Quotes & Sayings About Business Success

Above all, you want to create something you're proud of. — Richard Branson

When it comes to success in business, an MBA degree is optional. But a GSD, which is only earned by Getting Stuff Done, is required. — Christine Comaford-Lynch

Your personal growth, how you show up, and the ways you lead ultimately determine the success of your business and your life. — David J. Greer

Call the roll in your memory of conspicuously successful [business] giants and, if you know anything about their careers, you will be struck by the fact that almost every one of them encountered inordinate difficulties sufficient to crush all but the gamest of spirits. Edison went hungry many times before he became famous. — B.C. Forbes

In all things preserve integrity; and the consciousness of your own uprightness will alleviate the toil of business, soften the hardness of ill-success and disappointments, and give you a humble confidence before God, when the ingratitude of people, or the iniquity of the times may rob you of other rewards. — Babe Paley

I do think one success of Northern Europe, which the United States came from, was its willingness to accept innovation in business practices like Adam Smith and the whole Enlightenment. It essentially made the merchant class free instead of controlled by the king and aristocracy. That was essential. — James D. Watson

Cookie cutters are for baking, not branding. — David Brier

The key to unlock your entrepreneurial spirit is your imagination. — Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

Elizabeth was counting on Marco to keep cousin Mary occupied until after the board meeting was over. A piece of cheese might catch a mouse, but an afternoon alone with a muscular masseur would ensnare her cousin far more effectively. And afterwards, while Mary lay sated and sleeping upon a massage table, wiser heads could determine the company's future. There were times, Elizabeth thought, when success in business demanded utter ruthlessness. — Barbara Taylor Bradford

Competition is. In every business, no matter how small or how large, someone is just around the corner forever trying to steal your ideas and build his success out of your imagination, struggling after that which you have toiled endless years to secure, striving to outdo you in each and every way. If such a competitor would work as hard to originate as he does to copy, he would much more quickly gain success. — Alice Foote MacDougall

I found every single successful person I've ever spoken to had a turning point. The turning point was when they made a clear, specific unequivocal decision that they were going to achieve success. Some people make that decision at 15 and some people make it at 50, and most people never make it at all. — Brian Tracy

It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life, about living abundantly and successfully. Success in the important departments of life seldom comes naturally, no more naturally than success at anything-a musical instrument, sports, fly-fishing, tennis, golf, business, marriage, parenthood, landscape gardening. But somehow people wait passively for success to come to them, living as other people are living in the unspoken, tacit assumption that other people know how to live successfully. — Earl Nightingale

A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, a bad marriage, etc. — Charlie Munger

If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it makes perfect sense to say that it is the journey that counts, not reaching the destination. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I met my manager when I was 17, when I didn't have enough money to buy a set of guitar strings. There are not very many people who are looking out for you and being in business with you when you're at that stage. And it's not in my nature to think that success as a musician makes you any different from anybody else. — Johnny Marr

There are some key elements to business being a success, and that's a smart visionary and great management behind the people that are going to build it. — Rob Dyrdek

I've often felt there might be more to be gained by studying business failures than business successes. — Warren Buffett

Figure out the WHY you want it and turn it into a desire and then and obsession! — Darren D.O. Connell

Selling is essentially transference of feeling. — Zig Ziglar

What are you doing to serve your customers a little more every day? — John Di Lemme

To be a success in business, be daring, be first, be different. — Kenny Marchant

All you have to do is to make it your business to find out what people want ~ instead of assuming it, instead of telling them.
The one rule that sums up the job to be done ~ the one formula that is fully in harmony with the real world ~ the secret of success is:
Find out what people want and help them get it! — Harry Browne

I believe there are three keys to success. For me it is keeping my priorities in order: It's my faith and my family, and then the business. — Kathy Ireland

Diversity is a very popular business topic today while the negative side of diversity, discrimination, remains a touchy and sensitive topic. Even in organisations which follow the letter of the law in terms of not discriminating against any individuals, it is common for people to show prejudice and bias...Have the courage to stand out from your colleagues by being very open to and comfortable with all kinds of diversity amongst your colleagues and stakeholders. When you sense someone is being ignored or marginalized spend time with them and bring them into discussions encouraging them to speak up as needed. — Nigel Cumberland

The successful entrepreneurs on the free market will be the ones most adept at anticipating future business conditions. Yet, the forecasting can never be perfect, and entrepreneurs will continue to differ in the success of their judgments. If this were not so, no profits or losses would ever be made in business. — Murray Rothbard

There's no "get rich quick." There's no "overnight success."

