100+ Motivational Quotes to Inspire Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

small business quotes

Being a small business owner or entrepreneur is tough and challenging. Every day is a new day, a new challenge, a new adventure, a new opportunity.  To deal with highs and lows, ups and downs of entrepreneurship, to keep your fire ignited and keep your passion going, you need motivation.

We have put together a list of more than 100 small business quotes that contain meaningful and motivational lessons from some of the most successful and famous entrepreneurs.


Best Small Business Quotes for Inspiration & Motivation

business quotes about change

1. “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

— Peter F. Drucker, Management Consultant, Educator, and Author

 

2. “Where do you put the fear when you choose to innovate? The fear is there, but you have to find a place to put it.”

— Seth Godin, Writer and Business Visionary

 

3. “The Golden Rule for Every Business is this: Put Yourself in your Customer’s Place.”

— Orison Swett Marden, American Inspirational Author

 

4. “Never Give up. Today is hard and tomorrow will be Worse, but the day after Tomorrow will be Sunshine.”

— Jack Ma, Founder Alibaba Group

 

5. “If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.”

— B.C. Forbes, Financial Journalist and Author Forbes Magazine

 

6. “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

— Walt Disney, Entrepreneur, Animator, Voice actor and Film producer

 

quotes about business growth

7. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”

— Chris Grosser, Photographer

 

8. “To be successful, you must act big, think big and talk big.”

— Aristotle Onassis, Greek Shipping Magnate

 

9. “Great things in business are never done by one person.”

— Steve Jobs, Founder Apple Inc.

 

10. “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”

Seth Godin, Author & Former Dot Com Business Executive

 

11. “Patience: This is the greatest business asset. Wait for the right time to make your moves.”

— J. Paul Getty, British American Petrol Industrialist

 

12. “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”

— Michael LeBoeuf, Business Author and Motivational Speaker

 

13. “There are no working hours for leaders.”

— James Cardinal Gibbons, American Prelate of the Catholic Church

 

14. “Make a Customer, Not a sale.”

— Katherine Barchetti, Owner of K. Barchetti Shops

 

15. “Capital isn’t scarce. Vision is.”

— Sam Walton, Walmart Founder

 

16. “To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.”

— Bill Gates, Founder Microsoft Corporation

 

17. “You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing.”

— Dale Carnegie, Writer and Lecturer

 

18. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

— Walt Disney, Entrepreneur, Animator, Voice actor, and Film producer

 

19. “Satisfaction is a rating. Loyalty is a brand.”

— Shep Hyken, Author and Speaker

 

20. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

— Peter F. Drucker, Management Consultant, Educator, and Author

 

21. “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

— H. Jackson Brown, Jr., American Author

 

powerful business quotes

22. “First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.”

Walt Disney, Entrepreneur, Animator, Voice actor and Film producer

 

23. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

— Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Writer, Poet, Aristocrat and Journalist

 

24. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

— Steve Jobs, Apple Founder

 

25. “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.”

— Margaret Thatcher, British Stateswoman, Former British Prime Minister

 

26. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”

— Scott Belsky, Entrepreneur, Author and Early-Stage Investor

 

27. “There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.”

— Jason Fried, Founder & CEO at Basecamp

 

28. “Success is how high you bounce after you hit bottom.”

— General George Patton Jr., General of the United States Army

 

29. “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”

— Benjamin Franklin, American polymath, Founding Fathers of the United States

 

30. “Make the customer the hero of your story.”

— Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, Speaker and Author

 

31. “The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.”

Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

 

31. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

— Mark Twain, American Writer, Publisher, and Lecturer

 

business motivational quotes

33. “Business is all about relationships, how well you build them determines how well they build your business.”

— Brad Sugars, Chairman and Founder ActionCOACH

 

34. “Customer service is an opportunity to exceed your customer’s expectations.”

— John Jantsch, Author Duct Tape Marketing, Speaker and Author

 

35. “It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.”

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

 

36. “An obstacle is often a stepped stone.”

— William Prescott, Military Commander

 

37. “Business is the salt of life.”

— Voltaire, French writer, historian and philosopher

 

38. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

— Henry Ford, American Captain of Industry, Founder Ford Motor Assembly

 

39. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”

— Sam Levenson, Humourist, Writer, Teacher, Television Host, and Journalist.

 

40. “Don’t deliver a product, deliver an experience.”

— Unknown

 

41. “Don’t count the days, Make the days count.”

— Muhammad Ali, Professional Boxer

 

42. “In order to succeed. We must first believe that we can.”

— Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer – Zorba the Greek.

 

motivational quotes of the day

43. “The biggest mistake a small business can make is to think like a small business.”

— Aruna Bhayana, Lawyer & Digital Marketer

 

44. “Setting Goal is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”

Tony Robbins, Author & Business Strategist

 

45. “Don’t give up, the beginning is always the hardest.”

— Kemmy Nola, Motivational Speaker

 

46. “Small opportunities are often beginning of great achievements.”

— Demosthenes, Greek statesman and Orator of Ancient Athens

 

47. “To be successful you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.”

