Now in my mind 40s and about to complete an MBA, I'd like some critical comment on my career options in consulting. I have broad experience running my own small company and several years senior practioner experience; but no graduate degree and was accepted to MBA on experience. I gave up work to study and add academic value to my CV.Is the lack of a graduate degree going to hamstring my ambitions?

No but your age will be a barrier. Consultancy recruitment tends be at graduate and MBA level. For the latter the roles are still quite junior. So they will see you as either too senior for the role or have not progressed fast enough. The strategy consultancies are even more rigid.Of course it is not impossible. I joined a consultancy for the first time in my 40s. However it may not be what you expect. I found it oppressive.A better option is to leverage your experience and MBA to start a business - possibly with others you meet on the MBA.

"Oppressive" is how I would sum up strategy consulting in one word.When I worked at an MBBB firm, people were literally afraid to leave their desk. Nobody made eye contact. Very few people spoke. You arrived at 8.00 and left at 23.00. You would spend days putting together bar charts based on data from 10 years ago that you would tweak a little then act like that made it all up to date.