Don't Give Up! If you really want to be an entrepreneur, just stick with it, and you'll reap the rewards.

I can imagine it must be somewhat odd to start a business whenyou're a teenager. Odd in the sense that you're likelydoing something that most of your other friends aren't. Maybethey're playing sports, and you're working on a businessplan. Maybe they're gathering for pizza and a movie, andyou're designing a logo and business cards. Maybe they'rethinking about what job they'll get when they graduate fromcollege, and your "job" requires that you be the boss.All in all, your experience is drastically different from anyoneyour age who is not an entrepreneur.

I can also imagine that this knowledge can be a bit unsettlingat times. While deep down you know you want to own a business, youmight be tempted to go along with the crowd on those toughdays--the days when you would much rather be playing sports oreating pizza than worrying about starting a business.

But I'm here to tell you that you'll be glad you stuckout those tough days. I don't speak from personal experience--Ihave never owned a business. But I have talked to many, manyentrepreneurs over the years, and the ones who try hard and succeedare always glad they chose the path they did. They say the thingsthat are tough about entrepreneurship--the long hours for sometimesno pay (or sometimes you paying money out of your own pocket tokeep your business going), the rejections, the cold calls, thescary networking events, the lack of sleep--are a small price topay in comparison to the years of freedom and happiness you canenjoy as a successful business owner.

So if being an entrepreneur is what you really, truly want,please don't give up, even if you feel at times like you'regetting nowhere. The things that are the most difficult, the mostchallenging, the most gut-wrenchingly hard--those are the thingsthat are usually worth your time.