I am looking for some guidance as to what my next move should be. I am 37/M, married for 2.5 years, bought a house two years ago, no kids or plans for any at this time. Currently located in Pennsylvania, so I’m relatively close to places like Philly and NYC.
I graduated in 2012 with a BBA in Financial Planning from a private university, my GPA was 3.5ish. I did not have a job lined up, so I continued working in foodservice for four years before starting a foodservice business with a friend in 2016.
We grew the business to a peak of 12 employees and ~$600k in annual revenue. I bought out my partner and ran the business for two more years before prices became unsustainable and I decided to voluntarily close and regroup before things got out of hand.
While reopening that business is still a possibility, I’m also considering what a path toward a more traditional career in finance might look like. The obvious choice seems to be an MBA. Another would be to study for the CFA.
I feel like I have experience in every area of running a business, but it’s pretty disorganized and not particularly in-depth in any one area. Looking back over my notes, I really enjoyed my Investment and Portfolio Management course in school. More recently, I enjoyed breaking down and re-writing the entire kitchen procedure after buying out my partner. He had run that area of the business and it was really rewarding to see it go from a disorganized mess to a much more efficient operation.
An MBA is a two year and possibly expensive commitment. The CFA seems to be three year full time job unto itself. So, if you were me, what would you be thinking about? What paths am I not considering?