— Thomas J. Watson, Chairman and CEO of IBM

 

48. “A winner never stops trying.”

— Tom Landry, American Football Player and Coach

 

49. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

— Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder

 

50. “You must not only aim right but draw the bow with all your might.”

— Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, philosopher, and historian.

 

51. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

— Steve Jobs, Apple Founder

 

short success quotes

52. “Plan for what it is difficult while it is easy, Do what is great while it is small.”

— Sun Tzu, Chinese Strategist, Writer, and Philosopher

 

53. “The well-satisfied customer will bring the repeat sale that counts.”

— James Cash Penney, Founder of J.C. Penney

 

54. “If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.”

— Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder

 

55. “The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation.”

— Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney

 

56. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

— John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist

 

57. “Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.”

— James Cash Penny, Founder J.C. Penney Stores

 

58. “Know what your customer want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet.”

— Kevin Stirtz, Author of more loyal customers

 

59. “The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.”

— Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

 

best business quotes of all time

60. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

— Robert H. Schuller, Televangelist, Pastor, Motivational Speaker, and Author

 

61. “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

Steve Jobs, Apple Founder

 

62. “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, Founder and CEO of Amazon

 

63. “Every company’s greatest assets are its customers because without customers there is no company.”

— Michael LeBoeuf, Business Author and Motivational Speaker

 

64. “Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.”

— Kevin Stirtz, Author

 

65. “Customers may forget what you said but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”

— Anonymous

 

66. “Everything starts with the customer.”

— Lou Gerstner, Chairman of the board and CEO of IBM

 

67. “Customer don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.”

— Donald Porter, Actor

 

68. “Great customer service is a critical competitive advantage for a business.”

— Steve Benson, Editorial Cartoonist

 

inspirational business quotes

69. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Lao Tzu, Ancient Chinese Philosopher and Writer

 

70. “Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.”

— Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Assembly

 

71. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

— Helen Keller, American Author, Political Activist, and lecturer

 

72. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

— Albert Einstein, Theoretical physicist

 

73. “Always give your best effort even when the odds are against you.”

— Arnold Palmer, American Professional Golfer

 

quotes for small business owners

74. “If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.”

— Bob Hooey, Author

 

75. “When you serve the customer better, they always return on your investment.”

— Arnold Palmer, American Professional Golfer

 

76. “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.”

— Michael Korda, Writer, Novelist and Editor-in-Chief of Simon & Schuster

 

77. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”

— OG Mandino, American Author

 

78. “Never ever give up! Constant effort is the key to success.”

— Xavier Davis, American jazz pianist and Music Educator

 

79. “Your Customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

— Damon Richards, Professional DJ, and Music Producer

 

80. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: The fear of failure.”

— Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Lyricist and Novelist

 

81. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”

— Ralph Marston, Professional Football Player

 

quotes for entrepreneur

82. “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

— Walt Disney, Entrepreneur and Film producer

 

83. “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.”

— Aristotle, Greek Philosopher

 

84. “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

— Pablo Picasso, Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Stage Designer, Poet and Playwright

 

85. “Never give up. Great things take time.”

— Unknown

 

86. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”

— C.S. Lewis, British Writer and Lay Theologian.

 

87. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”

— Bruce Lee, Actor, Director, Martial Artist and Philosopher

 

88. “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.”

— Hasidic Proverb

 

new business quotes

89. “I find that the harder I work the more luck I seem to have.”

— Thomas Jefferson, Former U.S. President

 

90. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”

— Chris Grosser, Sales Advisor

 

91. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”

— Rikki Rogers, Writer and Marketer

 

92. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Mark Twain, American Writer and Publisher

 

93. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.”

— Walt Whitman, American Poet, Essayist and Journalist

 

94. “You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple.”

— Adena Friedman, President and CEO of NASDAQ

 

back to business quotes

95. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”

— Truman Capot, American Novelist

 

96. “The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.”

— Roy L. Smith, Author

 

97. “There’s no luck in business. There’s only drive, determination and more drive.”

— Sophie Kinsella, Author

 

98. “If your business is not on the internet then your business will be out of business.”

— Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft Corporation

 

99. “All you have in business is your reputation – So it’s very important that you keep your work.”

— Richard Branson, Founder Virgin Group

 

funny business quotes

100. “Business has only two functions – marketing and Innovation.”

— Peter Drucker, Management Consultant, Educator, and Author

 

101. “You have to work on the business first before it works for you.”

— Idowu Koyenikan, Consultant and Author USA Today Network

 

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

— Harold Geneen, President of the ITT Corporation

 

103. “The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions.”

— John Hancock, Statesman and President of the Second Continental Congress

 

zig ziglar quotes

104. “You don’t build a business. You build people and people build the business.”

Zig Ziglar, American Author, Salesman and Motivational Speaker

 

105. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.”

— Peter Drucker, Management Consultant, Educator, and Author

 

106. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”

— Henry Ford, Founder Ford Motor Assembly

 

107. “The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.”

— Anonymous


If you think we missed any motivational small business quotes, then let us know through comments.