14 Small Business Quotes to Inspire Your Organisation (2023)

Being part of a small business can be rewarding – but also challenging. We should know: we specialize in marketing for small and mid-sized businesses… And we started as an SMB ourselves.

One way to find inspiration, creativity, and motivation for SMB owners and employees? Reading quotes from people who’ve already “been there and done that”. On this page, we picked 12 we use when ideating new marketing campaigns and growth strategies.

We hope you like these as much as we do! And if you want more concrete help with running and marketing your small business, call on us. We’re happy to offer you a no-strings-attached marketing consultation, worth $1,200, for free.

Before becoming the founder of Virgin Records in the 70s, Richard Branson founded a magazine at age 16. Later, his brand Virgin blossomed from a small business and into one of the world’s biggest corporations.

One reason for Virgin’s success is experimentation. Virgin has been in show business, space travel, and even soft drinks. Branson kept trying new things, looked for new opportunities – and found a whole lot of them. His quote suggests you do the same.

The takeaway here is to stay in the game while looking for new chances to get ahead. It may take a while, but you’ll find new opportunities over time.

For example: TikTok is a new and highly effective social media marketing channel. Advertising there delivers a huge ROAS with a small budget.

Shonda Rhimes has produced some timeless television hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. She recommends that entrepreneurs – inside and outside organizations – set goals and take action instead of just dreaming.

Looking at Shonda’s career, it’s clear she lives what she preaches. The takeaway is to be like her and take consistent action instead of just setting lofty goals.

Want to take immediate action to scale your business, get more clients, and/or make more sales? Jump on a free consultation with Megaphone, Australia’s #1-rated marketing agency, and see how we can grow your business together.

Scott Belsky was friends with lots of creatives. He saw that many of them had a hard time commercialising and selling their ideas. He figured there was a need for a presentation platform for creatives to display their work online.

This is how Scott created Behance: a platform he sold to Adobe for $150 million. Today, Scott is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and investor… And he did it all by helping people take their ideas to people who need them – just like his quote says.

The quote has two layers of meaning. First, make sure to share your ideas with the world like Scott did with Behance. Second, help other people share their ideas and you could stand to benefit yourself.

Pooka Agnihotri, the CMO of Bizadmark LLC, is known for customer-centric marketing and business strategies. Having worked with numerous startups and SMEs, Agnihotri believes that putting customers and the community first is also profitable.

Specifically, Ms. Agnihotri believes that building strong ties with customers helps small business profit. Her quote reminds entrepreneurs that you can’t benefit on your own and need customers – happy ones – to become a successful business.

We believe in this quote and find the customer-first attitude helpful in running a marketing agency that’s a Top 3% Google Partner (and #1-rated in Australia).

Peter Drucker is one of the most influential thinkers in business. He’s a legendary educator and the author of many books used to teach managers worldwide. He often stresses the importance of establishing connections with your clients in order to retain them long-term.

Here, he emphasises establishing and developing relationships with customers as the #1 goal of a business. We have to agree; if you can’t generate leads, turn them into customers, and retain them, your business isn’t going to get very far!

W. Edwards Deming is known for helping rebuild Japan’s economy after World War II. He streamlined management processes and developed principles that helped improve small businesses. Deming came up with ways to improve efficiency with quality control.

Deming’s quote holds a very clear message. Thrilled customers are one of the surest ways to boost sales and profits. This is why quality control and customer satisfaction are so important.

Not only is quality control important in and of itself… It keeps customers happy – which keeps them bringing new business your way over time.

Jack Welch is famous for being the CEO of General Electric from 1981-2001. He was able to transform GE from an appliance and light bulb company into a corporation that provides financial and media services (amongst other things).

The main reason for Welch’s success was an immensely powerful vision of what GE could be. He had a clear vision and was able to communicate it to his staff. He was keen on empowering and motivating staff, i.e. “driving [the vision] to completion” through them.

Welch’s words imply that leaders need a vision, the ability to communicate it, and the energy to drive it forward.

