150+ quotes for small business owners
99.9% of businesses in the U.S. are small businesses. Yes, we’re a mighty bunch!
And as business owners, we are truly standing on the shoulders of giants — men and women who have provided advice, inspiration, and even warnings about how to succeed in business.
In this blog post, we’re sharing 150 quotes from inspiring people who are still active in business, and even some who are now long gone.
No matter who they are or what they went through, though, they all had valuable thoughts that we can learn from. Read on!
Quotes about starting a business
"A big business starts small." — Richard Branson
"Opportunities don't happen. You create them." — Chris Grosser
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." — Walt Disney
“Starting a successful business is not tricky. Starting a successful business does not require above-average intelligence. Starting a successful business does require having a pig-headed, purpose-driven tenacity about achieving your life goals and fulfilling your life’s vision through providing products and services that offer uncompromising quality in a scalable and duplicatable way.” — Clay Clark
“Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it’s about trading. Buying and selling.” — Anita Roddick
Quotes about running a business
"If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business." — B.C. Forbes
"Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you." — Tony Hsieh
“You need to spend all of your time and energy on creating something that actually brings value to the people you’re asking for money.” — Gary Vaynerchuk
"Plan for what is difficult while it is easy. Do what is great while it is small." — Sun Tzu
“There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” — Jason Fried
“The biggest mistake a small business can make is to think like a small business.” — Aruna Bhayana
“You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing.” — Dale Carnegie
“Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.” — Henry Ford
“Patience: This is the greatest business asset. Wait for the right time to make your moves.” — J. Paul Getty
“One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” — Michael Korda
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” — Pablo Picasso
"If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." — Steve Jobs
"Study successful people and businesses, then do what they did to become successful while making slight modifications to fit your lifestyle, your values, your business model & your goals." — Clay Clark
"Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out." — Robert Collier
"Here is the simple but powerful rule… always give people more than they expect to get." — Nelson Boswell
"Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success." — Biz Stone
“The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions.” — John Hancock
"Find a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of being an entrepreneur." — Jodi Levine
“You have to work on the business first before it works for you.” — Idowu Koyenikan
“There are no working hours for leaders.” — James Cardinal Gibbons
“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” — Frank Zappa
“There’s no luck in business. There’s only drive, determination and more drive.” — Sophie Kinsella
“What can go wrong, will go wrong.” — Ozzy Osbourne
Quotes about customers
"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." — Bill Gates
“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” — Donald Porter
“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.” — Sam Walton
“If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” — Bob Hooey
“The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” — Peter Drucker
“Make a customer, not a sale.” — Katherine Barchetti
“Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationship.” – Henry Ross Perot
"Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves." — Steve Jobs
“Make the customer the hero of your story.” — Ann Handley
Inspirational/motivational quotes about business
"The most successful entrepreneurs I know are optimistic. It's part of the job description." — Caterina Fake
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” — Peter F. Drucker
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” — Virginia Romerty
"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." - Henry David Thoreau
“First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.” — Walt Disney
“In order to succeed. We must first believe that we can.” — Nikos Kazantzakis
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine De Saint-Exupery
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis
“Never ever give up! Constant effort is the key to success.” — Xavier Davis
“The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” — Aristotle
"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. — Michael Jordan
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." – Mark Twain
"Don't worry about being successful, but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow." — Oprah Winfrey
“Setting a goal is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins
“You must not only aim right but draw the bow with all your might.” — Henry David Thoreau
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
"I don’t believe in luck, I believe in preparation." – Bobby Knight
"An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create." – David Karp
"To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart." – Thomas Watson Sr.
"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." – Warren Buffett
"The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistake." — Meg Whitman
“There are people who have money, and there are people who are rich.” — Coco Chanel
“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” — Henry Ford
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” — Bruce Lee
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” — Rikki Rogers
“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
“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” — Scott Belsky
“You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple.” — Adena Friedman
“The secret of success in any field is redefining what success means to you.” – RuPaul
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser
“I find that the harder I work the more luck I seem to have.” — Thomas Jefferson
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
“To be successful, you must act big, think big and talk big.” — Aristotle Onassis
“Luck is what you have leftover after you give 100%.” – Langston Coleman
“The moment when you feel like giving up is right before your breakthrough.” — Victoria Arlen
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” – Mark Twain
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Catherine Pulsifer
“If you hear a voice within you saying ‘you are not a painter’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford
“One of the marks of successful people is they are action oriented. One of the marks of average people is they are talk oriented.” – Brian Tracy
“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson
"If you can dream it, you can do it." — Walt Disney
“It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.” — Jeff Bezos
“Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?” – Alex Noble
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." — Abraham Lincoln
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“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
"Never give up. Today is hard and tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine." — Jack Ma
“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.” – Ronald Reagan
"The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do." — Bill Phillips
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” — Stephen King
"It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen." — Scott Belsky
“Don’t count the days: Make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” – James Cash Penney
“Some people dream of success while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” — Wayne Huizenga
“You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct, and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” — Napoleon Hill
"You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea." — Larry Page
“The key to success is not through achievement, but through enthusiasm.” — Malcolm Forbes
“Commit to your business. Believe it more than anybody else.” — Sam Walton
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” — Vincent Lombardi
“A small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you live in.” — Nicole Snow
Quotes about failure
“In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success, if you are willing — Paul Allen
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.” — Jeff Bezos
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” — Bill Gates
“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” — Benjamin Franklin
“If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.” — Jeff Bezos
"You build on failure. Use it as a stepping stone and close the door on the past. Don’t try to forget the mistakes, but don’t dwell on it." – Johnny Cash
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: The fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho
"Failure is not to be feared. It is from failure that most growth comes." — Dee Hock
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote
"What would you do if you weren’t afraid?" — Sheryl Sandberg
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” — Confucius
Quotes about supporting small businesses
"Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and the heart of our communities." — Richard Branson
"And what most people don’t understand is that the bulk of business in this country is small business." — Alphonso Jackson
"Behind every small business, there's a story worth knowing." — Paul Ryan
"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the cornerstone of our communities." — Barack Obama
Quotes for women in business
"In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders." — Sheryl Sandberg
"A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult." — Melinda Gates
"Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives." — Michelle Obama
"Don't waste a single second. Just move forward as fast as you can and go for it." — Rebecca Woodcock
"I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow." — Marissa Mayer
"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." — Amelia Earhart
"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse." — Florence Nightingale
"I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it." — Estée Lauder
"Do not be afraid to make decisions. Do not be afraid to make mistakes." — Carly Fiorina
"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence." — Sheryl Sandberg
"The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first." — Iyanla Vanzant
"You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end." — Jessica Herrin
"I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship." — Louisa May Alcott
"Power's not given to you. You have to take it." — Beyoncé
"You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness." — Diane von Furstenberg
"It's not about being perfect. It's not about where you end up. It's about the journey and being 100% present along the way." — Kerry Washington
"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud." — Coco Chanel
"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." — Nora Ephron
"Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But 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
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you'll be criticized anyway." — Eleanor Roosevelt
"Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else." — Judy Garland
"To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun?" — Katharine Graham
"Don't be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered." — Michelle Obama
"Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own." — Michelle Obama
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