Small businesses are an important part of the American landscape. They’re a major driver of the American economy – 55% of all jobs are created by small business – and the entrepreneurial spirit is as much of a part of our culture as baseball and apple pie. Here at MyCorp, we thought it’d be great to celebrate our upcoming Independence Day by featuring some of our favorite quotes about entrepreneurial independence!
“If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.” —Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company
“Do not pay too much attention to rules set by other people. Entrepreneurs are inventors. They are successful when they make something work for the very first time.” —Reid Hoffman, Founder of LinkedIn
“People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” —Steve Jobs, Co-Founder and CEO of Apple Inc.
“In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity, or you can pick yourself up and say, ‘Listen, I have to be responsible for myself.'” —Howard Schultz, Founder and CEO of Starbucks
“You can’t have everything you want, but you can have the things that really matter to you. And thinking that way empowers you to work really hard for a really long period of time.” —Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo.com
“For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” —Jim Collins, Business Consultant and author of How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
“So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” – Caterina Fake, Co-founder, Flickr
“Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve. I was determined to try. I was determined to try because, frankly, my life was such a mess at this point, what – what was the worst that could happen? Everyone turn me down? Big deal.” —J. K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter
“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” —Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook
And because we couldn’t end without at least one reference to our favorite classic, joyless miser, brooding in his cavernous mansion, grasping a glass of brandy with his thin, claw-like fingers and a superior smirk on his greedy, soulless face.
“I’ll keep it short and sweet. Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.” —C. Montgomery Burns, Owner and CEO of the Springfield Power Plant
( Of course, without friends and family, where would you get seed money? )
We hope everyone out there has a happy, safe fourth of July! And if you’re still hankering from some entrepreneurial wisdom, make sure to check out what 105 other small business owners had to say about how owning a business makes them feel independent.