The journey of starting your own business is both exciting and challenging. Every successful entrepreneur started with just an idea and the courage to pursue it. So not matter where you are on your journey, these motivating entrepreneur quotes can help.
From Elon Musk to Estée Lauder, their stories inspire us to chase our dreams.
Sometimes you need a boost of motivation to keep going. These quotes from successful business leaders remind us that even the biggest companies started small. Every founder faced tough times and doubts along the way.
The entrepreneurial spirit is about more than making money. It’s about creating something meaningful and taking control of your own life. Whether you’re just starting out or facing challenges in your business, these words of wisdom can help light your path.
Let’s explore inspiring thoughts from great minds like John D. Rockefeller and Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. Their experiences show us that good ideas, combined with determination, can lead to amazing things. These quotes capture the essence of what it takes to turn business opportunities into reality.
131 Motivating Entrepreneur Quotes
- “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs
- “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou
- “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett
- “Don’t worry about being successful, but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.” – Napoleon Hill
- “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me?” – Ayn Rand
- “Entrepreneurs must be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.” – Jeff Bezos
- “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estee Lauder
- “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” – John F. Kennedy
- “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend feeling sorry for themselves.” – Barbara Corcoran
- “It comes down to finding something you love to do and then just trying to be great at it.” – Mark Cuban
- “Work hard in silence. Let success make the noise.” – Unknown
- “Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else.” – Lori Greiner
- “Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein
- “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Tony Gaskins
- “Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in.” – Hillary Clinton
- “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” – Beverly Sills
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
- “Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.” – Julie Andrews
- “If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking.” – George S. Patton
- “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London
- “The only way you can measure your success is by reflecting and seeing what you want out of the experience.” – Jessica Alba
- “You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” – Jim Carrey
- “Build your business success around something that you love — something that is inherently and endlessly interesting to you.” – Martha Stewart
- “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke
- “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It’s the mastery of fear.” – Arianna Huffington
- “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the steps.” – Confucius
- “If you don’t get out of the box you’ve been raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is.” – Angelina Jolie
- “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” – Steve Jobs
- “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
- “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” – Richard Branson
- “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” – Coco Chanel
- “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford
- “Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying anyway.” – Mary Kay Ash
- “If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren’t willing to do.” – Michael Phelps
- “Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!” – Lori Greiner
- “My first six years in the business were hopeless. There are a lot of times when you sit and you say, ‘Why am I doing this? I’ll never make it.'” – George Lucas
- “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs
- “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” – General George Patton
- “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” – David Karp
- “I don’t know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it.” – Susan Butcher
- “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
- “You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end.” – Jessica Herrin
- “Only the paranoid survive.” – Andy Grove
- “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
- “There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” – Seth Godin
- “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” – Ingvar Kamprad
- “Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.” – Sheryl Sandberg
- “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not trying.” – Jay Z
- “Dream big. Start small. Act now.” – Robin Sharma
- “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard Schultz
- “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.” – J.P. Morgan
- “There is no elevator to success — you have to take the stairs.” – Zig Ziglar
- “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
- “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
- “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” – Anthony Volodkin
- “Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin
- “Make your team feel respected, empowered, and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.” – Tim Westergen
- “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
- “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley
- “Play by the rules, but be ferocious.” – Phil Knight
- “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” – Albert Schweitzer
- “Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” – Guy Kawasaki
- “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
- “There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle
- “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes.” – Arianna Huffington
- “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates
- “Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone
- “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill
- “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn
- “You only have to do a few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
- “Success is not in what you have, but who you are.” – Bo Bennett
- “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – Sun Tzu
- “As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” – Donald Trump
- “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
- “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
- “To win without risk is to triumph without glory.” – Pierre Corneille
- “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh
- “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
- “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Hoffman
- “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett
- “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis
- “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
- “Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Every problem is a gift — without problems, we would not grow.” – Tony Robbins
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
- “Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic.” – Dale Carnegie
- “You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.” – Michael Dell
- “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill
- “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” – Marie Forleo
- “You don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.” – Larry Page
- “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
- “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
- “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman
- “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” – Chris Grosser
- “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs
- “If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.” – B.C. Forbes
- “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle
- “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce
- “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk
- “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.” – Thomas Watson Sr.
- “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle.” – Ross Simmonds
- “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
- “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton
- “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.” – Peter Drucker
- “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” – W.P. Kinsella
- “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg
- “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
- “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher
- “Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions.” – Mark Twain
- “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” – Aisha Tyler
- “Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.” – Robert Kiyosaki
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
- “The most successful entrepreneurs I know are optimistic. It’s part of the job description.” – Caterina Fake
- “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson
- “Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.” – Howard H. Stevenson
- “Success is what happens after you have survived all your mistakes.” – Anora Lee
- “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do.” – Mary Kay Ash
- “Dream big, start small, but most of all, start.” – Simon Sinek
- “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
Final Thoughts
Starting your own business takes more than just a good idea. It requires courage, persistence, and an unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. As these quotes from successful business leaders show, every great company started with a single dream.
Remember what Vince Lombardi and Mark Zuckerberg have taught us – success rarely happens overnight. Your entrepreneurial journey might take years of your life, but pursuing your passion is worth the effort.
Keep these motivational quotes handy for tough times. Let them remind you that even the founder of Ford Motor Company and Estée Lauder faced challenges on their path to success.
The most important thing is to stay focused on your vision. Surround yourself with the right people and keep pushing forward. Whether you’re just starting out or growing your business, let these words of wisdom guide you.
Here’s to your journey and the big things ahead. Your next great idea could change not just your own life, but the lives of others too.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a powerful quote about entrepreneurs?
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” -Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Inc.
What does Elon Musk say about entrepreneurship?
“Take as much feedback from as many people as you can about whatever idea you have. Seek critical feedback. Ask them what’s wrong. You often have to draw it out in a nuanced way to figure out what’s wrong.”
What is the best motto in business?
- “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
- “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great achievements.” – Demosthenes
- “If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” – Albert Schweitzer
- “The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation.” – Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney
What type of entrepreneur is Bill Gates?
Bill Gates is both an innovator and opportunistic entrepreneur. He saw a chance to make personal computers accessible to everyone and seized it by creating Microsoft.
As a technical entrepreneur, he understood computer programming deeply. He’s also a pioneer entrepreneur, helping create the personal computer software industry when it barely existed.
Gates shows traits of an acquisition entrepreneur too. He grew Microsoft by buying promising technologies and companies. His mix of technical knowledge, business sense, and ability to spot opportunities early made him one of the most successful entrepreneurs ever.