Motivation
70+ Phrases for entrepreneurs that inspire the desire to succeed
Success doesn’t happen overnight. You must use each day as an opportunity to reach your potential and improve. Here’s a list of our favourite entrepreneurial success quotes to start your day.

Phrases for entrepreneurs often serve as a balm to face the daily difficulties of entrepreneurship. Starting your business is like planting a small tree.
First, you must invest your time and money. So, you should take care of it without expecting anything in return. But when it flourishes like in business, it makes all the patience and hard work worth it.
However, like suckers, many startups don’t grow, and many die within one to three years after launch. While there are many factors that lead to startup failure, one of the main reasons is the lack of expert advice that the founders receive.
The experience and mentoring of an experienced entrepreneur are invaluable. And no matter how many theoretical models you study, you just can’t replace the experience they got from doing the job, failing, and succeeding.
Here is a myriad of phrasebook tips for seasoned entrepreneurs to help you move your business in the right direction and stay motivated when you need it most. Remember that the path is not as simple as it seems.
And as we already know that starting a business is not easy. And not only in a practical or financial way, but also emotionally. That is why these phrases for entrepreneurs are so valuable.
Each one of these phrases for entrepreneurs is a mouthful of wisdom, capable of injecting that much-needed blow of inspiration, encouragement and motivation.
So when you’re exhausted, frustrated, anxious, worried or just freaking out, read these motivational business quotes.
But don’t just scan these entrepreneurial phrases. Try to think about how each of them can be applied to your business.
Read. Understand. Reflect. Apply.
Well, let’s get the best phrases for entrepreneurs!
The best phrases for entrepreneurs of all time:
These entrepreneurial phrases are a change of face. Get ready for some inspiration and action-packed tips.
“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” – Socrates, father of Western philosophy.
2. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States.
3. “Don’t take too much advice. Most people with a lot of advice to give, with a few exceptions, generalize what they did. Don’t over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of overthinking. Just build things and find out if they work. ” – Ben Silbermann, founder of Pinterest.
4. “Be undoubtedly good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that. ” – Anthony Volodkin, founder of Hype Machine.
5. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone else, know your customer and have a burning desire to succeed. ” – Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s.
Here you could not miss a phrase from the richest man in the world.
6. “If you can’t feed a team two pizzas, it’s too big.” – Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.
7. “If people like you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they will do business with you.” – Zig Ziglar, author, salesperson, and motivational speaker.
8. If you are not ashamed of the first version of your product, you have launched it too late. – Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
9. “The stars will never align, and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe is not conspiring against you, but it is not doing its best to align the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. The lists for and against are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it ‘eventually’, just go ahead and correct the course along the way. ” – Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek.
Tim Ferriss’ entrepreneurial phrases are always very precise.
“Make every detail perfect and limit the amount of detail to perfect it.” – Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter.
11. “Your work is going to take up a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you think is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. ” – Steve Jobs, co-founder, president and CEO of Apple Inc.
12. “Your most disgruntled customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.
Do these phrases for entrepreneurs already inspire you? Not? Then keep reading …
13. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas come true. ” – Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance.
14. “There is nothing wrong with staying small. You can do great things with a small team ”. – Jason Fried, founder of 37signals and co-author of Rework.
15. “The fastest way to change is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.” – Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
16. “Pursue the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.
17. The most dangerous poison is the feeling of accomplishment. The antidote is to think every night what can be done better tomorrow. – Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA.
18. “Money is like gasoline on a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on the trip, but you’re not taking a tour of the gas stations. ” – Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media.
19. “Get big in silence, so you don’t alert potential competitors.” – Chris Dixon, an investor at Andreessen Horowitz.
Entrepreneurial phrases like these really hit the mark.
“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs, co-founder, president and CEO of Apple Inc.
21. “Character cannot develop easily and quietly. Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, inspire ambition and achieve success ”. – Helen Keller, American author, political activist and lecturer.
22. “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.” – Paul Rand, graphic designer.
23. “The last 10% it takes to launch something requires as much energy as the first 90%.” – Rob Kalin, founder of Etsy.
24. “The best startups usually come from someone who needs to scratch an itch.” – Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch.
25. “Some people dream of success, while others get up every morning and make it happen.” Wayne Huizenga, prolific American businessman, owner of Blockbuster Video and the Miami Dolphins.
26. “Ideas are easy. Implementation is difficult ”. – Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur and co-founder of Alltop.
27. Every day we go without improving our products was a wasted day. – Joel Spolsky, Co-Founder of Stack Overflo.
These inspirational quotes for entrepreneurs have some good advice.
Inspirational phrases for entrepreneurs
28. “Everything that is measured and observed improves.” – Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy.
29. “Stay self-financed as long as possible.” – Garrett Camp, founder of Expa, Uber and StumbleUpon.
“Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see a lot of other people making money with them.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.
31. “Time, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter.
32. “Human beings have an innate internal drive to be autonomous, self-determined and connected to each other. And when that momentum is released, people achieve more and live richer lives. ” – Daniel Pink, author.
33. “Fortunes are built during the bear market and are collected in the luxury market.” – Jason Calacanis, founder of LAUNCH Ticker.
