Expert: Leo Lingham - 5/18/2009

Question
Dear Mr. Leo Lingham,
I have compleated my BE(EEE) and am working for a sales organization as Sr. Sales Enggr for the past 1 and half yrs. But my interest is in Entrepreneurship and doing business.
I thought I should do a regular MBA and know the in and outs of business before jumping into any ventures. Please adive me on whether is it better to go for any MBA? Or is there any other course of sort? Or the best thing to do is just to jump into ventures at right time and keep learning?
It is also to be noted that I am from a middle class background, not very much confortable with spending huge money for PGs.

Answer
SHREEDHARAN,

I  understand  your  situation.
At  the  same, I  admire  your  desire  for  making/  chasing a  career.
You should  take  the  rough  paths into  your  stride  and  drive  
your  career  paths.
MY  SUGGESTIONS,
-keep  the  job  as a   sr. sales  engineer,  you  have  a  lot  to learn
on   the  job.
-you  can  do  a  regular  MBA  on  a  part time  basis,  of  course,
it  will  take  you  3  years. but it  is  a  worthwhile  investment.
-you  can  complete  MBA   MARKETING,  use  the knowledge on  the job
as  a  sales  engineer.

WHILE  YOU  COMPLETE  THE  MBA  MARKETING,  YOU  WILL    ALSO
POCKET   5  YEARS  SALES  EXPERIENCE.
DURING   YOUR  MBA  MARKETING  TERMS,
APPLY  SOME  OF  KNOWLEDGE  ON  THE  JOB,LIKE
-how to  conduct  sales  reviews  of  territory
-how  to  develop  sales  planning
-how  to  develop  salesforecast.
-how  to  develop  market  planning
-how  to  determine  market  potential.
-how  to  conduct  market  research
-how  to  develop   sales  channel
-how  to  develop   distribution
-how  to  evaluate  sales performance  reviews
-how to  conduct  product  reviews
etc etc

THESE  ACTIVITIES  WOULD  DEVELOP   YOUR  BUSINESS
SENSIVITY /  SENSIBILITY   AND  YOU  COULD  BE  READY
IN   5  YEARS   TO  DECIDE
-to  go  for  higher  corporate  ladder  positions
or
-to  go  for  your  own business.
==========================================
SO  GO  FOR  MBA  MARKETING---part  time
KEEP  THE  JOB  AND  DEVELOP  YOUR  BUSINESS  KNOWLEDGE.
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GOOD  LUCK
REGARDS
LEO LINGHAM