Michael Gerber Quotes

Most people end up owning a business by accident. Therefore, they don't usually have a thought process and a strategic plan in place.

I like to tell small business owners and entrepreneurs, 'I get it. I have your back on this. I understand about regulation. I understand how taxes are taxing. I understand what it is like not to be able to borrow money when you need it.'

Most small business owners are not particularly sophisticated business people. That's not a criticism; they're passionate about cutting hair or cooking food, and that's why they got in the business, not because they have an MBA.

Because I didn't have much money, I bought a small shop that fit my budget. The previous six owners had closed their business in three years. The store had no people traffic and, because of that, I was able to focus on figuring out how to provide a better service to each and every one of the customers that did come through.

Founders go wrong when they start to believe their business plan will materialize as written. I advise entrepreneurs to burn their business plan - it's simply too dangerous to the health of your business.

Most entrepreneurs are merely technicians with an entrepreneurial seizure. Most entrepreneurs fail because you are working IN your business rather than ON your business.

Like any small business owner, I experienced the pressures of building a company from the ground up - developing a business plan, balancing the books, meeting payroll and building a customer base.

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.

We've had this program for a number of years now, called 10,000 Small Businesses, where Goldman Sachs has convened a group of partners to basically give business education to small business owners.

Most small-business owners have no financial education when they started. They weren't trained to be entrepreneurs.

Many businesses fail because the owner wasn't willing to invest and wasn't educated on the difference between spending money frivolously and investing money into the business for growth, and the risks and rewards of that cash infusion.

The government's Small Business Administration reports that small businesses represent 99% of all employers in the U.S. and are responsible for generating well over half of new jobs created.

I don't think you should ever start a business and move in a direction where you can't see it becoming a business.

As a former small business owner, I recognize both the important role small businesses play in our economy and the broad universe of challenges that small business owners face in trying to make ends meet.

I grew up in a family business... that really has provided the core of my belief in American small business, and in America's ability to grow and operate important businesses that can compete and be successful.

I'm not saying M.B.A.s can't be great entrepreneurs. They can. But you don't need a degree to figure out it's costing you $5,000 per month to run your business, so you need $30,000 to keep it going for six more months.

If you're doing business, not that simple to only buy. You have to create something. You have to create something that never exist for the future.

The problem for new businesses isn't corporate taxes. Anyone who has actually started a new business knows you don't make enough money for years to pay any meaningful tax on it.

It's an error in judgment to bounce into starting a small business before you cash in on building a strong foundation.

A three-to-six month course can give priority and direction on the five or six important things that entrepreneurs need to do first.

Every new rule, mandate, and regulatory edict is one more obstacle that small business owners, entrepreneurs, and job creators have to swallow.

My father and grandfather were businessmen. The family business was Adelphi Paints in New Jersey. When the first energy crisis came in the early 1970s, the business suffered.

In every business I had ever started, even ones that had totally failed, I had kept good relations with the investors.

Business wise, I have always learned valuable lessons so I don't regret any decisions I have made.

The world is filled with successful small businesses that stay small.