The first challenge: defining your topic

Defining your BMP topic could feel overwhelming. In my case, I wanted to pick it as soon as possible, even a few months into the MBA programme. I asked some colleagues from previous cohorts about their own experiences and they all gave the same advice: “Wait a bit, you might be surprised by how you find new ideas and topics as you progress into your MBA, even from your electives”.

I must say that, for someone like me, who likes to have everything figured out, this advice seemed a bit predictable, but I decided to follow it and it turned out to be the right choice.

In the beginning, I wanted to do something related to my job, a research project on Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) and financial communications, but after a lot of thought, I decided to do something completely different.

Driven by my entrepreneurial spirit, I was very motivated to take the New Venture Creation elective delivered by Professor Costas Andriopoulos. It was one of the best weekends of the entire MBA and after it, I decided that I wanted to do my BMP on a business plan for a new venture supervised by Professor Andriopoulos.

My topic for the BMP was a business plan to introduce a Spanish beverage called horchata into the United Arab Emirates. A consultancy project for a real family business in Spain. This project allowed me to combine different disciplines, from marketing to finance.

Top tip: Unless you want to leverage your BMP to address a specific topic in your current company or industry, it could be a good idea to do something different. You are going to spend a lot of time on it, so doing something different from your day-to-day job could be a bit more fun!

How to structure the project, research and manage your time

Once you have defined and approved your topic it could seem that you are ready to start writing. But actually, this might not be the best approach to nail your BMP. One typical mistake we all make is to forget that your BMP is, at the end of the day, a research project. By research, I mean academic research. Yes, you will be required to read a lot of papers, to enrich your business assumptions with academic findings and to support your ideas with scientific evidence.

Use the first month to prepare the structure of your BMP, allocate word count, prepare a timeline and start doing your academic research, because it will help you polish your overall BMP aim. In my case, I found a lot of interesting papers on how to introduce new flavours in a market, the key challenges that any family business faces when it comes to internationalising their business and how to overcome them, as well as novel ideas around marketing for vegan beverages.

Top tip: Don’t forget to ask your supervisor about the expected structure of your project and to get approval on your project plan before you start working on it. It is better to be safe than sorry!

You don’t need to have all the answers, leverage your network

Nobody expects you to have all the answers, that’s never the case in business and the same applies to your BMP. Something that we always forget is that the overall aim of the BMP is to prove that you have learnt new skills in your MBA, always keep that in mind! Whenever you are writing a new section, you are doing your research or you are preparing a graphic, ask yourself: is this helping me show that I have gained new knowledge? Can I use a different framework or justify my assumptions with something I learnt in class?

In my case, while I knew the topic and the industry quite well, I sometimes needed to contrast my thoughts, conclusions and ideas with someone else. While my supervisor was always happy to provide guidance and advice, there were other areas in that I needed a quick discussion with someone else. From my partner to my previous manager, cohort colleagues and my own family, they all were there to help me get outside of my head. “Does this logo look nice to you? Do you think this financial assumption makes sense? What do you think of this specific chart?” All of these examples were part and parcel of my conversations with my friends and family. Don’t work in isolation, stay humble and keep your eyes and ears wide open, people around you want to see you succeed and we all need to think outside of our comfort zone from time to time.

Top tip: Your cohort will be essential to achieve a great BMP. You are all in this together, and sometimes the BMP journey can feel lonely. Reach out to them, motivate each other and be present to support your colleagues with their queries and challenges.

Don’t underestimate the formalities

You have done it! You have spent a lot of months working on your project and you are almost ready to submit it.

One of the bedrocks you might encounter is related to the formalities required to, for instance, conduct a survey. Plan ahead, reach out to the School to understand the process and leave enough time to get approval and comply with the requirements. The same applies to the formatting required to submit your BMP, extensions and confidentiality forms. Don’t leave them for the end, at the end of the day you don’t want to jeopardize all the work you have put into your project just because you don’t meet the criteria in terms of look and feel.

Top tip: Don’t forget to check your spelling, typos and grammatical errors, especially if, like me, English is not your first language!

Find out more about the Executive MBA in Dubai.