Subscribe Ask the Editors Search Entire site Smallbiz Bookstore Msg. Any business owner knows what deep corrections in the stock market mean for young companies. Venture capital dries up. Frustrated sellers, unable to unload shares, stop buying stock in companies like yours. Consumers resist the urge to pull the old Visas out of their wallets and buy your products.
Inventories pile up, cash gets tight and pink slips appear on staffers' desks.
At times like these, owning a business ranks right up there with root canals and tax audits on the list of life's undesirables. I can't say I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I can say I always wanted to sell. Specifically, I wanted to develop products and sell them to retailers. Even in college I was always selling. I've both won and lost in running my own business, so I think having realistic expectations of life as an entrepreneur and that means being prepared to fail-has made me a better business owner today.