They say business is about numbers, about contracts, about ink dried on paper. That’s what they tell you in the books, anyway. But I’ve seen the other side of it. Deals made in silence, with a nod, with a glance — the kind where trust weighs more than signatures. You don’t need a degree to know that. You just need to survive long enough to recognize when the game is rigged.

Now, they’ll ask you to believe in ethics. To believe in fairness, transparency, accountability — all those words that look clean printed on a syllabus. But the truth? Ethics only matter when they’re convenient. When the cost of ignoring them is greater than the profit they protect. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying it’s real.

You see, business is power dressed up in a suit. Sometimes it shakes your hand. Sometimes it puts a gun to your head. And ethics? Ethics is the story we tell ourselves so we can sleep at night, pretending we’re better than the game we play.

So here’s the first lesson, and you better write it down: every choice you make will cost you something. Money, respect, maybe even your soul. Ethics isn’t about avoiding the cost — it’s about deciding what you can afford to lose.