Josh Kaufman is Author of the bestseller “The Personal MBA”, a business textbook that has sold 900,000 copies, and a speaker who gave a talk at the TED conference in 2013.The First 20 Hours – How to Learn Anything”, which has been viewed over 39 million times.
Kaufman says the average person with an idea can make $10,000 a month by starting their very own business — without even a college degree.
“I think it’s achievable for most people,” he told host Steven Bartlett on the show’s July episode. CEO Diary podcast.
Kaufman explained that some aspiring entrepreneurs imagine that starting a business requires understanding a lot of recent things and that only people with business degrees can do it. But, he says, you do not need MBAwhat can it cost up to $250,000 in the best schools to create a successful company.
“For better or worse, when adults decide they’re interested in business, the first thing they do is go to Google… type in the letters MBA and start looking for graduate business school programs. I think that’s a mistake,” Kaufman said.
According to the research firm, the three popular industries in which MBA students find employment after graduation are consulting, finance and accounting, and technology. Report 2024 from the Graduate Management Admission Council. Kaufman says that if you are trying to break into those industries, an MBA may be price it as a sort of high-priced interview process. But for entrepreneurship, he said, an MBA is not needed.
Kaufman says would-be entrepreneurs can skip an MBA because while business is complex, it’s not complicated, and most ideas are “common sense and simple arithmetic.” So while entrepreneurs need to understand and navigate complex situations, running a business isn’t about a six-figure degree—in Kaufman’s view, it’s about how someone wants to create value in the world.
Kaufman noticed a significant 2004 study from Stanford Graduate School of Business and said, “If you’re good enough to get in,[to an MBA]You’re good enough to get by, no matter what.”
First Questions to Ask When Thinking About Starting Your First Business (MBA or No MBA)
Kaufman says there are a few questions to ask yourself as you start your journey.
1. Is this a large enough problem that anyone can be willing to pay to solve it?
The answer will show you how to understand the size of the market for the idea and its financial potential, he says. For example, if you were starting a candle business, you’ll think about why someone would buy a candle and at what price.
“A lot of value creation comes down to making trade-offs between competing priorities,” Kaufman said. “The perfect product or offering would deliver everything a customer wants, and it would be free.”
2. How does your idea grab the attention of people that might want or need what this company offers?
Kaufman argues that individuals are driven by certain basic drives, so marketing may also help with that.
“Packaging matters, belonging matters, story matters,” Kaufman said.
3. How will you ask for the sale and what does that process appear to be?
This is the point where, ideally, money comes into play and business owners persuade someone to turn into a customer.
The end goal of sales is not only to acquire a customer, but to make sure that they are glad with their purchase and to encourage them to shop again for so long as possible.
“I think there’s a tremendous amount of business knowledge and skills that you can develop on your own, understanding the key concepts of what businesses are and how they work and using them in your everyday life, using them in the career that you already have, using them to start something new on your own,” Kaufman said.