Thinking about starting a business someday soon? Here are a few quotes that will help inspire and motivate you to move forward without delay.
1. “Your legacy is being written by yourself. Make the right decisions.”
Picture, years from now, someone else recounting your story. What do you want people to remember you by? More likely than not, you want people to remember your best qualities. This means, in life, you have to do the best you can to make the right decisions. Not the easy ones, not always the ones you want, but the right ones.
2. “There is never a bad time to start a business – unless you want to start a mediocre one.”
Have you been putting off starting a business, for some reason? Perhaps your excuse is that it’s “just not the right time.” There is another question you need to ask yourself here: if not now, when? There is never a right or wrong time, if you want to start something worthwhile. Here is how you can start a business even when you do not have a lot of money to spend on one.
3. “People are chasing cash, not happiness. When you chase money, you’re going to lose. You’re just going to. Even if you get the money, you’re not going to be happy.”
If you are going to do something, do it because it is your mission or your passion, not because of the money. You may never make as much money as you want to, and you may make millions. However, more money is not going to bring you more happiness. Doing what you want to do, what you love, is where happiness and career collide.
4. “The reason we love our parents is because they loved us first. Every single company should take this advice.”
You have to be able to showcase to your employees, customers and brand that you care about them. You care about their growth and are willing to support them no matter what, and your passion and dedication will pay off. It will help you love what you do, and that love will spread.
5. “Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what do I want to do everyday for the rest of my life … do that.”
Start a business you love. There is a career out there that you are meant for. If it does not already exist, you are going to have to build it for yourself. As long as it is something you love, as long as it is something you want to wake up every single morning and spend all your time on, you will find a way to make it happen, and it will be worth it.
6. “Time – the one asset none of us are ever gonna get more of.”
There are a lot of things in life we can get more of if we work hard enough or ask often and persistently enough, but time is not one of them. Instead of constantly wishing you had more of it, learn how to more effectively manage your time, because no matter how much we might wish we had more hours in the day, we never will.
7. “Stop doing things that waste time. Don’t replace time with your family or things that you need to do.”
When we say we wish we had more hours in the day, we are mostly ignoring the fact that, the majority of the time, we are wasting a lot of time doing absolutely nothing of value. It isn’t about replacing time with other things: it’s about eliminating the things we spend too much valuable time on.
8. “When it all comes down to it, nothing trumps execution.”
You can come up with as many great ideas and construct as many strategic plans as you want to. But if you do not follow through with any of it, if you do not actually do anything with those ideas or carry out those plans, it means nothing. Entrepreneurship is all about doing, not saying what you are going to do.
9. “No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story.”
Storytelling is an essential part of running a successful business. Everyone wants to know what led to a great company making an impact on the world. Being the founder of a company, your story will automatically, in some way, be a part of your business’s story. Keep that connection strong.
10. “You didn’t grow up driving … you figured it out.”
So you don’t know how to start a business, do you? The majority of aspiring entrepreneurs don’t. Is that really going to be enough to stop you from moving forward anyway? Hopefully not. After all, you didn’t know how to drive the first time you got behind the wheel. The best way to learn how to start a business is to start one.
11. “You need to spend all of your time and energy on creating something that actually brings value to the people you’re asking for money.”
If you are going to create something, put your audience first. Remember that you aren’t going to make a single cent if no one needs or wants the product or service you would be selling. Make sure anything you offer brings value to whomever you are offering it to, or your business will never take off.
12. “Word of mouth works now, much more than ever. Reply to every single person.”
Networking is much different now than it used to be. The majority of connecting with other professionals, organizations and potential customers can be done online through mediums like social media and even still email. Spread the word about what you are doing. Communicate one on one with people. These are the kinds of things partners and customers remember.
Your business has the potential to make it big. You need to not only have a good idea, but you also need to have passion and willpower. Whatever your excuses, turn away from them. Your time is now.