34. “It is more effective to do something valuable than to wait for a logo or name to say it for you.” – Jason Cohen, founder of Smartbear Software.
Business phrases like these surely push you to make decisions.
35. “No more romanticism about how great it is to be an entrepreneur. It is a fight to save the life of your company, and your own skin, every day of the week ”. – Spencer Fry, Co-Founder of CarbonMade.
36. “You can’t do anything viral, but you can do something good.” – Peter Shankman, founder of HARO.
37. “Don’t worry about funding, you don’t need it. Today it is cheaper to start a business than ever ”. – Noah Everett, founder of Twitpic.
38. “Data exceed emotions.” – Sean Rad, founder of Tinder.
39. “See things in the present, even if they are in the future.” – Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle.
“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
41. “All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should create companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA.” – Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
42. “In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably a hallucination.” – Steve Case, co-founder of AOL.
43. Get out of the story that is holding you back. Enter the new story that you are willing to create. – Oprah Winfrey, Media Owner.
44. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy is, if you’re playing a solo game, you will always lose to a team.” – Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
45. “Don’t be arrogant. Don’t be flashy. There is always someone better than you ”. – Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.
These phrases for entrepreneurs can be forceful, but they are quite accurate.
46. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially at first, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely do different things from everyone else. ” – Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX.
47. “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States.
48. “You risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical. ” – Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks.
Entrepreneurial and inspiring phrases about life.
Let’s continue our list with some of the top inspirational quotes for entrepreneurs about the life they lead. Every once in awhile, we all need to hear about the bright side of life and the potential we have to offer.
These entrepreneur quotes will help you strengthen yourself to be successful.
49. “Life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll, author, educator, and radio preacher.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney, founder of Disney Brother Studio and Disneyland.
51. “As difficult as life may seem, there is always something you can do and be successful.” – Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author.
52. “When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say ‘wow, that was an adventure’, not ‘wow, I sure felt safe’ .” – Tom Preston-Werner, co-founder of Github.
53. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will take you where you want to go, no one else. – Les Brown, American motivational speaker, author, and former politician.
54. “The greatest adventure you can take is living the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey, Media Owner.
55. “You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” – CS Lewis, British writer.
There is something poignant about these enterprising quotes about life.
56. “Don’t let memories of your past limit the potential of your future. There are no limits to what you can accomplish in your journey through life, except in your mind. – Roy T. Bennett, author.
57. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – Oprah Winfrey, Media Owner.
58. “Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ” – George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright.
59. “A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin, English naturalist, geologist and biologist.
“Education costs money. But so does ignorance.” – Sir Claus Moser, British statistician.
61. “The greatest adventure you can take is living the life of your dreams.” – Michael Jordan, former American professional basketball player.
Phrases for entrepreneurs about success
Success doesn’t happen overnight. You must use each day as an opportunity to reach your potential and improve. Here’s a list of our favourite entrepreneurial success quotes to start your day.
Entrepreneurial phrases:
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to seek it.” – Henry David Thoreau, essayist, poet and philosopher.
63. “People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to fall into a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. ” – Tony Robbins, business and life strategist and author.
64. “Do you want me to give you a formula for success? It’s actually pretty simple: double your failure rate. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it is not at all. Failure can discourage you or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Do everything you can, because remember that is where you will find success. ” – Thomas J. Watson, second president of IBM, political figure and philanthropist.
Phrases for entrepreneurs:
65. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: what counts is the courage to continue.” – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II.
66. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: what counts is the courage to continue. – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II.
67. “Today’s achievements were yesterday’s impossibilities.” – Robert H. Schuller, American motivational speaker.
68. “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it was easier; wish you were better. ” – Jim Rohn, philosopher.
When you’re struggling, entrepreneurial phrases like these can really make a difference.
69. “A successful man is one who can establish a firm foundation with the bricks that others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley, NBC and ABC news anchor.
“Success seems to be largely a matter of holding on after others have let go.” – William Feather, American editor and author.
71. “Try not to become a successful man. Rather, become a man of value ”. – Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist.
72. “It doesn’t make sense for people to think that at 18, 22, 30 they should have their whole life figured out, when“ solving everything ”is a lifelong game”. – Gary Vaynerchuk.
73. “If you really look closely, most of the overnight hits took a long time.” – Steve Jobs, co-founder, president and CEO of Apple Inc.
74. “Success seems to be related to action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t give up ”. – Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotels chain.
Finally, sometimes all you need to get through tough times is a little motivation and a lot of advice. So reach out to the mentors in your life and keep some of these entrepreneurial phrases very present.
Okay, there are many phrases for entrepreneurs!
If you haven’t already, be sure to save this article now and read it again, to build better habits, whenever you need a hit of inspiration or motivation.
Now that you’re very inspired, it’s time to put all of this animation to work when setting up your next business.
After all, as many of these phrases made clear, there is nothing better than taking action to achieve success.
Ah! Another thing:
Did you notice some of the recurring themes throughout these phrases for entrepreneurs? Things like:
- Work hard.
- Believe in yourself.
- Focus on quality.
So, which of these phrases marked you and stood out the most for you?