Success Mentality: What Small Businesses Can Learn from Some of the World’s Most Notable Entrepreneurs

If you’re looking for success and longevity in your business, whether you have just the spark of an idea or you’re already in the thick of things, where better to look for inspiration and advice than some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time? Below are some nuggets of truth, insight, and motivation to get started and keep going. As Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said, “There’s no better time than now to get going.”

On Believing in Your Vision

“Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.” Or, as Walt Disney famously said, “If you dream it, you can do it.”

On Starting a Business

“The best businesses come from people’s bad personal experiences,” investor and philanthropist Richard Branson has said. “If you just keep your eyes open, you’re going to find something that frustrates you, and then you think, ‘well I could maybe do it better than it’s being done,’ and there you have a business.” But Arianna Huffington, bestselling author and co-founder of the Huffington Post warns that passion needs to accompany the idea in order to sustain a business. “If you’re going to start a business, you need to really love it, because not everybody is going to love it,” she has said. “When you really believe in your product, you are willing to deal with all the naysayers and persevere.”

On Not Becoming Complacent

Mark Cuban, investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, advises against idleness. “You need to turn over every rock and open every door to learn your industry. This process never ends.” In the same vein, Michael Dell, owner of Dell Computing, warns against a set-it-and-forget-it attitude. “There are a lot of things that go into creating success. I don’t like to do just the things I like to do. I like to do things that cause the company to succeed. I don’t spend a lot of time doing my favorite activities.”

On Failure

“It’s fine to celebrate success, but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure,” says Bill Gates. “How a company deals with mistakes suggests how well it will bring out the best ideas and talents of its people, and how effectively it will respond to change.” Mark Cuban agrees. “It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them.”

On Listening to Customer Demand

“If our customers say ‘Jack you should build more warehouses’, we build warehouses,” says Alibaba founder Jack Ma. “We do it not because there is money; we do it because it is necessary.” Richard Branson echoes this sentiment when reflecting on his Virgin Hotels. “Your education really begins on the day that you open the doors to customers.” He went on to add, “You can never have enough feedback and you can never stop learning.”

On Taking it to the Next Level

When asked what makes the difference between a good business and a great business, former owner of The Iams Company Clay Mathile said, “When businesses become great, it’s the leadership and it’s the management that takes them to that next level.” And Bill Gates stressed the importance of embracing change when he said, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”