110 Practical Tips For Entrepreneurs

Whether you’re a fresh-out-of-college entrepreneur, an experienced professional making your way up the ranks, or a seasoned small business owner, chances are you’re someone who stays hungry for knowledge and constantly seeks out information that can help you succeed. As you probably already know, there’s not really one secret, magical equation to running a business successfully. There are many paths you can walk down and many factors that can influence your success. There is, however, an enormous amount of information available to you that can help put you in the right direction.

For hundreds of years the world’s brightest entrepreneurs have openly shared valuable information about their triumphs, their mistakes, and how they ultimately found success in their respective industries. Thanks to the internet, it’s never been easier for prosperous entrepreneurs to share this information, or for budding entrepreneurs to find it and learn from it. In this post, you’ll find a list of 110 practical tips for entrepreneurs. They come from some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs of today and recent history. Take advantage of the valuable and practical information they offer in order to improve your own business. You’ll notice that the tips included in this post are divided into a number of relevant categories. The first category offers tips on leadership:

1. “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – @tonyhsieh [Tweet this!]

2.  “Great leaders are not just respected; they’re also measured. They have the responsibility to achieve, and their effectiveness is measured against their charged tasks and goals.” – @gitomer [Tweet this!] 

3. “Surround yourself with a trusted and loyal team. It makes all the difference.” – @Susankfeldman & @AliGPincus [Tweet this!]

4. “The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.” – @kenblanchard [Tweet this!]

5. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams [Tweet this!]

6. “Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” – @BrianTracy [Tweet this!]

7. “The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.” – @sethgodin [Tweet this!]

8. “To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings.” – @RosabethKanter [Tweet this!]

9. “It is your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny.” – @tonyrobbins [Tweet this!]

10. “Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don’t do it.” – @mcuban [Tweet this!]

11. “Try to commit one day a month to thinking about the long-term orientation of your organization. Whether you do this best outside of the office or in a conference room with your closest advisors, find the right place and strategize about the future.” – @RomanStanek [Tweet this!]

12. “Instead of having a lengthy email string, talk to someone three floors up. Email can kill productivity and hinder communication.” – @plibin [Tweet this!]

13. “When you focus on the right things, and eliminate time spent on unhelpful tasks, you become more effective.” – @tferriss [Tweet this!]

14. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill [Tweet this!]

15. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – @StephenRCovey [Tweet this!]

16. “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.” – Bruce Lee [Tweet this!]

17. “Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” – @Caterina [Tweet this!]

18. “The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.” – @tom_peters [Tweet this!]

19. “Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” – Charles Richards [Tweet this!]

20. “Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that’s more productive.” – @realDonaldTrump [Tweet this!]

21. “Pass on hiring people you don’t need, even if you think that person’s a great catch.” – @jasonfried [Tweet this!]

22. “Everyone has an idea. But it’s really about executing the idea and attracting other people to help you work on the idea.” – @jack [Tweet this!]

23. “The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.” – @Benioff [Tweet this!]

24. “Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” – @patricklencioni [Tweet this!]

25. “You need to be passionate about helping each and every person on your team do their best work.” – @chadworks [Tweet this!]

26. “Allow your team to incorporate giving into their life through their job. Not only do employees stay around a lot longer, they do a lot more good.” – @BlakeMycoskie [Tweet this!]

27. “It is better to have one person working with you than to have three people working for you.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower [Tweet this!]

28. “Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.” – David Ogilvy [Tweet this!]

29. “A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people.” – Jim Collins [Tweet this!]

30. “If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external.” – @StephenRCovey [Tweet this!]

31. “Don’t be cocky. Don’t be flashy. There’s always someone better than you.” – @tonyhsieh [Tweet this!]

32. “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.” – Jeff Bezos of @amazon [Tweet this!]

33. “Don’t look at someone else’s success and get jealous; look at their success and get motivated.” – @wmharris101 [Tweet this!]

34. “When you know who your customers are, that can give you an edge on the competition.” – Alain Bouchard [Tweet this!]

35. “A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.”  – James Cash Penney of @jcpenney [Tweet this!]

36. “You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” – @DaleCarnegie [Tweet this!]

37. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius [Tweet this!]

38. “Trying to do what your competitors are doing but basically a little bit better is probably not going to be the winning strategy. The problem is finding what your competitors wouldn’t even consider doing.” – @cascio [Tweet this!]

39. “If you change the rules of the market, you can be more successful than your competitors.” – @MaxMckeown [Tweet this!]

40. “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” – @WarrenBuffett [Tweet this!]

41. “It’s about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment & helping to find a way to innovate.” – @marissamayer [Tweet this!]

42. “Risk more than others think safe. Dream more than others think practical. Expect more than others think possible. Care more than others think wise.” – Howard Schultz of @Starbucks [Tweet this!]

43. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” – Steve Jobs [Tweet this!]

44. “You can never go too far wrong by thinking like a customer who’s new to the business.” – @richardbranson [Tweet this!]

45. “Whatever you do, don’t let your emotions make decisions for you. Use facts and logic instead.” – @sujanpatel [Tweet this!]

46. “The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.” – Debbi Fields of @mrsfields [Tweet this!]

47. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein [Tweet this!]

48. “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” – Zig Ziglar [Tweet this!]

49. “Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward.” – @Oprah [Tweet this!]

50. “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” – Calvin Coolidge [Tweet this!]

51. “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” – @simonsinek [Tweet this!]

52. “Employee loyalty begins with employer loyalty. Your employees should know that if they do the job they were hired to do with a reasonable amount of competence and efficiency, you will support them.” – @HarveyMackay [Tweet this!]

53. “If you wanna hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have to win, otherwise good people don’t stay.” – Steve Jobs [Tweet this!]

