Running a business is hard, Even the toughest need a little inspiration from time to time. Some words of wisdom from those who’ve been there and got the T-Shirt can be just the boost you need. This list is a top 50 motivational business quotes for you to remember, recite and reuse. Wherever you are in your journey from early days to leading a corporation there are motivational business quotes here to inspire you at every stage and remind you why.

Motivational Business Quotes

1. “Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.”

Oprah Winfrey, media proprietor

2. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”

Richard Branson, founder Virgin Group

3. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.”

Mary Kay Ash, Founder Mary Kay Cosmetics

4. “When you find an idea that you just can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.”

Josh James, co-founder and CEO Omniture, founder and CEO Domo

5. “Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.”

Arianna Huffington, Founder The Huffington Post Media Group

6. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”

Scott Belsky, co-founder Behance

7. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.”

Sara Blakely, founder SPANX

8. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Walt Disney, founder Disney

9. “The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.”

Debbi Fields, founder Mrs. Fields Cookies

10. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

Steve Jobs, Co-founder, CEO, Chairman Apple Inc.

11. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”

Estée Lauder

12. “It is always the start that requires the greatest effort.”

James Cash Penney, founder and CEO J.C. Penny

13. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”

Dave Thomas, founder Wendy’s

14. “I wake up every morning and think to myself, ‘How far can I push the company forward in the next 24 hours?”

Leah Busque Solivan, Founder and former CEO, Task Rabbit, General Partner at FUEL Capital

15. “In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably a hallucination.”

Steve Case, co-founder AOL

16. “So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.”

Caterina Fake, co-founder Flickr

17. “When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge.”

Robert Kiyosaki, founder Cashflow Technologies Inc.

18. The best time to expand is when people are asleep at the wheel

Barbara Corcoran, Founder, The Corcoran Group

19. “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”

Russell Simmons, found Def Jam Records

20. “If we can all see the opportunity, it was an opportunity, now it’s a requirement”

Hilary Blackshaw, Co-founder Saffy.biz

21. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Bill Gates, founder and CEO Microsoft

22. “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.”

Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO BlogHer

23. “You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

Steve Jobs, founder, chairman and CEO Apple Inc.

24. “Growth and comfort do not coexist.”

Ginni Rometty CEO IBM

25. “If I had asked the public what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse“

Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

26. “You manage things, you lead people”

Grace Murray Hopper, Rear Admiral US Navy, co-developer UNIVAC 1, COBOL and recipient of USA Presidential Medal of Freedom

27. “Good leaders organize and align people around what the team needs to do. Great leaders motivate and inspire people with why they’re doing it.”

Marillyn Adams Hewson, chairman, president and CEO, Lockheed Martin

28. “People become motivated when you guide them to the source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify what you want to see in the organization.”

Anita Roddick

29. “My senior leadership team is half people who have joined the company within the last five years from different industries, experiences, and countries. You have a better picture of the world. The diversity of thought is where you can make better business decisions”

Mary Barra, the Chairwoman and CEO of General Motors Company

30. “The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.”

Faye Wattleton, Co-Founder EeroQ Quantum Computing

31. “Strategic leaders must not get consumed by the operational and tactical side of their work.”

Stephanie. S. Mead, Author Ahead of the Curve: A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking, SVP, CMOE

32. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team”

Reid Hoffman, co-founder LinkedIn

33. “Trying to do it all and expecting it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy.”

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.org

34. “Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team. It makes all the difference”

Alison Pincus, Co-Founder and Co-Chairwoman, One Kings Lane

35. “Hire character. Train skill.”

Peter Schultz, founder and director GNF

36. “Take criticism seriously, but not personally.”

Hillary Clinton

37. “Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”

Jim Rohn

38. “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.”

Anthony Volodkin, founder Hype Machine

39. “Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.”

Mark Cuban

40. “If you don’t give people a chance to fail, you won’t innovate. If you wanna be an innovative company allow people to make mistakes..”

Indra Nooyi, CEO Pepsi Co

41. “Innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way.“

Tom Freston , Co-founder of MTV

42. “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, chairman and CEO Berkshire Hathaway

43. “The things we fear the most in organizations- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary sources of creativity.”

Margaret Wheatley, management consultant

44. “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow”

Ingvar Kamprad, founder Ikea

45. “Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different.”

Indra Nooyi

46. Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher, CEO Applied Insight, author, artist, entrepreneur

47. “Don’t worry about being successful but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.”

Oprah Winfrey

48. “Make sure that you stay in touch with the people you’re interested in, make sure they’re aware of you, that you stay on their radar.”

Tina Brown, Founding editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast

49. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”
    Dale Carnegie

 

And to wrap up our list of 50 amazing motivational business quotes to inspire you remember

50. “Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.” – Tim Cooke, CEO of Apple