64 Inspirational Business Quotes for Positive & Uplifting Motivation

I was looking all over the internet for business motivational quotes and I couldn’t find any…so this post came to life!

As you know, starting a business is not easy and being successful is even more difficult.

Many of us have dreams of business, entrepreneurship and financial freedom but the road to get there can be arduous, and will surely test every part of you.

Still, it’s a journey worth taking and a goal worth fighting for.

We only live once, and if you’re up for it…let’s see what you’re capable of in the business world.

Here are some common yet necessary questions you must ask yourself at the start of your business journey:

Why is a business so important to you in the first place?

What need can you meet?

What are you already really good at?

What excites you?

What does the world need more of?

To inspire you towards achieving your own success, below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking business motivational quotes, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

We hope you enjoy these motivational business quotes that can serve as daily mantras for perseverance, vision and faith!

For more inspiration, don’t forget to also read our collection of quotes about marketing to boost your business.

Business motivational  quotes to inspire success

1. “It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business.” – Mahatma Gandhi

2. “Carpe per diem – seize the check.” – Robin Williams

3. “See things in the present, even if they are in the future.” — Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle

4. “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel (see more Coco Chanel quotes)

5. “Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.” – Henry Ford

6. “There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” – Seth Godin

7. “My own business always bores me to death; I prefer other people’s.” – Oscar Wilde

8. “For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” – Zig Ziglar

Motivational business quotes to help you think big and execute bigger!

9. “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” – Jack Welch

10. “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.” – Zig Ziglar

11. “You don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea.” — Larry Page, co-founder of Google

12. “Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.”― Louisa May Alcott

13. “Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not.” — Michael Dell

Also check out these powerful sales quotes for landing your next big sale.

Business motivational quotes you should know

14. “And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.” – Andrew Carnegie

15. “In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably a hallucination.” — Steve Case, co-founder of AOL

16. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

If you’re enjoying these quotes, read our collection of Henry Ford quotes from one of America’s greatest pioneers.

17. “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” – Norman Schwarzkopf

18. “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter F. Drucker

19. “A person who is quietly confident makes the best leader.” — Fred Wilson

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of quotes by famous people to hear ideas from some of pop cultures current stars.

Motivational business quotes for entrepreneurs

20. “If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.” – B. C. Forbes

21. “Talent can be hired, money has to be earned. ” – Vishnu

22. “To succeed in business it is necessary to make others see things as you see them.” – John H. Patterson

23. “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” — Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks

24. “Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work.” – Earl Nightingale

25. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” – Steve Jobs

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of innovation quotes that will inspire you to find new successes by trying new things.

Business motivational quotes to inspire you

26. “Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.” – Sigmund Freud

27. “Every problem is a gift — without problems we would not grow.” – Anthony Robbins

28. “The essence of a successful business is really quite simple. It is your ability to offer a product or service that people will pay for at a price sufficiently above your costs, ideally three or four or five times your cost, thereby giving you a profit that enables you to buy and to offer more products and services.” ― Brian Tracy

Business motivational quotes to inspire your next idea

29. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of motivational quotes for employees about the power of a great team.

30. “Good brands reflect the histories of the time and the group of people that made them. They can not be copied. They can not be recycled.” ― Richard Branson

31. “It’s very easy to be different but very difficult to be better.” – Jonathan Ive

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of Grant Cardone quotes from his books and presentations.

Business motivational quotes to boost you

32. “The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first.” – Sergey Brin

33. “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” ― Peter F. Drucker

Business motivational quotes that will aid you today

34. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney

35. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” – Richard Branson

36. “Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki

37. “Every problem is a gift—without problems, we would not grow.” – Anthony Robbins

38. “Creative without strategy is called art. Creative with strategy is called advertising.” – Jeff I. Richards

39. “You only have to do a few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett

40. “Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them.” – Seth Godin

41. “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anaïs Nin

42. “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” — Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn

43. “I don’t know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it.” – Susan Butcher

44. “Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” — Jack Dorsey

Don’t forget to also read out the handpicked collection of Monday motivation quotes to start your week off on the right track.

Business motivational quotes to make your workday

45. “Always deliver more than expected.” — Larry Page, co-founder of Google

46. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” — Bill Gates

47. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”— Colin R. Davis

48. “Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.”— Tony Hsieh

49. “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” — Anthony Volodkin, founder of Hype Machine

50. “Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” — Golda Meir

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

52. “Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”— Robert Kiyosaki

53. “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” — Thomas Edison

54. “Outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission.” – Zig Ziglar

If you’re enjoying this article, make sure to also check out these achievement quotes to motivate you for massive success.

More business motivational quotes and sayings

55. “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar

56. “You become what you think about.” – Napoleon Hill

57. “Where we fall are the stepping-stones for our journey.” – Lolly Daskal

58. “Success seems to be connected to action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

59. “A business becomes successful when it becomes mutually beneficial for you and your customers.” – Pooja Agnihotri

60. “The beauty of the business is, you don’t need to think about the eligibility.” – Zahirul M Islam

61. “The continuation of success depends on greediness, patience, and dissatisfaction.” – Dhirendra Pandey

62. “Great experience is made up of challenges.” – Aniekee Tochukwu Ezekiel

63. “If everything is a priority, nothing is.” – Yuri van der Sluis

64. “The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” – Peter Drucker

Thought-provoking business motivational quotes

65. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

66. “In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” – Harold S. Geneen

67. “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.” – Thomas A. Edison

68. “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” – Jack Welch

69. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” – Henry Ford

70. “Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.” – Robert H. Schuller

71. “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” – Tom Brokaw

72. “All lasting business is built on friendship.” – Alfred A. Montapert

73. “Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can’t miss.” – Lee Iacocca

74. “Word of mouth is the best medium of all.” – William Bernbach

75. “Great companies are built on great products.” – Elon Musk

Encouraging business motivational quotes

76.  “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.” – Lisa Stone

77. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” – Scott Belsky

78. “There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” – Jason Fried

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

80. “Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.” – Tony Hsieh

81. “It’s more effective to do something valuable than to hope a logo or name will say it for you.” – Jason Cohen

82. “Don’t worry about funding if you don’t need it. Today it’s cheaper to start a business than ever.” – Noah Everett

83.  – “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

84. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

85. “Someday is not a day of the week.” – Janet Dailey

86. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

Make sure to also check out these motivational quotes of the day for daily rejuvenation.

Which of these business motivational quotes was your favorite?

There’s nothing more refreshing than reading inspirational quotes from business leaders to help you keep moving forward.

We hope the motivational business quotes above will help you think big and execute bigger!

Remember, everyone must start somewhere, and the hardest part is commitment. But in the end, once success is achieved, you’ll be overjoyed that you committed to yourself and your dream to succeed.

Did you enjoy these business motivational quotes? Which of the quotes was your favorite? Let us know in the comment section below.