However, this doesn't mean that when you decide to start a business that you're just starting. You could start making new money tomorrow.

I was fishing with my son and taught him that you can't catch a fish unless your line is in the water. A truth my dad once taught me.
You may have spent years learning a skill or creating a product or service that you just simply haven't thought to monetize. Like leaving a fishing pole on the ground along side the river, but not having your line in the water yet.

All you need to create a new stream of income is to make something consumable and offer it at a price that someone will pay.

If you're not making offers, you're not making money.

Get your line in the water! — Richie Norton

If he was dull as a statesman he was more dull in private life, and it may be imagined that such a woman as his wife would find some difficulty in making his society the source of her happiness. Their marriage, in a point of view regarding business, had been a complete success, - and a success, too, when on the one side, that of Lady Glencora, there had been terrible dangers of shipwreck, and when on his side also there had been some little fears of a mishap. — Anthony Trollope

It's tempting to think that decisions that are not life-and-death are therefore unimportant, and that the little compromises we make don't matter to our bottom line or our spiritual selves. How many of us are tempted, in business, to make a less-than-ethical decision? To appropriate someone else's idea or fudge some numbers? We have to remember that maintaining our ethical and spiritual selves is absolutely linked with achieving the degree of success we're working toward. — Marianne Williamson

You can say anything to anyone, but how you say it will determine how they will react. — John Rampton

I have been where you are now. I have felt the fears and resolved them. I have had the doubts and concerns and found the way forward.
Lift up your head, and step ahead ... — Moutasem Algharati

People think because I've got some success, I've made it, but in my eyes it's like, 'How long has Jay Z been in the business? How many albums has he got?' Not that I'm trying to be Jay Z, but I am trying to be around for a long time. — J. Cole

I knew Quintessentially was a success when my father, who does a lot of business in Beirut, introduced himself to somebody and they said, 'Oh, do you know Ben Elliot? I'd really like to meet him.' I remember him ringing me up, really annoyed. — Ben Elliot

Indomitable perseverance in a business, properly understood, always ensures ultimate success. — Cyrus McCormick

You can't do it better without teamwork. — Ogwo David Emenike

Being generous without keeping score strengthens your spirit, keeps you focused on the people who make your business what it is, and helps breed success. — Brandon Steiner

There is a clear connection between developing the skills and talents of young people, and our economic success as a province. Initiatives like the Make Your Pitch competition and the Ontario Social Impact Voucher help us nurture the next generation of business leaders. We will continue creating an inviting environment for our next generation of entrepreneurs, ensuring they develop the right skills needed to succeed in a globally competitive economy and build the future of Ontario. — Brad Duguid

You can't stay in a Blackberry mindset and become an Apple! — John Di Lemme

Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, fifty books per year, and will guarantee your success. — Brian Tracy

I believe in the value of paranoia. Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left. — Andy Grove

My Christian Louboutins are also one of the secrets to my not-for-profit success. Here's why - and it's something that everyone who manages employees, whether in a for-profit business or a not-for-profit, should keep in mind: A little extravagance goes a long way. — Nancy Lublin

I firmly believe that success lies in the combination of both talent and business savvy, and that the magic comes through partnership between both. — Delphine Arnault

Books proliferate, and occasionally sell in very large numbers, which claim to have found the rule, or small set of rules, which will guarantee business success. But business is far too complicated, far too difficult an activity to distil into a few simple commands ... It is failure rather than success which is the distinguishing feature of corporate life. — Paul Ormerod

If you know what your customers want, the other aspect to know is what are your competitors doing? — Shawn Casemore

We make choices every day about what will inspire us and what we will allow to get us down. — Lisa A. Mininni

Some of the biggest bores I've ever known are men who have been highly successful in business, particularly self-made heads of big companies. Before the first olive has settled into the first martini, they pour the stories of their lives into the nearest and sometimes the remotest ears capturable ... These men have indeed paid the price of success. To rise to the top of a big company often takes a totality of effort, concentration and dedication. Others, too, have to pay part of the price. Wife and children are out of mind even when in sight ... — Malcolm Forbes

