Things They Don’t Teach You at Business School – #2: Your MBA Won’t Save You From Payroll Problems

They’ll teach you how to pitch to investors — but not how to tell your staff you can’t pay salaries on time.

Let’s be real: even the most “prestigious” business schools are heavy on theory and light on reality. Some of them, ironically, made their own teachers redundant — go check TikTok for the tea.

They’ll teach you valuation models, scaling frameworks, and case studies about billion-dollar exits. But they won’t teach you what to do when a client delays payment and payday is three days away.

Here’s what they should have told you:

Have contracts in place. Enforce them. At Aleph, we apply a 5% interest for every month a payment is delayed and give discounts for early payments. It’s fair business.

Not every client is worth the stress. Some you just have to drop — no matter how “big” they look on paper.

Build your cash reserves. You’ll need them when delays happen, and they will happen.

Prepare payroll at least seven days in advance. It saves you from last-minute panic.

Be transparent with your team. If you hit a snag, communicate it. Pay what you can immediately, then commit to a clear follow-up date.

These aren’t things you learn from a case study — they’re learned from experience, late nights, and hard conversations.

Business school teaches theory.

 Real business teaches humility.

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