.

From engineering to business school

Fabio began his undergraduate studies in 2011 at Politecnico di Milano, where he spent the next four years studying a B.S. in Civil Engineering. His first taste of being a part of his family business – the Tuscany-based dairy farm Le Rogaie – occurred shortly after graduating in early 2015, when he spent the following seven months developing innovative systems of biogas conversion to make the business more sustainable.

In September 2015, Fabio undertook an international master’s in Offshore Management at the Università di Bologna, from which he graduated in 2017. From there he began his graduate career in the engineering field with a focus on renewables and oil and gas.

However, in 2020 – after five successful years in the field – Fabio's career progression was hindered by COVID-19, which prompted him to consider going back to school.    

He said: “The pandemic strongly affected oil prices, and many corporations decided to step back, taking away promised investments. This tough situation made me realise my future was suddenly unclear, and it made me understand the importance of investing in education.

“I wanted to invest in a degree that had potential in terms of opportunities, competences and professional contacts: an MBA. Now more than ever, I believe business success is very much due to who you are, such as the mentality and approach you have, instead of to what you are practically able to do.”

Making the most out of the MBA

In 2020, Fabio officially enrolled in MIP Politecnico di Milano’s one-year MBA programme, a degree he says he was sure would match his high expectations for graduate business education.

He said: “I chose MIP because of its strong relationship with various industries, as well as for its high international reputation and rankings status. I was looking for a business opportunity within a technical institution, and the experience so far has been great.

“It wasn’t easy to start a graduate programme during a global pandemic, but the school was able to deliver all activities digitally without it affecting the high quality of teaching. We have core courses, company presentations, team assignments and many international challenges I’ve enjoyed. I am also competing in the semi-final of the Climate Investment Challenge offered by Imperial College Business School, a great opportunity to focus on sustainability from a financial perspective.”

Real-life MBA learning

As the pandemic hit Italy hard at the beginning of 2020, Fabio realised he could use the skills and notions he was learning during the MBA to help modernise his family business.

He said: “The MBA taught me the importance of innovating and investing in technologies to optimise the working process, even in a sector that is considered traditional like farming. So, during the first lockdown, my brothers and I decided to start sharing daily activities at our dairy farm on social media, explaining to our audience how we’ve been able to produce renewable energy from our 150 hectares of land.

“We added English subtitles to our content and began spreading with no filter and cultural barriers our view of agriculture and the relationship between nature and human beings. Soon, we gathered followers from over 50 countries, and started producing digital content that generated hundreds of thousands of views and interactions. It’s been a beautiful initiative.”

The key is in innovation

But social media isn’t the only innovative – and impressive – enterprise Fabio helped his family utilise.

He said: “Le Rogaie is also cooperating with the academic and scientific world. We’re working with European and Italian space agencies, as well as the research institute CNR and different European universities, to carry out advanced studies on chlorophyll photosynthesis, as well as on the calibration of satellites.

“There are many studies and new techniques being carried out in the agriculture field just like in other industrial sectors, and what I’ve learned this year is that you must invest in new technologies to be competitive and optimise your resources.”

He added: “These projects would not have been born without the pandemic. I think this crisis, like so many others in history, led to new opportunities – and the phenomenon of digitalisation finally arrived in agriculture.

“Our initiatives have already contributed to many people overcoming this difficult period of lockdown. After the pandemic, there will be a return to normalcy, and I think the primary sector can be a true protagonist of the business world in the future.”