by Cody Hodge

Created on: May 06, 2010

Most college professors tried their best to talk to you about what it was like to run a business. In the business classes that I took it always seemed like businesses went through cycles and that you would just sort of coast from one phase to the next. Sure, my professors always noted that most businesses failed, but I don't think they really ever taught us what it really would take to run a business.

When you think about what it takes to run a business, you never think about how much work it really is to run your business. You have to be ready and willing at any opportunity to grow and expand. This means moving on a loan to get a new building, or meeting with a client when you might be too tired to get up out of bed. Running a business really can be a 24/7 thing when you first start out running that business.

What about business ethics? No one ever said how hard it was to remain ethical when trying to run a business. When you are first starting out it is so easy to try and take the easy way out. Say someone wanted to give you an opportunity to meet thousands of people a day, but you would be spamming them on Twitter? It seems like a great way to gain easy customers, but you can't do that or else you lose in the long run.

Getting people to believe in your idea as much as you do can be really hard. It doesn't matter how confident you are in yourself, there are still going to be doubters and naysayers who won't buy your idea no matter what you try to do to convince them. It takes a lot of work and persistence to get people to buy your product, or loan you money to keep going.

You are basically beholden to the economy when it comes to starting your business. If the economy is bad, people aren't as likely to buy from you unless you have rock bottom prices. Low prices and high overhead doesn't make for a great starting point. It can be frustrating that you have to be so patient to build even the best of ideas from the ground up to reach your goals.

Running a business is more than just marketing a product, hiring employees and off you go. It takes a lot of grit, determination and persistence to keep going. It is certainly not as easy or straightforward as your professors might have made you think it was going to be after college.

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