Want some help figuring out a winning, profitable vision for your own business? Trust Megaphone: Australia’s #1-rated marketing agency. We’ll give you a free consultation, worth $1,200, to help market your small or mid-sized business profitably.

Harold S. Geneen is most famous for being the president of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT). At its peak, ITT was one of the world’s leading companies with 375,000 employees and $16.7+ billion in revenue. It remains a multi-billion corporation.

One reason for Geneen’s success is knowing the value of experience. When he took over at ITT, it was a struggling small business. He grew together with the company to turn it into a huge success.

Geneen’s quote stresses the value of experience in business and says that once you have enough of it, the cash will come.

From his experience growing together with his company, money isn’t enough to build a successful business unless you’ve made enough mistakes in your career to know how to fix them.

Dee Hock is the founder and CEO of the Visa Credit Card association. He was able to convince Bank of America to give up ownership and control of their BankAmericard credit card licensing program. He then formed a new company, National BankAmerica, changing its name to Visa In 1976.

Hock’s success is owed to a series of unlikely events and a strong conviction in his vision. In his quote he emphasises that mistakes give you priceless experience that helps you do better. He tells entrepreneurs not to give up because growth comes from missteps.

Brian Chesky co-founded Airbnb and is now the CEO. He was part of the team that rolled out the peer-to-peer and room rental website that operates in 220 countries. His success is partly owed to the fact that he reaches out to experts to seek help for a problem.

Chesky calls this “going to the source”. He stresses that it’s important to get help when you need it and to spend money to make money. His quote reminds SMB owners and employees to stop trying to do everything themselves.

Getting help means you get to where you want to be much faster than if you’re struggling through it all on your own. You can’t be an expert in everything.

Want to scale your business with qualified help from Australia’s best online marketers? Click the image below. We’ll give you a no-strings-attached consultation, worth $1,200, to help you figure out strategies like Google advertising and lead generation profitably.

Andy Grove was the CEO of Intel Corporation. He was Intel’s most successful CEO because he believed in constantly looking for change and improvement.

The paranoia that Grove refers to is about continuously testing new products, techniques, sales channels and customers in order to be ready for any changes the business landscape may bring. He called these “Strategic Inflection Points.”

Grove is known for his flexibility and swift decision-making for Intel. In his quote he tells entrepreneurs that for a business to be successful, it has to adapt quickly.

Methods, focus and values need to change swiftly and transformation needs to happen together with the business landscape. Being flexible and adapting to change is what results in success.

Elon Musk, the controversial CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is the richest person in modern history. His incredible achievement came after Hertz ordered 100,000 Tesla vehicles and its market capitalisation passed 1 trillion USD in late September.

Musk’s success comes from his thirst for knowledge and his clear vision. He believes that if you truly believe something is possible, you can make it happen, no matter how many people try to bring you down.

Elon Musk is known for his sense of purpose and going against all odds to make things happen. He trusted his gut feeling in most of his decisions and achieved great success.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, was one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. His ability to innovate helped him design products that attracted immense demand from consumers.

His quote is a very obvious message to entrepreneurs that success doesn’t come overnight and that challenges will arise along the way. Steve Jobs’ path was full of obstacles and challenges, but he always stood up for what he believed.

Even the failure of the Apple III computer didn’t stop him. Jobs emphasised the importance of never giving up. So if you’re going through a tough spot right now, don’t worry about it; it’s par for the course.

Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, revolutionised the motor industry. To meet the overwhelming demand for “Ford” vehicles, he introduced new mass-production methods like:

Ford believed that sometimes, the only thing holding us back is ourselves. He stresses the importance of having a positive-mentality and encourages entrepreneurs to stop doubting themselves. Ford tried to keep negative thoughts away and made revolutionary decisions he believed in.

In Summary

Now you have a quality selection of quotes to inspire and motivate your team. Want more concrete advice from proven experts? Click below to get a free consultation, worth $1,200, from Megaphone: Australia’s #1-rated marketing agency.