“I am a small business owner who wants to attend HBS. How can I achieve this dream? How do I stand out from all the Wall Street people and what can I do about recommendations?”

The Harvard MBA says:

The good news is that all other things being equal, HBS loves to admit small business owners.  You help bring diversity and a different set of experiences than the army of consultants and bankers that make up the bulk of the class.

That being said, small business owners have a number of challenges to overcome.

1) As you’ve indicated, getting recommendations can be an issue.  The ideal recommendation is a direct manager who is also an HBS alum.  As a small business owner, you don’t have a direct manager.  On the other hand, you do have customers.  If you have any customers who are HBS alums, they would be a good choice.  Failing that, any customers who have a credible MBA can also serve.  You might also consider partners, mentors, and even employees (if you have older, more experienced people working for you).

2) A second major problem is what to do with your business while you’re in school.  As you know, owning a business is a pretty big time sink, as is business school.  If you end up burning the candle at both ends to do both, you’ll likely miss out on the networking and relationship building that is at the heart of the value of the Harvard MBA.

If you’re thinking about running your business while in school, I’d advise you to try an alternative instead.  HBS offers a number of executive education programs, including one specifically for small business owners (the OPM or Owner/President/Manager program).  This will let you get a taste of HBS in a concentrated period of time, rather than forcing you into a long-term commitment.  That way you can decide if you want to make the leap to the full-time MBA program.