Most of my classmates are getting nervous. We are full time MBA students here at DePaul, and the current economic environment has severely tightened the corporate job market. Many of them have groused that they would have been better off staying at their old jobs. Fortunately, while I sympathize with them, I am relatively unaffected by this situation. In fact, consistent a theme I have observed in entrepreneurship, I am choosing to see opportunity where others see obstacles.

The opportunity I see is based on two factors: continued strength in the health industry (my background), and my increasing commitment to starting my own business. These two factors are actually related, as my interest in entrepreneurship is driven by the glaring need for innovation in healthcare. I worked in the field for eight years before starting the MBA program, which itself was a decision based on the observed need for business fundamentals in healthcare. I earned a master’s degree in healthcare management during that time, and looked at organizations across every industry sector for new and exciting work – the kind of disruptive innovations that would contribute in some way towards an evolution in the field. But I found that large organizations are far too invested in the current game to generate any real innovation. Not finding what I was looking for, I ultimately decided that I had to go out there and create it.
 
The dearth of both significant innovation and available jobs that I currently see in the corporate world is now driving me further towards starting a business. Many people consider this as a pursuit, but ultimately drop the idea subsequent to a persistent focus on the inherent and obvious obstacles. When I look at my choices, the decision is easy. It’s kind of like Cortes burning his ships when he landed in the new world. I consider myself lucky, and I use the circumstances as motivation to get past only seeing obstacles, and to keep my focus on solutions.
 
Posted by Justin Henderson, MBA Consultant

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