90+ Small Business Quotes to Inspire You

Small business owners and entrepreneurs frequently operate in a complex and competitive industry. When dealing with obstacles, it might be beneficial to have inspiration and motivation from those who have gone before. Small business inspirational quotes might offer exactly this. 

I have compiled 90+ quotes from some of the world's most renowned business leaders and entrepreneurs, offering insight into small businesses and inspiration.

So, let's explore the small business inspirational quotes.

90+ Motivational Quotes for Small Business

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, these short powerful business quotes will ignite your passion and drive. From positive small business quotes that boost your spirits to short entrepreneur quotes that pack a punch, this collection has something for everyone.

In this inspiring roundup, you'll discover:

Let these words of wisdom from successful business leaders guide you on your journey to building a thriving small business.

Small Business Quotes for Customers

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else."

— Sam Walton, an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983, respectively

"Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don't tell."

— Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO of BlogHer

"Make a Customer, Not a Sale."

— Katherine Barchetti, Owner of K. Barchetti Shops

"Great customer service is a critical competitive advantage for a business."

— Steve Benson

"The best customer service is if the customer doesn't need to call you, doesn't need to talk to you. It just works."

— Jeff Bezos

"My definition of 'innovative' is providing value to the customer."

— Mary Barra, American businesswoman. Chair of the Board of General Motors

"Forget about your competitors; just focus on your customers."

— Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba Group

Small Business Quotes for Instagram

"Think big and don't listen to people who tell you it can't be done. Life's too short to think small."

— Tim Ferriss, American entrepreneur and author. He became well-known through his 4-Hour self-help book series

"Days are expensive. When you spend a day, you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely."

— Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker

"Don't count the days: Make the days count."

— Muhammad Ali

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

— Sam Levenson

"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth."

— Paul Hawken, Hawken was the co-founder and executive director of Project Drawdown

Quotes to Inspire Success

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

— Steve Jobs

"Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out."

— Robert Collier

"Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally; it comes from what you do consistently."

— Marie Forleo

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable."

— Coco Chanel, founder and namesake of the Chanel brand

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."

— Estée Lauder, founder of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be."

— Harvey MacKay, American businessman, author, and syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick

"Business is all about relationships; how well you build them determines how well they build your business."

— Brad Sugars, Chairman and Founder ActionCOACH

"I am who I am, and I'm focused on that, and being a great CEO of Apple."

— Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple

Quotes to Start Your Dream Business

"If you don't build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs."

— Dhirubhai Ambani, was an Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries

"When you find an idea that you just can't stop thinking about, that's probably a good one to pursue."

— Josh James, CEO and co-founder of Omniture

"It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen."

— Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance

"An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create."

— David Karp

"If you don't give up, you still have a chance. Giving up is the greatest failure."

— Jack Ma

"We entrepreneurs are loners, vagabonds, troublemakers. Success is simply a matter of finding and surrounding ourselves with those open-minded and clever souls who can take our insanity and put it to good use."

— Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop brand

"A small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you live in."

— Nicole Snow, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author

"A big business starts small."

— Richard Branson, British entrepreneur. He founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields

"You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea."

— Larry Page, American business magnate & chief executive officer of Google

"Opportunities don't happen. You create them."

— Chris Grosser, Founder of Chris Rosser Photography

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

—Walt Disney, Founder of Disney

Quotes About Overcoming Failure

"Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once."

— Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder & CEO

"My best successes came on the heels of failure."

— Barbara Corcoran

"Take risks. Failure is a stepping stone to success."

— Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."

— Michael Jordan, Chairperson of the Charlotte Hornets

"Failure is not to be feared. It is from failure that most growth comes."

— Dee Hock, founder and CEO of the Visa credit card association

"With failures, you learn one of 99 things to avoid. So they are not that useful. I think it is more useful to learn from other's failures."

— Reed Hastings, American billionaire businessman

"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it."

— William Durant, Industrialist, co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet

"Let me fall if I must fall. The one I become will catch me."

— Sheryl Sandberg, American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist. Sandberg served as a chief operating officer of Meta Platforms

"Don't find fault. Find a remedy."

— Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Assembly

Business Quotes about Money and Finances

"Money is just a consequence. I always say to my team, don't worry too much about profitability. If you do your job well, the profitability will come."

— Bernard Arnault, Chief Executive Officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE

"The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect."

— Warren Buffett, American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

"In business, you don't get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate."

— John Mariotti, President/CEO & Founder of The Enterprise Group

"In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later."

— Harold Geneen, American businessman. Most famous for serving as president of the ITT Corporation

Quotes to Reach Your Goals

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

— John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time

"If you want to be a winner, then compare yourself to the best and acknowledge that it will never happen without hard work."

— Jamie Dimon, American billionaire businessman and banker, Chief Executive Officer of Chase

"Believe you can, and you're halfway there."

— Theodore Roosevelt

"Never give up. People will always discount you, and you'll always get rejected. But set your sights high. Be boldly ambitious. Be relentless and never give up."

— Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code

"Don't spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity that you miss the right opportunity."

— Michael Dell, CEO of Dell

Quotes to Support Local Businesses

"When you shop at a small business, you're supporting real people and their dreams."

— Ellen DeGeneres

"And what most people don't understand is that the bulk of business in this country is small business."

— Alphonso Jackson

"It's not the government that creates jobs; it's small businesses."

— Karen Mills

Business Quotes on Growth and Progress

"If you want to grow, you have to do something different from the majority of people."

— Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal

"Focus on simplicity, listen to your customers, and iterate if you fail."

— Jan Koum, co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp

"You have to maintain a culture of transformation and stay true to your values."

