There is no simple formula for creating a successful business. Luckily, there is an easy way to improve your chances.
And that’s by listening to the wisdom of those who have done it already.
With that in mind, here are 25 quotes from famous entrepreneurs…
INSPIRATION
1) "If you can dream it, you can do it."
-Walt Disney, founder of The Walt Disney Company
2) "Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."
-Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Enterprises
3) “Capital isn't that important in business. Experience isn't that important. You can get both of these things. What is important is ideas.”
-Harvey Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
4) “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
-Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and Pixar
5) “Find your passion… then it is no longer work!”
-L.A. Reid, co-founder of LaFace Records
TAKING INITIATIVE
6) “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!"
-Madam C.J. Walker, creator of beauty products and the first female self-made millionaire
7) “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”
-Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari & Chuck E. Cheese’s
8) “The key is to just get on the bike, and the key to getting on the bike… is to stop thinking about ‘there are a bunch of reasons I might fall off’ and just hop on and peddle the damned thing. You can pick up a map, a tire pump, and better footwear along the way.”
-Dick Costolo, founder of Feedburner.com
9) “The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try.”
-Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies
HARD WORK vs. LUCK
10) “Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.”
-Thomas Edison, founder of General Electric (GE)
11) “I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by it. I know.”
-Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC
12) “Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is.”
-Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop
13) “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that something is too competitive. Once you subtract the people who don’t work very hard, or the people who aren’t as good as you, your competition shrinks dramatically.”
-Maggie Mason, founder of Mighty Goods
14) “Life is really simple as far as I’m concerned. There is no luck, you work hard and study things intently. If you do that for long and hard enough you’re successful.”
-Jason Calacanis, founder of Weblogs, Inc.
PERSEVERANCE
15) "When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure."
-Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
16) “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because all that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.”
-Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, co-founder of Broadcast.com, founder of HDNet
GUIDING PRINICIPLES
17) “Entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise. They willingly assume responsibility for the success or failure of a venture and are answerable for all its facets.”
-Victor Kiam, owner of Remington Products
18) “The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place.”
-Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist, CEO of Garage Technology Ventures
19) “A friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business founded on friendship.”
-John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil
20) “An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.”
-Roy Ash, co-founder of Litton Industries
21) “I've been blessed to find people who are smarter than I am, and they help me to execute the vision I have.”
-Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam
22) “One of the unique things we small companies have over the big guys is the ability to establish personal relationships. Big companies really can't do that. You read about effective organizations, learning organizations, lean and mean organizations, but small companies can be virtuous. We as small companies can have virtue because we as small companies are basically the embodiment of one or two people, and people can have virtue, while organizations really can't."
-Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company
23) “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.”
-Donald Trump, real estate developer
24) “High expectations are the key to everything.”
-Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart
SATISFACTION
25) “I find that when you have a real interest in life and a curious life, that sleep is not the most important thing.”
-Martha Stewart, founder of Omnimedia
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Written by Tom Zeleznock on Wednesday, March 12, 2008
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