54. “For employee success, loyalty and integrity are equally as important as ability.” – Harry F. Banks [Tweet this!]

55. “To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.” – @DougConant [Tweet this!]

56.  “Employees engage with employers and brands when they’re treated as humans worthy of respect.” – @MeghanMBiro [Tweet this!]

57. “How leaders embody the values they espouse sets a tone, an expectation, that guides their employees’ behaviors.” Howard Schultz of @Starbucks [Tweet this!]

58. “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – @richardbranson [Tweet this!]

59. “Say things clearly, say what you mean, and be careful with language if you want to really engage with your employees. Get the words and sentiment right, and engagement will follow.” – @MeghanMBiro [Tweet this!]

60. “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple.” – @richardbranson [Tweet this!]

61. “Treat your customers like they own you. Because they do.” – @mcuban [Tweet this!]

62. “You don’t earn loyalty in a day; you earn loyalty day by day.”- @gitomer [Tweet this!]

63. “The sale begins when the customer says yes.” – @HarveyMackay [Tweet this!]

64. “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” – Steve Jobs [Tweet this!]

65. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” – @JohnCMaxwell [Tweet this!]

66. “Truth builds trust.” – @marilynsuttle [Tweet this!]

67. “If you’re in business, first and foremost, you have to be nice. Show your customers that you care.” – @garyvee [Tweet this!]

68. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – @BillGates [Tweet this!]

69. “Forget about the sales you hope to make and concentrate on the service you want to render.” – Henry Bullis [Tweet this!]

70. “Value the relationship more than making your quota.” – @gitomer [Tweet this!]

71. “To do great work, you need to feel that you’re making a difference. That you’re putting a meaningful dent in the universe.” – @jasonfried [Tweet this!]

72. “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.” – @sethgodin [Tweet this!]

73. “Focusing on one thing and doing it really, really well can get you very far.” – @kevin [Tweet this!]

74. “A penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be.” – @garyvee [Tweet this!]

75. “Don’t let people tell you your ideas are stupid. If you’re really passionate about something, find a way to build it.” – @dens [Tweet this!]

76. “Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” – @jack [Tweet this!]

77. “Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, you can likely adapt.” – @victoria_ransom [Tweet this!]

78. “Openly share and talk to people about your idea. Use their lack of interest or doubt to fuel your motivation to make it happen.” – @toddo [Tweet this!]

79. “Be a user of your own product. Make it better based on your own desires. But don’t trick yourself into thinking you are the user.” – @ev [Tweet this!]

80. “Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities and don’t let the bastards get you down.” – @MikeBloomberg [Tweet this!]

81. “The key to mastering any kind of sales is switching statements about you – how great you are, and what you do – to statements about them.” – @gitomer [Tweet this!]

82. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash of @MaryKay [Tweet this!]

83. “Life, like sales, isn’t easy. Lean in, actually DO the work, and always, ALWAYS add value.  The rest will take care of itself.” – @GarrettDKramer [Tweet this!]

84. “Trust your instincts.” – Estée Lauder of @EsteeLauder [Tweet this!]

85. “If you want to make a good first impression, smile at people. What does it cost to smile? Nothing. What does it cost not to smile? Everything, if not smiling prevents you from enchanting people.” – @GuyKawasaki [Tweet this!]

86. “Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.” – @gitomer [Tweet this!]

87. “You have to generate revenue as efficiently as possible. And to do that, you must create a data-driven sales culture. Data trumps intuition.” – @DaveElkington [Tweet this!]

88. “It’s no longer about interrupting, pitching and closing. It is about listening, diagnosing and prescribing.” – @markroberge [Tweet this!]

89. “Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t.” –  @sethgodin [Tweet this!]

90. “You have to drop your sales mentality and start working with your prospects as if they’ve already hired you.” – @jillkonrath [Tweet this!]

91. “It’s important to be willing to make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is you become memorable.” – Sara Blakely of @SPANX [Tweet this!]

92. “Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.” – @sethgodin [Tweet this!]

93. “Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.” – @jack_welch [Tweet this!]

94. “Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected.” – @jack [Tweet this!]

95. “Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to make the change you want to see. And don’t think it takes a huge team to make that difference either.” – @jasonfried [Tweet this!]

96. “If you’re hurt, lick your wounds and get up again. If you’ve given it your absolute best, it’s time to move forward.” – @richardbranson [Tweet this!]

97. “Change, before you have to.” – @jack_welch [Tweet this!]

98. “Remain true to yourself and your philosophy. Changing in the face of adversity will in fact diminish your credibility with your customers.” – Giorgio @armani [Tweet this!]

99. “Don’t be afraid to change the model.” – Reed Hastings [Tweet this!]

100. “For changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent.” – @tonyrobbins [Tweet this!]

101. “Remain focused on fulfilling your business mission. Never allow adversity divert your attention and efforts.” – @richardbranson [Tweet this!]

102. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” – @scottbelsky [Tweet this!]

103. “There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” – @jasonfried [Tweet this!]

104. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” – @drewhouston [Tweet this!]

105. “Nothing works better than just improving your product.” – @spolsky [Tweet this!]

106. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” – @reidhoffman [Tweet this!]

107. “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.” – Ray Kroc [Tweet this!]

108. “When you find an idea that you just can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.” – @joshjames [Tweet this!]

109. “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Benjamin Franklin [Tweet this!]

110. “Data beats emotions.” – @seanrad [Tweet this!]

The web is overflowing with useful information that can help you improve your business. You may not stumble across any sort of “secret sauce” that will ensure overnight success, but you can find a massive amount of relevant and useful tips from real-life entrepreneurs—information that can put you on the path to prosperity.

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