Eventually I booked a 2-line role on a show called 'JAG' and slowly the parts got bigger and better. I'm very thankful that I had to appreciate how difficult the business is before I had any kind of success. — Samuel Witwer

I understand how success is judged and calculated in the coaching profession. That's really all I care about. You go about this business a certain way. Everybody has a certain style and opportunities that are presented to them during your career. When it's over, I'll be judged by that. I care more about the people I work with. — Mike McCarthy

An entrepreneurial spirit makes you someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business enterprise, talent or calling to become an agent of change. — Archibald Marwizi

The path to happiness at work starts with a simple decision: You must want to be happy. If you don't commit to being happy at work, you won't be. You won't make the choices that make you happy. You won't take the actions needed to get there. You won't change the things that need to change. — Alexander Kjerulf

If you have time to write a business plan, you have time to prove the model. Just sayin. — Richie Norton

I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like the state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind. — George Bernard Shaw

DOOR MONEY" To focus on door money means one is paying so much attention to the amount of money they are making at the door they do not consider there is much more profit to be made inside a venue. — Carlos Wallace

Successful people never forget what they love to do and are passionate about. They quickly learn to follow their own path and to make the right choices, no matter how crazy or unpopular they might appear to others. Just look at Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who quit studying at a prestigious university to pursue his dreams. — Nigel Cumberland

Modern novels have become part of the do-it-yourself business, and they come in a very small number of standard kits. ( ... ) In this wilderness cries the voice of Patrick White, Australian extraordinary, who has quite other, more austere and indeed prophetic ambitions. ( ... ) (H)is failures are certainly the equivalent, and perhaps the measure, of other men's success. — David Pryce-Jones

IT has to provide both business and technological insight into how they bring success to the company as a whole transparently, holistically, and continually. — Pearl Zhu

Success is a place in time, Don't be late — Julian Pencilliah

Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy, and superb organizational execution. Distrust is the enemy of both. I submit that while high trust won't necessarily rescue a poor strategy, low trust will almost always derail a good one. — Stephen Covey

When I first started doing sketch comedy, I promised myself that if I were ever to have any success in this business, I wouldn't hold back. Why get there and play it safe? — Will Ferrell

Entrepreneurs see the "no diving" sign and back-up to get a running start. — Ryan Lilly

Failure or success in business is primarily not determined by mental capacity but by MENTAL ATTITUDES — Walter Dill Scott

You make the plans - otherwise you will die thinking it is not possible to plan to have time for work, for exercise, for sleep, for relaxation, for recreation, for eating, for entertainment, for love, for family, for spirituality, for friends, for personal reflection, for personal development, for business, for charity all in one life! — Archibald Marwizi

It is far better to have 10,000 Facebook friends who are in the same category or aligned with your values or a common inter- est than 100,000 random robot followers from around the world. — Brian E. Boyd Sr.

We believe that the business system only is the key to success. It's no miracle, only day-to-day work in the appropriate way. — Alexei Mordashov

Make sure you work at a place which gives you opportunities to learn, travel, explore, interact with intellectuals and new work skills. — Abhishek Ratna

Someone who lies for you will also lie to you. The occasional benefit your business may gain from a successful deception or concealment is always outweighed by the encouragement it provides to those willing to risk trust for success. — Michael Josephson

You can't have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you to succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same thing is true about business, especially businesses that deal with people. — Jim Burke

My whole adult life I've worked toward one goal - the success of our business. But I might as well have been chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. What I was looking for, striving for, wasn't really there. Meaning I've been measuring the value of my life all wrong. Then I met you and realized that being a somebody isn't nearly as wonderful as having a somebody. And being somebody to somebody else. — Ally Blake

We really have to, as a country, recognize that school is where people get their identity not just as a scholar, or a future business person, but as a citizen. And we need to make sure that schools set them up for success as citizens. — Benjamin Jealous

The primary rule of business success is loyalty to your employer. That's all right as a theory. What is the matter with loyalty to yourself? — Mark Twain

We're all somebody's prospect; we're all somebody's customer. — Chris Murray

Every morning I look in the mirror and remind myself: "No one owes you sh*t!" In this way, I am never disappointed. Never placing blame. — Brandi L. Bates

