50+ Best Inspirational Quotes for Small Business Owners

Starting and running a small business is a rewarding yet challenging endeavor. The road to success is often paved with obstacles, and it takes resilience, hard work, and inspiration to keep going. For small business owners and entrepreneurs, staying motivated is crucial for overcoming these hurdles and achieving long-term success.

Inspirational quotes can be powerful tools for maintaining motivation and perspective. Whether launching a new venture or looking to take your existing business to new heights, a well-timed quote can offer the encouragement you need.

In this article, you will discover over 50 of the best inspirational quotes that can serve as a source of motivation and wisdom for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and social media managers.

From quotes about starting a new business to those focusing on risk-taking and business planning, this collection has something for every aspect of the entrepreneurial journey.

Let’s explore these quotes and find the inspiration to drive your business forward.

Starting a New Business

1. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
2. “Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect.” – Unknown
3. “The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.” – Walt Disney
4. “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – John F. Kennedy
5. “Starting a successful business is not about having the right idea but about being able to execute it successfully.” – Unknown
6. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
7. “Dream big. Start small. Act now.” – Robin Sharma
8. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
9. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
10. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs

Quotes about Business Growth

1. “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” – James Cash Penney
2. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
3. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” – Richard Branson
4. “The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.” – Lao Tzu
5. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” – Scott Belsky
6. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
7. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
8. “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
9. “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” – Harvey S. Firestone
10. “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs

Finding New Customers

1. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates
2. “The customer’s perception is your reality.” – Kate Zabriskie
3. “Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.” – Tony Hsieh
4. “Make a customer, not a sale.” – Katherine Barchetti
5. “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” – Donald Porter
6. “Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” – Peter Drucker
7. “If you’re not serving the customer, your job is to be serving someone who is.” – Jan Carlzon
8. “The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.” – Sam Walton
9. “The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.” – Peter Drucker
10. “Customer service is the new marketing.” – Derek Sivers

Motivational Quotes about Risk Taking

1. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” – Mark Zuckerberg
2. “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” – Lewis Carroll
3. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
4. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
5. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
6. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
7. “Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.” – Denis Waitley
8. “Take risks; if you win, you will be happy. If you lose, you will be wise.” – Unknown
9. “The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.” – Maimonides
10. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Taking Action in Business

1. “The most effective way to do it is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart
2. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
3. “The distance between your dreams and reality is called action.” – Unknown
4. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
5. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats
7. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
8. “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
9. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
10. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

Inspirational Quotes for Business Planning

1. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
2. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” – Alan Lakein
3. “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” – Thomas Edison
5. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
6. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
7. “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” – Alan Lakein
8. “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem
9. “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” – Winston Churchill
10. “The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.” – Ronald Reagan

Funny Inspirational Quotes for Any Business

1. “I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.” – Benjamin Franklin
2. “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” – Isaac Asimov
3. “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
4. “Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.” – Maryon Pearson
5. “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs, one step at a time.” – Joe Girard
6. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
7. “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” – Jay-Z
8. “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” – Dalai Lama
9. “A clear conscience is a sure sign of a bad memory.” – Mark Twain
10. “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.” – Will Rogers

Motivational Quotes from Pop Culture

1. “Do, or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda, Star Wars
2. “All our dreams can come true if we dare to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
3. “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” – Batman, Batman Begins
4. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
5. “With great power comes great responsibility.” – Uncle Ben, Spider-Man
6. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
7. “Just keep swimming.” – Dory, Finding Nemo
8. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
9. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that count.” – Winston Churchill
10. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – Vito Corleone, The Godfather

Business Quotes About Change

1. “Change is the result of all true learning.” – Leo Buscaglia
2. “Change before you have to.” – Jack Welch
3. “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” – Oprah Winfrey
4. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill
5. “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” – John C. Maxwell
6. “Change brings opportunity.” – Nido Qubein
7. “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
8. “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
9. “Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision, and change.” – Richard Branson
10. “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” – Charles Kettering

Business Quotes for Customers

1. “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” – Michael LeBoeuf
2. “Marketing aims to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker
3. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates
4. “If you build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos
5. “Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.” – Anonymous
6. “The customer is always right.” – Harry Gordon Selfridge
7. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” – Jeff Bezos
8. “When you serve the customer better, they always return on your investment.” – Kara Parlin
9. “Customers may forget what you said but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.” – Unknown
10. “There’s a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer. Never settle for ‘satisfied.'” – Shep Hyken

Be Your Own Boss Quotes

1. “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” – Thomas Watson Sr.
2. “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.” – Dhirubhai Ambani
3. “Being your own boss isn’t just a business, it’s a lifestyle.” – Unknown
4. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
5. “Success is not just what you accomplish in your life; it’s about what you inspire others to do.” – Anonymous
6. “You don’t need a new day to start over; you only need a new mindset.” – Anonymous
7. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
8. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
9. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis
10. “The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

Powerful Business Quotes

1. “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” – Alan Kay
2. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
3. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
4. “Success is not the key to happiness; happiness is the key to success.” – Albert Schweitzer
5. “The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.” – John D. Rockefeller Jr.
6. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
7. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
8. “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember—the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” – Zig Ziglar
9. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis
10. “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn

Greatest Business Quotes of All Time

1. “The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.” – Peter Drucker
2. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
3. “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader
4. “Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
5. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
6. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
7. “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
8. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
9. “Success is not the key to happiness; happiness is the key to success.” – Albert Schweitzer
10. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

Business Focus Quotes

1. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss
2. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
3. “Focus on the solution, not the problem.” – Jim Rohn
4. “Starve your distractions. Feed your focus.” – Unknown
5. “It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
6. “Where your focus goes, your energy flows.” – Tony Robbins
7. “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – Mark Twain
8. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn
9. “The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” – Norman Vincent Peale
10. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” – Steve Jobs

Business Mantra Quotes

1. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
2. “The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.” – Charles Kingsleigh
3. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney
4. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
5. “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett
6. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle
7. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
8. “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” – Aisha Tyler
9. “The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” – George Washington
10. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Punchline Quotes for Business

1. “Work hard in silence; let your success be your noise.” – Frank Ocean
2. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi
3. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
4. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
5. “Dream big. Work hard. Stay focused.” – Unknown
6. “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” – Steve Jobs
7. “Success is not given. It is earned.” – Unknown
8. “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” – Oprah Winfrey
9. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey
10. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

Conclusion

Starting and running a small business is no small feat. It requires not only hard work and dedication but also a continuous supply of motivation and inspiration.

Whether you’re just starting or looking to grow and scale your business, inspirational quotes for business owners provided above can provide the encouragement and wisdom you need to keep pushing forward.

Feeling inspired and ready to take action? Sign up for our newsletter to receive more motivational content and actionable business tips straight to your inbox. Let’s build your dream together.