Transition from Entrepreneurship to Consulting possible?
Some background info: 26 yrs old and currently own and operate two businesses. The first one is operated by myself and has an annual revenue of 200k second one has 6 employees, not including myself with an annual revenue of 2 million. I've also been doing PE for about a year and a half now at a small PE company. For the last 6 months or so, I've been thinking about working corporate because although I'm currently financially free and work less than 40 hours a week I only view my 2 businesses as hobbies. People always say "do what you love" but I love what I'm doing so much that no matter how hard I work I feel like I'm justing messing around. My plan is to get my MBA at a top 20-25 business school (Never really done well on standardized tests) and then into consulting. Looking more at boutique rather than MBB. My undergrad GPA is pretty atrocious at 3.2 but that's because I was building my businesses. Anyways, as I have only dabbled in consulting I'm not sure if my plans are feasible. I would appreciate some insight from those in the industry.
Thanks in advance. - Jason Z.
What are you actually pulling out of those two companies? It should be at least 200000 to 500,000 net?
I'm not really sure I follow the logic behind wanting to jump to consulting.
Instead, why not hire some people you think are really smart that make you want to work in consulting and try to grow your own business? You can get some really smart people for $150k a year working for you and helping you scale your own co...
Net I'm at 750k give or take from the two companies. I've always been interested in strategy consulting but I come from an entrepreneurship and investing family so corporate work was highly looked down upon. Having not been able to experince consulting first hand makes me feel like i'm missing out on that experience. I always think of it as that girl/guy you choose to not date/hook up but find yourself constantly thinking back at what if something happened.
Call me crazy but I want to experience the "rat race" and the bureaucracy that comes with it. My end goal for consulting would be to start a consulting company but I guess I could just create a consulting company and hire really smart people to work for me but I feel like that also takes away from the "rat race" experience.
It's about the experience more than growing my businesses which probably completely illogical.
I was an entrepreneur for a few years before shutting my company. I was able to transition to consulting post that and will start at MBB next year. Here's what I've gathered after talking to multiple people:
Firms love entrepreneurs. I shut my financially successful company because I stopped enjoying what I was doing and wanted to do work that was more "impactful". But, firms appreciated the hustle, drive and the variety of roles I played during my entrepreneurial journey. I was also able to connect my experiences to the what the firms value (McKinsey PEI for example) and had multiple stories for each trait.
You will need to demonstrate that you can work in a more formal work environment reporting to a manager. My business involved a lot of client services, so I spun that into reporting to my client as my "manager". I also spoke about managing a team and working within that environment.
Have a solid reason as to why you want to be in consulting. For me it was the variety of impactful work, smart people and global exposure. Stuff I would never get in my business.
Don't sell yourself short. With two successful businesses, you have a great chance at a T15 MBA even with an "average" gmat score.
Hope this helps! Happy to answer any more questions.
Thank you for the wonderful insight. I completely agree with you that entrepreneurs need to show that they can fit into the corporate structure and to take orders from superiors. I'm also going to be delegating my job at both businesses instead of shutting them down so I'm not sure if that'll be an issue as well.
I've always thought that academic record was one of the most important factors when applying for any academic institution but I'm glad you clarified it for me.
Thank You
Would you mind telling us a bit about the nature of the businesses you run? Also, what about it makes you love it so much? Thinking about entrepreneurship so your insight would be really useful - thanks!
A large bulk of what I do is alternative investments. Super broad term but I mainly deal in watches, art, real estate, and luxury/collectible cars. I love it because I get to enjoy the assets that are in my portfolio and thats a large part of why I feel lost. I'm enjoying all these luxuries and it doesn't feel like actual work.
Jesus Christ that sounds insane. Congrats on that man, sounds awesome!
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