Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. But if you are up to the challenge, this video will give you all the motivation and inspiration you need to get started.
I’m here with some powerful quotes on entrepreneurship that should help motivate anyone looking into starting their own business or who needs a little pick me up in times of struggle.
1. Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.”
Henry Ford believed that you could accomplish whatever you wanted no matter your situation as long as you put your mind to it. If this sounds familiar, congratulations; you’ve heard of the now almost cliché “Carpe Diem” philosophy. Henry Ford was one of the early entrepreneurs and innovators who saw beyond his time and changed the world for better or for worse.
2. Oprah Winfrey: “You get in life what you dare to ask for.”
Oprah Winfrey is one of the wealthiest businesswomen in the world. She’s changed lives across America with her talk show hosting reign and has become a media mogul. But, as an entrepreneur, Oprah understands that it takes guts to make things happen; you need to not only know what you want but how to ask for it.
3. Milton Hershey: “Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man.”
If anyone knows about making great chocolate, it’s Milton S. Hershey. He built one of the largest chocolate companies in the world and was an innovator in his time. However, one of the most valuable lessons he taught was that if you want to build something great, you need a good foundation to start. A solid base only comes from a young age.
4. Bill Gates: “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Bill Gates is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. What separates him from other billionaires is his philanthropic work with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the end of the day, though, before he dedicated his life to saving it, he was all about building great products people want/need. His quote here teaches us that your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. This will help you build better products and services that people want.
5. Steve Jobs: “Real artists ship.”
This is one of my favorite quotes on entrepreneurship because it shows how Apple became such a huge success; they built great products and shipped them. If Apple waited to release their iPhone or iPad until they thought it was perfect, they wouldn’t be the company everyone knows today. Most people think of Apple as the company who “reinvented” the phone, but if you ask anyone in the industry, most phones were already like an iPhone before the real thing came out. This quote also shows that no matter how good your product is, the world will not see your vision if you don’t get it out there.
6. Mark Zuckerberg: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.”
Mark Zuckerberg did something most people would think is crazy; he dropped out of Harvard to start Facebook with his roommates. Many would call him foolish, but it paid off, and now Facebook is one of the largest social media sites in the world. Mark Zuckerberg knew that if he was going to start a company, it had to be something epic and something everyone wanted, and he risked everything for it.
7. Will Smith: “You don’t learn to walk by following rules.”
Will Smith is a man who needs no introduction. From his rapping days to his acting stardom, he’s been a force in Hollywood for years. More recently, most millennials know him as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and their parents knew him from Men In Black. However, many may not know that Will Smith had several businesses before he became an actor, and his quote here is an excellent reminder that we learn best by doing.
8. Richard Branson: “Screw it, let’s do it.”
Richard Branson is known as the founder and creator of the Virgin brand. He’s always been a risk-taker and has gone against conventional wisdom, starting from scratch with a student magazine to being one of the largest brands in the world. He’s done it all because he believed in his vision, even when others doubted him. This quote reminds me that anything can happen if you dare to go for it.
9. Michael Dell: “Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your customers.”
Michael Dell is the founder and CEO of one of the largest computer companies in the world. He took a million-dollar loan from his college professor, mortgaged his condo, and maxed out all of his credit cards to start what’s now known as Dell Computers. If you watch any interview with him, he will always talk about how important it is to take care of his employees and take care of the company. This is a lesson you can take to any business or organization; if you treat your employees like gold, they will do the same for your customers.
10. Mark Cuban: “It’s not about money. It’s about freedom.”
Mark Cuban is one of the most famous entrepreneurs out there today. He made his first million by the age of 32. Mr. Cuban is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and has also appeared on several reality shows. His quote here reminds us that money isn’t everything. It’s not about how much you have but what you can do with it.
11. Oprah Winfrey: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
Oprah is one of the most influential people of our generation. From her talk show to becoming a billionaire, she has been an inspiration for millions. However, this quote reminds us that life isn’t about getting rich or famous; it’s about who you become when you achieve.
12. Steve Jobs: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Steve Jobs is known in many circles as being the “father of Apple” and in others for being a CEO with mental issues. But, whatever people may or may not think, he did one thing that you cannot deny. He was one of the best visionaries in business. His quote here reminds us that if you want to succeed at anything, you need to be passionate about it and love what you do because doing things out of obligation always leads to failure.
