The cost of college has gotten so out of control that parents have to make a choice between sending their kids to school or having any hopes of retiring. And those who make it to college often find themselves trapped between their parents’ struggles, and their own goals in life. Here we are in the greatest modern-day nation in the world and our education system from top to bottom, grade school to college has become the laughing stock of the world.

On top of the high cost, the value of most college degrees is relative – a degree doesn’t always make you employable. According to the Huffington Post, the unemployment rate of college graduates is half that of people with only a high school diploma.

So what good is it to attend college and spend thousands of dollars if it carries little guarantee of being able to find a decent job in your area of study? This question is not easily answered, but some students are breaking the taboo and taking their future into their own hands.

Inspired by wildly successful college dropouts like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Richard Branson, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg and other tech entrepreneurs,  thousands of students are dropping out of college to pursue their dreams. One recent New York Times homage to the phenomenon compared dropping out to “lighting out for the territories to strike gold,” with one young executive describing it as “almost a badge of honor” among startup entrepreneurs.

While staying on college does not guarantee success, dropping out of college to start your own business can be worse. Starting your own business takes more than just hard work and dedication. So, how do you become a successful college dropout?

Here are six things every student should know before dropping out of college to start his/her own business:

Choose something you’re passionate about and become the best at what you do
If you’re planning on starting your own business, do something that excites you because to really succeed you need to work harder and smarter than everyone else. Whether you are selling online toiletries or you are starting your own social network, it doesn’t matter, what does matter is that the business you own or run is working at full capacity with everything done the absolute best it can be done. Just try your hardest. If you enjoy what you do, you will not mind how much work it takes to become successful.

Don’t be scared to work hard and take risks
How can you become successful if you are not prepared to work hard? You have really got to work at it around the clock whether you are part of a team or you are the team, the only way to become successful is to do things, and take action. You also must believe in yourself because you will get many doubters and that’s okay, they are entitled to their opinion. It’s like the SAS motto reads “He who dares, wins.” This saying is very true, do nothing, there will be nothing, no results, no money, nothing. Try your hardest, and take some risks and you could end up a successful college dropout.

Only promise what you can deliver
Clients want to see results, not just great ideas. Don’t try to promise something just to convince the client to work with you — make sure you can deliver what you promise to any client.

Learn Marketing and Management
You can have the best product in the world, but if no one knows about it, you cannot succeed. The internet is such a powerful marketing tool these days. If you understand how to work with it and how to invest your money with the right website or ads, the rewards can be amazing.

Keep an eye on your finances
Think with your head and not your heart about how much you spend and how much profit you can make. Keep in mind that money does not come in easy, so you have to be patient and believe in your product and business 150%.

Go for Mass Markets
No one has ever become successful by targeting a small audience. All the top companies, such as such as Apple, Google, Zappos, The Huffington Post,  have mass appeal. Their aim is to dominate their market area.  However, I do believe the best way to approach going to a mass market is starting small and being known for doing one thing great, like Zappos did. They sold only shoes when they started and once they became the worlds leader at selling shoes online, they branched out and started selling clothing and then later a long list of products – that company later sold for $1,300,000,000!

Balance your business and personal life
Unfortunately, when you start a business, you don’t have a personal life, but try to always manage time for yourself. A balance is very important.

Please feel free to share your thoughts.