Being an entrepreneur is becoming a more and more popular career path. We hear various success stories on a daily basis; yet another young person came up with a business idea that will make them a lot of money until they retire. What we don’t often hear about are stories about businesses that never grow, even though those are a lot more common. When you decide to start a business, you have to be prepared for bumps in the road but it’s not always easy to stay positive if you face one obstacle after another. Luckily, you can turn to famous entrepreneurs for inspiration. Have a look at the top entrepreneurship quotes that will motivate you even if things aren’t going well:

1. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” - Drew Houston, co-founder of Dropbox

Being an entrepreneur might seem like a glamorous job – you get to be your own boss and might make a lot more money than if you worked for someone else. However, not many people realize what it takes to be successful in the first place and that you have to fail before you can succeed, which is especially true for those who want to set up their own business. While failure is considered to be something negative and even evidence that you’re not good at what you do, it’s important to see it as a valuable lesson and one step closer to your goals. When it comes to being an entrepreneur, the risk is high but the reward can be great; if you learn from your mistakes and set your mind on improving, you’ll eventually succeed. And the good news is that you only have to be right once. Whenever you feel defeated because you’re not seeing the results you expected, remember that failure is a part of growth and that the more you persist, the more likely you are to be successful.

2. “In carrying out e-commerce, the most important thing is to keep doing what you are doing right now with passion, to keep it up.” – Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba group

This entrepreneur quote reminds us that while hard work is important, the secret ingredient that will allow you to succeed is passion. If you work towards a goal but the motivation behind it is money or being considered successful, sooner or later you might burn out. And even if you eventually succeed, you might end up feeling quite empty in the end. Passion is what keeps you going when you face obstacles and what drives you to improve when you feel like you’re not making any progress. If you’re just beginning your entrepreneurship journey, ask yourself what you’re hoping to achieve and why. Do you have an idea you want to share with other people, a need to create or is it something else? If you’re unsure if entrepreneurship is the right path for you, you can always write down your core values and see if your goals align with them. This quote is by Jack Ma, one of the wealthiest and the most influential Chinese businessmen, so you can trust that he knows what he’s talking about. Whatever you do, remember to do it with passion.

3. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” - Walt Disney

A lot of people like the idea of achieving a goal but don’t enjoy the process, which is why they tend to postpone work. Others might be afraid of failure and fantasize about growing their businesses but never give it a go. However, the only way you can truly fail is when you decide not to go after what you want. Even though Walt Disney’s work is dedicated primarily to children, his words continue to inspire many adults all over the world. This entrepreneur quote is a reminder not to overthink things; your business might succeed or it might not but you’ll never know unless you try. If you’re struggling to start working on your idea, write down your goals and break them down into smaller segments – this way the list will seem less intimidating and overwhelming. Then it’s time to start doing!

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4. “There’s a silly notion that failure’s not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” - Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX

And in case you needed another reminder that failure isn’t as scary as it seems, here’s an entrepreneurship quote from Elon Musk which is both comforting and motivating. Nobody is perfect and even the most successful entrepreneurs started from zero and struggled to make their ideas work at first. For example, Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, had his chicken recipe rejected 1000 times and now has franchises all over the world. Similarly, Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California but is now an award-winning director who is a great believer that failure is inevitable. And he’s right; a good rule of thumb is to assume that for every 100 rejections, there will be one acceptance, which means that you have to aim to fail at least that many times before you can start succeeding. Additionally, failure allows you to grow as both a person and an entrepreneur. As soon as you learn to embrace failure, you’re ready to become an entrepreneur.