13. Warren Buffett: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
Warren Buffett is one of the richest men globally and was named by Forbes as being the most wealthy for years 2013-2017. He’s also known for his investment strategies like value investing, and now many investors use this strategy to find good stocks. His advice here is to keep your reputation in good standing because it takes years of hard work to build one and just seconds of carelessness or ignorance to ruin it.
14. Harvey Firestone: “If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn-out paths of accepted success.”
Harvey Firestone is a famous inventor and businessman who was known for creating the first-ever car tire. He also founded Firestone Tires, which is still around today. His quote here is about standing out from the crowd. He believes that it’s better to blaze your own path than follow what everyone else has done before.
15. Steve Wozniak: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice.”
Steve Wozniak is another well-known name from Apple who was one of the co-founders with Steve Jobs. He invented the very first Apple computer as a side project while he worked for Hewlett Packard. In this quote, he’s reminding us that everyone’s opinion is their own. You should never belittle or ignore yours.
16. H. Jackson Brown Jr.: “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr. is an American author who has written several books on life and human nature, like Life’s Little Instruction Book. This quote here is a reminder that happiness often comes with sacrifice, and a lot of times, we don’t want what we think we do.
17. Toni Morrison: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
Toni Morrison is an author who has written several novels that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction or other notable awards. She’s also famous for her novel Beloved that was made into a movie in 1998. Here she’s telling us that if you really want to read something, there will always be someone out there writing it, so why not be the one to write it?
18. Henry David Thoreau: “It’s not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?”
Henry David Thoreau was an American author and philosopher who lived in the mid-1800s. Many of his works, like Walden or Civil Disobedience, have influenced many other authors and philosophers since then. In this quote, he reminds us that working hard isn’t enough. You have to work hard at something worthwhile.
19. Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Jim Rohn was a famous entrepreneur who became a motivational speaker after his business success. His quote here reminds us that who you spend time with has a strong effect on the type of person. Therefore, it’s best to surround yourself with people who have strong character and work ethic instead of those who sponge off of others.
20. Dalai Lama: “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, more commonly known as the 14th Dalai Lama, is a Buddhist monk and the current Dalai Lama. He’s made significant efforts to improve human relations with Tibet and other countries in Asia. This quote reminds us that not getting what we want may be for the best, but don’t always expect things to work out your way.
21. Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur who co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. He was the CEO of Apple until he resigned in August 2011 for health reasons. However, before he passed away in October 2011, he was able to see the fruits of his labor through the success of Apple’s products like the iPod and iPhone. Here he reminds us that no matter what you do or who you are, your time is limited, so it’s best not to waste it living someone else’s life.
22. Jim Carrey: “You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor who has starred in many movies. Whether he’s making us laugh or cry, his performance in each movie makes me believe that he loves his job. In this quote, he’s reminding us that you can always fall back on what you’re good at, but playing it safe isn’t as rewarding as taking a chance and doing what you love.
23. Abraham Lincoln: “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Abraham Lincoln is an American politician who served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He’s remembered as one of America’s most influential and successful presidents, mostly for keeping the country together through the Civil War and passing important acts like the Emancipation Proclamation. In this quote, he reminds us that we determine our happiness with our thoughts and choices.
24. George S. Patton: “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
George Smith Patton, Jr. was an American general in WWII who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army when it landed in North Africa shortly after Operation Torch ended in 1943. He’s best known for commanding the U.S. Third Army during the Battle of Normandy and for his controversial statements and actions that sometimes landed him in trouble with his superiors. In this quote, he reminds us that we must act quickly to succeed. Perfect planning is not always necessary if you can make it up as you go.
25. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, so that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of Germany’s greatest literary figures of all time. He frequently wrote on topics related to the human experience, including truth, goodness, love, marriage, and family. Here he reminds us that it’s important to enjoy life away from the stresses of work.
26. George Bernard Shaw: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and later Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 1925. Most of his famous works, including Pygmalion and Saint Joan, were critical of how society was organized at the time, so much so that he would refuse to have them performed if they weren’t up to his standards. In this quote, he’s reminding us how difficult communication can be when we’re not on the same page.
Conclusion: 26 Powerful Quotes on Entrepreneurship to Keep You Motivated
Thank you for reading these 26 Powerful Quotes on Entrepreneurship to Keep You Motivated & Productive. I hope you have enjoyed this article and if you have any thoughts, please leave a comment below. Also, please feel free to share this article with others. Thank you!