Politics, life, and business are not spectator sports. You have to get involved to get ahead. Most importantly, when you reach that level of success, keep the door open and the ladder down for others to follow. — Ron Brown

Many business leaders are seeing the relationship between long term success and sustainability, and that's very heartening. — Jacqueline Novogratz

Fidelity is seven-tenths of business success. — James Parton

Many people are very intelligent in accomplishing worldly attainments. This intelligence is not wisdom because worldly attainments such as a high position, reputation, wealth and success in business are deceptive. If we die tomorrow they will disappear tomorrow, and nothing will be left for our future. Wisdom, however, will never deceive us. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

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

Everybody sells something to somebody every day, whether it's a product, a service or just a case of making sure that they get their own way. — Chris Murray

To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running — Richard Branson

Actors need a kind of aggression, a kind of inner force. Don't be only one-sided, sweet, nice, good. Get rid of being average. Find the killer in you. — Stella Adler

The business man who gains success at the expense of the poor and miserable gains nil respect from his peers. — Clarence H. Burns

It is amazing, the number of business executives and senior leaders who get to be appointed and elevated to positions of authority on the basis of technical competences whilst lacking essential grooming on basic good manners and customs of conduct that must come from the home training process. — Archibald Marwizi

Working together as a team helps build a cohesive organization. — Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

Self-awareness is the key to find our uniqueness. The latter increases our chance to succeed in our personal, career, and business lives... — Assegid Habtewold

With joint-stock corporations, investors can place bets on the success of many different companies, without having to play a central management role in any one of them. This allows investors to diversify their financial holdings. It also allows them to capture profits on their investments, without having to get involved in the dirty, troublesome business of actually running a company. — Jim Stanford

Become a maniac on a mission: How to succeed in any venture or business . — Phillip Gary Smith

Business success isn't just a selfish aim. Profits spread beyond those who make them and bring jobs and prosperity. — Margaret Thatcher

Referrals are the privilege of the opportunity given to you by someone else to potentially do business with someone who wants, needs or desires the products or services you offer — Timothy M. Houston

The precept that location is key to the success of a business applies to art, and even to life itself: we thrive or wither depending on how nourishing our environment is. — Yann Martel

You just plant a few seeds, cultivate the shoots, and watch your career grow and branch out. It takes time and dedication. There are no overnight success stories in the music business! — Christopher Tin

One can always sell something by offering the lowest price. But this does not create loyalty to your brand. Never did and never will. It only creates "loyalty" to that price point. As soon as your guest or visitor is offered a better price, he or she will jump ship, leaving you like a scorned lover in the middle of the night. — David Brier

People of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon and seldom drive business home to it's conclusion, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. — Francis Bacon

Your business should serve specific needs for specific demographics of people. That way, your marketing efforts will be more laser-focused and effective. — Kevin J. Donaldson

Daniel Goleman has proven that two-thirds of the success in business is based upon our Emotional Intelligence as opposed to our IQ or our level of experience. As we look for the next crop of future CEOs, maybe it's time for America's corporations to start interviewing grads from the psychology master's programs rather than the M.B.A. programs. — Chip Conley

I think probably the most difficult challenge was just the climb and rise in show business because I went through my entire twenties with some success as a comedy writer but not much as a performer. And you have to be kind of informed and naive at the same time. — Steve Martin

Being on a board is not just about showing up for the meetings. A board member needs to materially contribute to the success of the business. — Scott Weiss

Not everyone understand everything. — Dee Dee Artner

He wasn't a man who was threatened by a woman's success. He was a man who not only respected it, but was thoroughly turned on by it. Nothing aroused him more than a professional woman with an alpha personality. A woman who was an alpha in business and a sub in bed was beyond sexy. — Suzanne Steele

With every effort, I learned a lot. With every mistake and failure, not only mine, but of those around me, I learned what not to do. I also got to study the success of those I did business with as well. I had more than a healthy dose of fear, and an unlimited amount of hope, and more importantly, no limit on time and effort. — Mark Cuban

Success does not judge one man for being worthy above another. Success doesn't choose you because of your family name or existing wealth. — Chris Murray

I'm an expert in higher level math. You + God = Enough — Zig Ziglar