How can a master's help entrepreneurs?

Having a great business idea is one thing, making it a long-term success requires deep knowledge of the way global business is done and advanced business acumen, not to mention higher level networking skills, intercultural competence, flexibility, tenacity and resilience. Studying a business-related master’s degree can give you all this and more.

Starting a business is not an easy task: around 90% of start-ups fail for a variety of reasons including finances, poor marketing strategy, insufficient research, bad partnerships and lack of industry knowledge.

The saying goes that: “If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. The good news is that the fact that you’re reading this blog suggests you are already considering all your options.

Clearly, you don’t need a master’s degree to become a successful entrepreneur, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it might help. Below, we’ve pulled together some of the reasons why we believe that postgraduate study is something every budding entrepreneur should consider.

Gain access to straight-forward advice and support

At the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), we take pride in being ranked in the top five of UK universities for the number of graduate start-up businesses created. Our goal is to foster a culture of enterprise, creating a community of innovative and enterprising individuals.

We also invest time and resources to help current students and graduates develop their ideas, offering a range of online resources, workshops and mentoring sessions via our multi award-winning Propellor service.

Once you sign up to one of our master’s degrees, you’ll have access to our team of specialist advisors with a wide range of industry experience from employability and education to accounting and recruitment. They can give you feedback and advice on your business plans and continue to support you throughout the first three years of trading.

Discover top tips for getting the most out of an online master's:

Develop a solid foundation of business knowledge

Studying a business-related master’s degree will give you all-round knowledge of the world of business: you’ll explore different company types and structures, develop a better sense of what businesses do, how they respond in different situations (like a global pandemic) and learn the language and techniques they employ.

This will improve your understanding of how to plan and organise your own business, identifying the most suitable business model to avoid problems further down the line.

Build soft skills with hard-hitting impact

As indicated in our blog on the benefits of postgraduate study, the autonomy, independent learning and self-discipline required to complete a master’s degree equips you with essential, transferrable skills that will stand you in good stead regardless of whether you go on to work for yourself or others.

These include self-motivation, time management, persuasion and presentation skills, negotiation techniques, and exceptional communication – the major interpersonal skills necessary to take your business venture to the next level.

Expand your professional network

If you study one of our online business-related master’s degrees, you’ll have opportunities to discuss, debate, share experiences and collaborate with students all over the world, some of whom may already have experienced the business world.

You’ll also be learning from staff who have extensive industry experience and contacts from working in the private and public sectors and third sector organisations.

This network of ‘friendly’ contact can prove a useful sounding board for your ideas and to practice any professional pitches, so you can finetune them before presenting them to potential investors. Who knows, you may even meet a future backer on the course?

Benefit from the convenience of part-time online master’s study

We understand that if you’re busy preparing to set up your own business, it’s not likely to be something you want to put on hold for a year while you study a postgraduate qualification full-time.

That’s why studying one of our part-time online master’s degrees may be the solution. You’ll gain all the knowledge, support and benefits of a full-time student, plus the flexibility of scheduling your studies around the rest of your commitments.

We currently offer two business-related online master’s degrees:

MSc International Business and Management to build your understanding of operational management, strategic management, and the practices involved with international business.

MA Intercultural Business Communication to help you understand audience preferences and build better cross-cultural professional relationships.

We look forward to helping you turn your dreams into a realty. Complete the form below to request a call back from our course adviser team about our online master’s degrees.