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 60+ 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.
60+ Motivational Quotes for Small Business
Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once.
-Drew Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder, and CEO.
There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.
– Jason Fried, Founder & CEO of Basecamp
Opportunities don't happen. You create them.
— Chris Grosser, Photographer, Founder of Chris Rosser photography
Make a Customer, Not a sale.
— Katherine Barchetti, Owner of K. Barchetti Shops
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
—Walt Disney, Entrepreneur, Animator, Voice actor, and Film producer. Founder of Disney
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
People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.
— Harvey MacKay, American businessman, author, and syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick
In business, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
– John Mariotti, President/CEO & Founder of The Enterprise Group.
There's nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.
— Jason Fried, Founder & CEO at Basecamp
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
Business is all about relationships, how well you build them determines how well they build your business.
— Brad Sugars, Chairman and Founder ActionCOACH
It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work.
— Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman, CEO, and President of Amazon
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
If you're in the business of making something, be in the business of making something great.
— Robert Iger, American businessman. He is the co-founder, chairman, and co-chief executive officer of Netflix
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
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
Don't find fault. Find a remedy.
— Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Assembly
My definition of 'innovative' is providing value to the customer.
— Mary Barra, American businesswoman. Chair of the Board of General Motors
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
A big business starts small.
-Richard Branson, British entrepreneur. He founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Smart people focus on the right things.
- Jensen Huang, Taiwanese American billionaire business magnate. Current president and CEO of Nvidia Corporation
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
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
Don’t admire the problem
– Alex Gorsky, American businessman and the executive chairman of Johnson & Johnson.
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.
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, one of the most valuable companies in Asia
Focus on simplicity, listen to your customers, and iterate if you fail.
– Jan Koum, Ukrainian-American businessman. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp
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
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, French business magnate, investor, and art collector. Chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury goods company.
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, American investment banker, businessman, and the chairman and CEO of Bank of America
We are not in the market to be looking for a manager.
– David S. Taylor, Executive Chairman of Procter & Gamble
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
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
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.
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
Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.
– Robert Kiyosaki, Kiyosaki is the founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company
Take risks. Failure is a stepping stone to success.
– Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post
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
If you want to grow you have to do something different from the majority of people.
– Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal
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
Longevity is a fleeting moment that lasts forever.
– Vidal Sassoon, British hairstylist, and businessman, was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut
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
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
In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.
– Aliko Dangote, founder of the Dangote Group
Forget about your competitors, just focus on your customers.
– Jack Ma, Chinese business magnate. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of the Alibaba Group
Remain a lifelong student. Don’t lose that curiosity.
– Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo
Don't spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity that you miss the right opportunity.
– Michael Dell, CEO of Dell
Play by the rules, but be ferocious.
– Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike
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
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
The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell.
– Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, Founder of the Carnegie Steel Company
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.
– Coco Chanel, French fashion designer and businesswoman, The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand
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
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.
I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.
– Estée Lauder, an American businesswoman, Founder of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
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.
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
Do what you love and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.
-Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi
Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.
-Lisa Stone, co-founder, and CEO of BlogHer
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
You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.
-Larry Page, American business magnate & chief executive officer of Google
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.
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Reading quotes from small firms that have achieved success might teach you how to achieve your own company goals. These entrepreneurs have outworked and overcome numerous hurdles to achieve success. Therefore, their experiences can assist you in avoiding some frequent errors made by small enterprises.
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Quotes can motivate, inspire and encourage When you're feeling down or depressed. You will notice an improvement in your mindset and psychological state if you read a few quotes at a certain time.
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Motivational quotes may be a big help when you need a little push and some energy to help you take a move.
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Positive sayings inspire and provide hope for a greater destiny by helping you see the good in everything. Reading the words of those who have accomplished something in their lives would be quite beneficial during such times. Read their inspiring remarks and give them time to stick in your head.
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Quotes frequently help you see things clearly and recognize things you might not have noticed by opening your eyes and thinking. They extend the mind and awareness by enabling you to understand reality from a different, wider perspective.
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Words leave you feeling upbeat, hopeful, and motivated to establish objectives. They could have a temporary or lasting effect. You must read quotes frequently and daily in order to make this attitude a habit.
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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!
