60 Inspirational Quotes for Start-Up Entrepreneurs

This list of quotes has been curated with the hope of inspiring different ways to approach your business. Whether it’s managing staff, sourcing products, maximising a marketing budget or one of the many challenges you will face as a business owner, you will sometimes need a shift in your thinking.

I have found that going over this list of quotes every now and again, I can always get something new from them depending on how I’m feeling and what Challenge I’m facing.

Hopefully, it can serve you in the same positive way

1. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”  – Michael Jordan

2. “I wake up every morning and think to myself, ‘How far can I push this company in the next 24 hours.” – Leah Busque

3. “If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” – Michele Ruiz

4. “The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s what you’re made of. Not the circumstances.” – Unknown

5. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller

6. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”  – Vincent Van Gogh

7. “Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure.”  – Stanley McChrystal

8. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz

9. “If you believe it’ll work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you don’t believe it’ll work out, you’ll see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer

10. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” –  Michael Altshuler

11. “Work hard in silence, let your success be the noise.”  – Frank Ocean

12. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” –  Malala Yousafzai

13. “The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson

14. “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” –  Mandy Hale​​

15. “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

16. “I’m not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn’t open for me. I’m going to create my own door and walk through that.” – Ava DuVernay

17. “Unsuccessful people make their decisions based on their current situations. Successful people make their decisions based on where they want to be.” – Benjamin Hardy

18. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” –  Aristotle

19. “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.”  – Mother Teresa

20. “Weaknesses are just strengths in the wrong environment.” –  Marianne Cantwell

21. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou

22. “Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried but you’ve actually been planted.”  – Christine Caine

23. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”  – Arthur Ashe

24. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

25. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

26. “Every champion was once a contender that didn’t give up.” – Gabby Douglas

27. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”  – Muhammad Ali

28. “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn

29. “If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.”  – Buddha

30. “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

31. “​​Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madam C J Walker

32. “I never lose. Either I win or learn.” – Nelson Mandela

33. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss

34. “You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

35. “Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.” – Helen Keller

36. “Sunshine all the time makes a desert.” – Arabic proverb

37. “I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” – Louise Hay

38. “I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.” – Wayne W. Dyer

39. “The world is full of nice people. If you can’t find one, be one.” – Nishan Panwar

40. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

41. “Done is better than perfect.” – Sheryl Sandberg

42. “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.” – Richard Branson

43. “I always thought it was me against the world and then one day I realised it’s just me against me.” – Kendrick Lamar

44. “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” – Paulo Coelho

45. “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.” – Dhirubhai Ambani

46. “Do the right thing even when no one is looking.” – Unknown

47. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson

48. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realise I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

49. “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell

50. “You can’t have a million dollar dream on a minimum wage work ethic.” – Unknown

51. “Wealth isn’t about having a lot of money, it’s about having a lot of options.” – Chris Rock

52. “There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” – Derek Jeter

53. “Always be careful when you follow the masses. Sometimes the “m” is silent.” – Unknown

54. “A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.”  – Unknown

55. “The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

56. “You can control two things: your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” – Ali Krieger

57. “If you can’t make a mistake you can’t make anything.” – Marva Collin

58. “Practice makes progress, not perfect.” – Unknown

59. “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” – Lemony Snicket

60. “Forget your excuses. You either want it bad or don’t want it at all.” – Unknown

We hope that you have t least found one out of these 60 inspirational quotes for start-up entrepreneurs that resonates with the passion inside. The most important thing to take away is keep going….no matter how slow or how small the steps keep going.

Do you have any quotes that you would add to thi slist of 60 Inspirational Quotes for Start-Up Entrepreneurs?