Elon Musk to Guy Kawasaki: 50 Inspirational Quotes for Small Business Owners

quotes on persistence

Need a quick dose of inspiration?

Explore business quotes from some of the most influential leaders from Elon Musk to Oprah Winfrey.

Sometimes a few simple words can provide clarity and motivation to propel you forward.

Whether you’re creating content, hiring a team or raising venture capital funding, these quotes can be exactly what you need to refresh your energy and focus.

Here, 50 inspirational business quotes.

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” – Wendy Piersall
“If your content isn’t driving conversation, you’re doing it wrong.” – Dan Roth
“Content is king but engagement is queen, and the lady rules the house!” – Mari Smith
“If you build it … you may still need Google AdWords.” – Jennifer Mesenbrink

“Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
“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
“If you can’t explain it to a 6-year-old, you don’t know it yourself.” – Albert Einstein
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Think big and don’t listen to people who tell you it can’t be done. Life’s too short to think small.” – Tim Ferriss
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
“If you don’t have room to fail, you don’t have room to grow.” – Jonathan Mildenhall
“If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” – Elon Musk
“Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard Schultz
“It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.” – Roger von Oech
“Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” – Zig Ziglar

“It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” – Scott Belsky
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” – Guy Kawasaki
“Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” – George Kneller
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” – Edwin Land

“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
“Whether B2B or B2C, I believe passionately that good marketing essentials are the same. We all are emotional beings looking for relevance, context and connection.” – Beth Comstock
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
“Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.” – Michael Hyatt
“One of the best ways to sabotage your content is to not tie it to your goals. Know why you’re creating content.” -Ellen Gomes
“If you’re a good marketing person, you have to be a little crazy.” – Jim Metcalf
“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one.” – Robert Rose
“Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.” – Jonah Sachs
“Stop selling. Start helping.” -Zig Ziglar

“When you say it, it’s marketing. When they say it, it’s social proof.” – Andy Crestodina
“‘Build it, and they will come’ only works in the movies. Social media is a build it, nurture it, engage them and they may come and stay.” – Seth Godin
“Social media is about the people. Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you.” – Matt Goulart
“Social media is a contact sport.” – Margaret Molloy
“90% trust peers on social networks (even strangers); only 15-18% trust brands.” – Danny Brown
“Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball cards.” – Jay Baer

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is —- it is what consumers tell each other it is.” – Scott Cook
“Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.” – Seth Godin
“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points.” – Jonah Sachs

“If you’re not failing now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything innovative.” – Woody Allen
“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” – Jeff Bezos
“I’d rather apologize than to be so timid as to never try to do anything smart or brave.” – Lee Clow
“If you’re looking for the next big thing, and you’re looking where everyone else is, you’re looking in the wrong place.” – Mark Cuban
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Tony Robbins
“New ideas are sometimes found in the most granular details of a problem where few others bother to look.” – Nate Silver

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you’re a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
“Inspiration doesn’t respond to meeting requests. You can’t schedule greatness.” – Jay Baer
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan

Republished by permission. Original here.