Steve Ells Quotes

Ray Kroc called his first McDonald's restaurant, which he opened in Illinois, 'a little money machine.' That's why thousands of franchisees bought it.

For decades, I've spoken of McDonald's as one of the premier examples of how to build a company, scale it, and ultimately sell it.

When I told my friends and family that I was leaving Stars to open a burrito shop in Denver, they thought I was crazy, but not long after the success of the first Chipotle, I knew I had to open just one more, so I opened a second one on Colorado Boulevard, which turned out to be even busier than the first.

I grew up in a household that revered building businesses. It wasn't thinking about leadership; it was more about building something. To build something, you ultimately have to lead.

That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story.

Recessions are the best time to start a company. Companies fail. Others hold back capital. If you are willing to do the preparation and work, it is the best time to invest in yourself and start a business.

About 10 million people start a business each year, and about one out of two will make it. The average entrepreneur is often on his or her third startup.

After decades of studying the men and women that make the decision to open their own Great, Growing Company, I'd have to say it comes down to the Vision they have for that business - do they expect to build the company or just have some income for the short term?

Your success starts with how you are able to get clients in the door, get their business, and leave them satisfied. If you, personally, have to spend too much time doing that, you have simply bought yourself a job, not an enterprise. Take hints from success stories all around you!

You can't be successful in business without taking risks. It's really that simple.

Starting a business is similar to an athletic endeavor, like serving a tennis ball. Telling you how to do it is useless. You actually get better through a combination of practice, coaching, and repetitions with money on the line.

If you want your company to succeed, you have to have the confidence in your business to take a bet on its future - to risk destroying a mediocre business model for the chance to have a strong one.

I remember looking to McDonald's, and, my God, they have 13,000 restaurants in the United States. Well, we have almost a couple thousand Chipotles. What if Pizzeria Locale is a few thousand, and Shod. All of a sudden, we're bigger than McDonald's in the U.S. I mean, that's not an unreasonable way to think about this.

In business, you take a swing and you hope that you hit a home run, but sometimes you strike out. Strikeouts and failures are important. Being down, getting punched in the gut every once in a while by life and coming back up, that's accomplishment.

In 'That Will Never Work,' I give readers a clear-eyed insider's look into how one of the least likely startups grew into one of the world's most successful companies.

You can't run a business just by selling one thing.

Bedroom Kandi is a favorite. It's something that people told me not to do, and I did it anyway and it worked out great. And then I have Bedroom Kandi consultants across the country.

There are millions of business ideas out there but only a tiny percentage of businesses succeed.

Nine out of ten businesses fail; so I came up with a foolproof plan - create ten businesses.

Luck is not a business model.

In business, to be a success, you only have to be right once.

Don't be afraid to spend money to make money. That's one thing I've never been afraid of... to invest in myself.

I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers.

To be successful, innovation is not just about value creation, but value capture.

If you are unwilling to fail, sometimes publicly and even catastrophically, you will never be rich.