— Jeff Weiner, an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer of LinkedIn

"Smart people focus on the right things."

— Jensen Huang, Taiwanese American billionaire business magnate. Current president and CEO of Nvidia Corporation

"In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme."

— Aliko Dangote, founder of the Dangote Group

"Remain a lifelong student. Don't lose that curiosity."

— Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo

"But copying others can't make you great. So the key is how to localize a great idea and create domestic innovation."

— Ma Huateng, Chinese billionaire business magnate. He is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Tencent

"My first job with Walmart was unloading trucks in a warehouse. Then, I worked as an assistant manager in a store, and I was lucky enough to get into our buyer-training program. I loved merchandising and had a career path that led me through Sam's Club and Walmart International."

— Doug McMillon, American businessman and the president and chief executive officer of Walmart Inc.

"Find a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of being an entrepreneur."

— Jodi Levine

"The first one gets the oyster; the second gets the shell."

— Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, founder of the Carnegie Steel Company

Quotes About Making an Impact

"What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life but in other people's lives."

— Oprah Winfrey

"There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise."

— Bosa Sebele

"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

— Warren Buffett

"Dedicate yourself to a core set of values. Without them, you will never be able to find personal fulfillment, and you will never be able to lead effectively."

— Kenneth Chenault, former CEO of American Express

Small Business Quotes to Be Your Own Boss

"Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What's important is action. You don't have to wait to be confident. Just do it, and eventually, the confidence will follow."

— Carrie Fisher

"Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else."

— Sara Blakely

"Do what you love, and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career."

— Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi

"If you just work on stuff that you like and you're passionate about, you don't have to have a master plan with how things will play out."

— Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook

"Dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change."

— Shonda Rhimes, American television screenwriter, producer

"Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them."

— Madam C.J. Walker, the First female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records

Business Quotes about Freedom

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."

— Mark Zuckerberg

"Play by the rules, but be ferocious."

— Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike

Business Quotes on Building a Strong Team

"Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people."

— Steve Jobs

"Too many companies believe people are interchangeable. Truly gifted people never are. They have unique talents. Such people cannot be forced into roles they are not suited for, nor should they be. Effective leaders allow great people to do the work they were born to do."

— Warren G. Bennis, scholar, organizational consultant, and author. Widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies

Quotes to Motivate You through Tough Times

"Never ever give up! Constant effort is the key to success."

— Xavier Davis

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count."

— Winston Churchill

"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning."

— Robert Kiyosaki, founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company

"If you push through that feeling of being scared, that feeling of taking risk, really amazing things can happen."

— Marissa Mayer, businesswoman, and investor, co-founder of Sunshine Contacts

"I don't ever give up. I mean, I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated."

— Elon Musk, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc., founder of SpaceX

Quotes about Work-Life Balance

"This is a marathon in life. You can't be sprinting all the time or else you wear yourself out. You have to make sure you're taking care of yourself, keeping yourself grounded, and not letting every little thing get you worked up."

— Brian Moynihan, chairman and CEO of Bank of America

"You can't do it all. You have to give what you've got for the day and leave the rest for tomorrow."

— Beatrice Dixon

Quotes for Entrepreneurs and Owners

"Don't admire the problem"

— Alex Gorsky, American businessman and the executive chairman of Johnson & Johnson

"If you're in the business of making something, be in the business of making something great."

— Robert Iger, co-founder, chairman, and co-chief executive officer of Netflix

"There's nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team."

— Jason Fried, Founder & CEO of Basecamp

Quotes about Innovation

"It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work."

— Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman, CEO, and President of Amazon

"If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it."

— Charles F. Kettering, was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. He was a founder of Delco

"There's no shortage of remarkable ideas; what's missing is the will to execute them."

— Seth Godin, American author and former dot com business executive

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

— Steve Jobs

Why are small business inspirational quotes important?

The most successful entrepreneurs have a unique ability to put their efforts into perspective with only a few words of encouragement. You'll need some kind of motivation to be an entrepreneur.

Here are some reasons given why are small businesses' inspirational quotes important.

Where to Share Your Small Business Quotes

Got a favorite quote that lights your entrepreneurial fire? Don't keep it to yourself! Spread the inspiration across your social media channels, email newsletters, or even your product packaging. These nuggets of wisdom can spark conversations and show your audience the values driving your business.

Create Inspiring Videos

Take your quote game up a notch by creating short, snappy videos. Use tools like Canva or Adobe Spark to bring those words to life with animation and music. Post these video quotes on Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts to catch eyes and inspire minds in seconds.

Connect Through Stories

Every business has a unique journey – yours included! Pick a quote that resonates with your path and use it as a springboard to tell your story. Whether it's a LinkedIn post or a blog entry, connecting a powerful quote to your personal experience can create a memorable and relatable message for your audience.

Showcase Your Unique Approach

Found a quote that perfectly captures your business philosophy? Use it to highlight what sets you apart from the competition. Share it alongside a brief explanation of how this principle guides your operations, product development, or customer service approach.

Boost Your Promotions

Turn inspiration into action! Pair a motivational quote with a special offer or product launch. For example, if you're promoting a new service, couple it with a quote about taking risks or embracing change. This combination of wisdom and opportunity can be a powerful motivator for potential customers.

Use these quotes strategically to reinforce your brand message and encourage your customers to dream big – right alongside your small business!

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Final Thoughts

We all need slight doses of inspiration now and then to keep going. I hope that these 64 quotes will keep small business owners inspired and motivated. You can put them on the wall, write them in a notebook, or save them on your phone. As well as keep working toward what you want.

If you have any suggestion relating to small business inspirational quotes, comment below. 

Good Luck!