5. "If we tried to think of a good idea, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a good idea. You just have to find the solution for a problem in your own life." – Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb

Do you ever fantasize about coming up with a great idea that will result in a significant profit? While there’s nothing wrong with aiming for financial success, it might not be the smartest approach. As this inspiring quote tells us, simply thinking of a good idea isn’t enough; there has to be a purpose behind your work. In other words, you have to find a problem in your life and consider how you can improve it or identify other people’s needs and think of how you can fulfil them. The author of this entrepreneur quote, Brian Chesky, was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2015 and is a co-founder of Airbnb. He came up with the idea after he rented out his place for a design conference because all hotels were fully booked. Daily life can inspire you as long as you pay attention to what’s going on and know how to use it.

6. "Selling is not a pushy, winner-takes-all, macho act. It is an empathy-led, process-driven, and knowledge-intensive discipline. Because, in the end, people buy from people." - Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mindtree

Selling is a skill – it’s not enough to come up with a product and simply tell people to buy it because chances are, there are already other similar products on the market that might be already fulfilling their needs. Instead of simply trying to pitch something, it’s important to evoke emotions in a buyer and show them that you understand their desires. People are more likely to buy something if they have an emotional connection with the seller and what they’re trying to sell. While working on your project, remember that marketing is half of the success and you need to learn how to sell the idea well, no matter how innovative the product might be. Similarly, never think of customers as just a group of people – make sure that you understand that everyone is their own person and treat them as such.

7. "Your ability to attract, evaluate, and forge strong working relationships with co-founders, early employees, and investors often mean the difference between failure and success." -Clara Shih, co-founder of Hearsay Systems

Have you ever heard the saying, it’s not what you know but who you know? This is one of the messages behind this entrepreneur quote. Knowing the right people can get you in the right places and possibly speed up your success if you know how to play the cards right. And as you’ve learned from the quote above, people skills are extremely important in the entrepreneurship world, especially the ability to talk to customers and maintain business relationships. If you’re willing to build meaningful connections and people are drawn to you, you’re already halfway there.

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8. "Five days a week, I read my goals before I go to sleep and when I wake up. There are 10 goals around health, family and business with expiration dates, and I update them every six months." - Daymond John, founder of FUBU

It's not enough to just set your goals, it’s also important to be smart about the way you do. According to this inspiring quote, you should clarify your ideas, make changes where necessary and choose a target date that will motivate you to be productive. If you use your time and resources effectively, you can be sure that you’ve done everything you could to help your business gain traction. It’s also a good idea to have your goals at the back of your mind all the time – reading them out loud in the morning and before going to bed will help you stay motivated and inspire you to work harder even when you’re having a bad day. Not every business will succeed but with the right mindset you can always start new and work on a different idea.

9. “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” - Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Being an entrepreneur is more than just setting up a business, then collecting the reward and moving on to something else as soon as you consider yourself successful. If you want to truly succeed, you have to constantly grow your idea and tweak your approach as you go to make sure it still fulfils its role. And the better you are at doing it, the more likely it is that your business will benefit new generations, just like a tree that was planted a long time ago but will continue to shield people from the sun for years to come. This inspiring quote tells us that in the entrepreneurship world, success isn’t a one-off and if you want to be good at it, you have to be prepared for a long-term journey.

10. “I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition.” - Larry Page, co-founder of Google

Being an entrepreneur is often about being bold. If you have faith that your idea will work out, you don’t have to worry about how unrealistic people think it is because the more unrealistic it is, the less likely it is that others will be crazy enough to do the same. The market is extremely competitive and if you can come up with something that makes people roll their eyes because of how unbelievable it sounds, you might actually have a higher chance to succeed than if you had everyone’s support. The takeaway message from this entrepreneur quote is that you should believe in yourself even when no one else does and go after your dream no matter how crazy it seems. 

11. “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” - Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich

According to this entrepreneurship quote, a good businessman or woman knows that continuous effort can get them places, even if they have to face many obstacles along the way. It’s okay not to be at your best all the time but it’s also a good idea to follow the ‘zero days’ approach that requires you to do one productive thing a day, even if it’s just making a list of goals for the upcoming week. This will help you develop discipline, which is very important when it comes to growing your business.