Whether you are an entrepreneur or in business for a long time, inspirational business quotes will give you the advice, tips, and insights you need to run and grow a successful business.
If you’re searching for popular quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of inspirational quotes by famous people, daily positive quotes, and excited sayings.
Best Business Quotes
Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation. – Peter Drucker
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston S. Churchill
Play by the rules, but be ferocious. – Phil Knight
Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day. – Gary Vaynerchuck
The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. – Vince Lombardi
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. –Thomas Edison
Motivation is the catalyzing ingredient for every successful innovation. – Clayton Christensen
Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk, whether it’s starting a new business, whether it’s leaving home, whether it’s getting married, or whether it’s flying in space. – Chris Hadfield
Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it. – William Durant
Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people. – Steve Jobs
The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new. – Socrates
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. – Herman Melville
Brands mature over time, like a marriage. The bond you feel with your spouse is different than when you first met each other. Excitement and discovery are replaced by comfort and depth. – Gary Vaynerchuck
Inspirational Business Quotes
If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to meet it! – Jonathan Winters
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs
But everyone doesn’t deserve their own audience. That’s something that’s earned. – Seth Godin
There is always space for improvement, no matter how long you’ve been in the business. – Oscar De La Hoya
The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. – Colin R. Davis
A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. – Richard Branson
All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. – Tom Peters in Fast Company
The golden rule for every business man is this: ‘Put yourself in your customer’s place.’ – Orison Swett Marden
The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions. – John Hancock
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. – Henry David Thoreau
Have the end in mind and every day make sure your working towards it – Ryan Allis
Unless you dream, you’re not going to achieve anything. – Richard Branson
When you are in business for a long time, you go through good times and bad times. When you go through bad times, you learn to control costs, satisfy customers better, satisfy employees better and become more transparent. Therefore, you build character in the company. – N. R. Narayana Murthy
Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. – Chris Grosser
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. – Ralph Nader
You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong. – Warren Buffett
Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. – John D. Rockefeller
Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich. – Henry Ford
Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked. – Warren Buffett
The biggest hurdle is rejection. Any business you start, be ready for it. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the successful people do all the things the unsuccessful people don’t want to do. When 10 doors are slammed in your face, go to door number 11 enthusiastically, with a smile on your face. – John Paul DeJoria
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. – Thomas Jefferson
Choices and decisions must be supported by your passion, resolve and a productive work ethic. If these meet opportunity – your success has finally come! – Archibald Marwizi
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn
I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. – Oprah Winfrey
My philosophy is it’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier. – Anthony Hopkins
There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed. – Ray Goforth
Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. – Oprah Winfrey
Short Powerful Business Quotes
Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other. – Bill Gates
Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. – Jim Rohn
Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time. – Henry Ford
Beware of any enterprise requiring new clothes. – Henry David Thoreau
Ethics or simple honesty is the building blocks upon which our whole society is based, and business is a part of our society, and it’s integral to the practice of being able to conduct business, that you have a set of honest standards. – Kerry Stokes
Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value. – Albert Einstein
Accounting is the language of business. – Warren Buffett
One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. – Andy Warhol
Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. – Winston Churchill
Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway. – John Wayne
A small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you live in. – Nicole Snow
The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas of enthusiasm. – Thomas Watson
Information technology is at the core of how you do your business and how your business model itself evolves. – Satya Nadella
The best investment you can make, is an investment in yourself…The more you learn, the more you’ll earn. – Warren Buffett
Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion. – Tony Hsieh
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart. – Thomas Watson
I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work and be proud that I tried everything. – Jon Stewart
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou
You are not your resume; you are your work. – Seth Godin
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. – G. K. Chesterton
Customer service is all about feelings. I am of the opinion that customer service is actually feelings management. – J.N. Halm
Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things – David Ogilvy
Famous Business Quotes
Many people dream about being an entrepreneur, starting their own business, working for themselves, and living the good life. Very few, however, will actually take the plunge and put everything they’ve got into being their own boss. – Fabrizio Moreira
Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success. – Thomas J. Watson
What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill
Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. – Theodore Roosevelt
There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them. – Seth Godin
Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business. – Zig Ziglar
If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. – Jim Rohn
Happy employees lead to happy customers, which leads to more profits. – Vaughn Aust
Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners. – Robert T. Kiyosaki
When a team takes ownership of its problems, the problem gets solved. It is true on the battlefield, it is true in business, and it is true in life. – Jocko Willink
The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.
Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes. – Zig Ziglar
I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you. – Jeff Bezos
I have always said that everyone is in sales. Maybe you don’t hold the title of salesperson, but if the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales. – Zig Ziglar
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Employees want to feel inspired by their leaders…hire individuals who will lead by example. – Jody Kohner
Creative without strategy is called art. Creative with strategy is called advertising. – Jeff I. Richards
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently… A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large. – Henry Ford
We shall enhance cooperation in trade and investment within the region, open up markets for each other, and promote trade and investment facilitation and liberalization, and strengthen regional economic integration. – Liu Jian
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. – Michael LeBoeuf
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. – Michael John Bobak
Be content to act and leave the talking to others. – Baltasa
From my very first day as an entrepreneur, I’ve felt the only mission worth pursuing in business is to make people’s lives better. – Richard Branson
People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. – Tony Robbins
A goal is a dream with a deadline. – Napoleon Hill
You know, you don’t have to have money to be a successful businessperson. You don’t need a college degree; you just need a lot of common sense backed up by a willingness to work hard. – Farrah Gray
A business idea is just another idea. But an idea backed by a strong feasibility, a thorough business plan and a smart team is no longer an idea. It’s now a solid business opportunity worth pursuing. – Ajaero Tony Martins
The purpose of a business is to create a customer. – Peter Drucker
Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. – Robert Kiyosaki
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. – Albert Einstein
If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time. – Steve Jobs
If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large – Jeff Bezos
A man should never neglect his family for business. – Walt Disney
Positive Business Quotes
What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed. – Dave Thomas
The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere. – Barack Obama
Poor people have big TV. Rich people have big library. – Jim Rohn
Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others. – Helen Keller
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them. – Seth Godin
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. – Helen Keller
Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions. – Tony Robbin
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney
Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk, whether it’s starting a new business, whether it’s leaving home, whether it’s getting married, or whether it’s flying into space. – Chris Hadfield
The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. – Bill Gates
You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. – Sam Levenson
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. – Bruce Lee
In order for you to profit from your mistakes, you have to get out and make some.
Personal relationships are always the key to good business. You can buy networking; you can’t buy friendships. – Lindsay Fox
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. – Colin Powell
Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right! – Henry Ford
Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rodgers
Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. – Rocky, Rocky Balboa
You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple. – Adena Friedman
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. – Conrad Hilton
Our goal is to leverage what is already out in the field in terms of partners, but then hire in project management capability and a bit of technical capability. – Kevin Rollins
If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse. – Jim Rohn
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–It is: Try to please everybody. – Herbert Bayard Swope
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life; it’s about what you inspire others to do.
Fall seven times and stand up eight. – Japanese Proverb
Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something, not even me. Alright? You dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period. – Chris Gardner
Some people dream of success while others wake up and work.
If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney
The suggestion from a coworker was that we do not speak about intervention.
The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him. – David Brinkley
The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it. – Jordan Belfort
The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere. – Barack Obama
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. – Bill Cosby
In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. – Nikos Kazantzakis
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison
Business is more exciting than any game. – Lord Beaverbrook
Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. – Coco Chanel
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved. – Helen Keller
Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember–the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you. – Zig Ziglar
Some people can’t believe in themselves until someone else believes in them first. – Sean Maguire
The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well. – John D. Rockefeller Jr.
You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it. – Oprah Winfrey
There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality. – Anthony Robbins
The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows. – Aristotle Onassis
I failed my way to success. – Thomas Edison
The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell. – Andrew Carnegie
I never dreamed about success. I worked for it. – Estée Lauder
Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine. – Alan Turing
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison
Every problem is a gift—without problems we would not grow. – Anthony Robbins
I never dreamed about success, I worked for it. – Estee Lauder
Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it. – William Durant
I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes. – Thomas Edison
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. – Richard Branson
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Vidal Sassoon
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. – Henry David Thoreau
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. – Leonardo da Vinci
Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games. – Babe Ruth
What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. – Albert Einstein
I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. – Oprah Winfrey
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. – Aristotle
Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down. – Charles F. Kettering
