MBA vs solopreneurship

I've been working full-time on my solo business for a little over 2.5 years now. A typical MBA in the US is around 2 years long. I think it's strange how the former can be considered a crazy decision, while the latter seems like a safe and reasonable bet. Especially when you consider that the MBA will cost somewhere around $200k plus the opportunity cost of your time, while working full-time on a business only costs you the difference of what you make on that business from what you were making before.

In my experience, it took me about a year before I could pay myself anything from my business, so 1 year was a full investment of my time. However, from that point on, I could pay myself about half of what I was making previously. Then at the 2 year mark, I bumped my salary up to the same level I was at with my prior job. Essentially for 1.5 years of lost wages I gained the freedom of having my own business along with a call option on where I can take things from here.

If I had gone the MBA route, I would just be starting out in a new job from scratch around this time, with very little career capital. (e.g. I would have to prove myself and my value to my new company - a process that could take years of really intense and dedicated effort) I would also have $200k of loan payments hanging over my head and hopefully a wage that was high enough to cover them, let alone earn a favorable return on investment.

Yet given the hard facts of these numbers, the current wisdom advises against quitting your job to start a business. While going back to school is considered a safe alternative. If you have the self-discipline to do a solo business though, I would say it's much lower risk. Even if you can't make it work financially long-term, you'll have learned a lot and you won't have any new debt.