72 Small Business Quotes to Inspire Owners and Customers

Starting a small business isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, it takes a lot of gumption, hard work, and faith in yourself to get a small business going. From applying your talents and knowledge as an entrepreneur to handling the logistical aspects like hiring employees and keeping the books, being a small business owner can feel as overwhelming as it does rewarding.

That’s why small business quotes can help get you through when the going gets tough. Whether you’re needing some extra inspiration or motivation, or you’d like to keep your customers and their needs top of mind, there’s a quote for nearly anything when it comes to running a small business.

And with Small Business Saturday right around the corner on November 25, 2023, you may be thinking about your brave venture more than ever. This is a wonderful time to reflect on your accomplishments and to remind people how awesome it is to support small businesses in this day and age of big-box stores. For this, you can take to Instagram with quotes that celebrate the spirit of Small Business Saturday, and you can weave them into any publicity for upcoming Small Business Saturday events you might be holding.

No matter how you decide to use these quotes, we think you, as small business owners, are some of the most heroic, and amazing, people around.

Motivational Quotes About Starting a Small Business

• "There's nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team." — Jason Fried

• “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” — Stephen King

• “Some people dream of success while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” — Wayne Huizenga

• “Don’t count the days: Make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali

• “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” — Michael Korda

• "A big business starts small." — Richard Branson

• "It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen." — Scott Belsky

• "Opportunities don't happen. You create them." — Chris Grosser

• "If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business." — B.C. Forbes

• "To be successful, you must act big, think big, and talk big." — Aristotle Onassis

• "You don't build a business, you build the people, then people build the business." — Zig Ziglar

• "You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea." — Larry Page

• "Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you." — Tony Hsieh

• "The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world." — Marc Benioff

• "Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field." — Denis Waitley

• "My best advice to entrepreneurs is this: forget about making mistakes, just do it." — Ajaero Tony Martins

• "The biggest mistake a small business can make is to think like a small business." — Aruna Bhayana

• "The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do." — Bill Phillips

• "You have to work on the business first before it works for you." — Idowu Koyenikan

Inspirational Small Business Quotes

• "The most successful entrepreneurs I know are optimistic. It's part of the job description." — Caterina Fake

• “You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple.” — Adena Friedman

• “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear: It’s the mastery of fear. It’s about getting up one more time when we fall down.” — Arianna Huffington

• “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu

• “Always give your best effort, even when the odds are against you.” — Arnold Palmer

• “An obstacle is often a stepping stone.” — William Prescott

• “Don’t worry about failure: You only have to be right once.” — Drew Houston

• “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct, and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” — Napoleon Hill

• “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

• “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller

• “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” — Aristotle Onassis

• “Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” — Sara Blakely

• “You can’t do it all. You have to give what you’ve got for the day, and leave the rest for tomorrow.” — Beatrice Dixon

• "Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision." — Peter F. Drucker

• "Where do you put the fear when you choose to innovate? The fear is there, but you have to find a place to put it." — Seth Godin

• "Never give up. Today is hard and tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine." — Jack Ma

• "If you can dream it, you can do it." — Walt Disney

• "You never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing." — Dale Carnegie

• "A small business is an amazing way to serve and leave an impact on the world you live in." — Nicole Snow

• "Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it's about trading. Buying and selling." — Anita Roddick

• "Don't worry about being successful, but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow." — Oprah Winfrey

• "Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationship." — Henry Ross Perot

• "Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down." — Charles F. Kettering

• "The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time." — Joe Girard

• "Plan for what is difficult while it is easy. Do what is great while it is small." — Sun Tzu

Small Business Quotes About Customers

• "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." — Maya Angelou

• “You need to spend all of your time and energy on creating something that actually brings value to the people you’re asking for money.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

• “Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time, or we’ll lose them.” — Kevin Stirtz

• “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” — Michael LeBoeuf

• "If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will." — Bob Hooey

• "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." — Bill Gates

• "Listening to your customers deeply, or you will have none." — Bryan Clayton

• "The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just best but legendary." — Sam Walton

• "Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves." — Steve Jobs

• "Great customer service is a critical competitive advantage for a business." — Steve Benson

• "Make the customer the hero of your story." — Ann Handley

Short Small Business Quotes for Instagram

• "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" — Sheryl Sandberg

• “The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation.” — Bob Iger

• “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

• "The best time to support small businesses is always today.” — Gisele Barreto Fetterman

• “Never give up: Great things take time.” — Unknown

• "Make a customer, not a sale." — Katherine Barchetti

• "Don't deliver a product, deliver an experience." — Unknown

• "The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. — Michael Jordan

• "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." — Abraham Lincoln

• "I don't believe in luck, I believe in preparation." — Bobby Knight

• "Luck is what you have leftover after you give 100%." — Langston Coleman

• "The secret of success in any field is redefining what success means to you." — RuPaul

• "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follow." — Steve Jobs

• The secret of getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain

• "Never ever give up! Constant effort is the key to success." — Xavier Davis

• "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." — C.S. Lewis

• "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." — Walt Disney

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