Jon Huntsman Sr. Quotes

The period from 2002 to 2007 was probably our best period. We created a strategy to build global scale, footprints in each of the geographies and dramatically built our international business.

I'm building a large company.

When you've got a great business going, you go open another and take the risk of losing the whole thing. It's fun!

We have to still develop the Ikea group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on China or Russia.

I like the challenge of growing small companies into big global companies.

For small businesses trying to figure out how to get big, I would say you are going to have to take some risks. And I think that is what shuts off most people. They are not willing take the risk.

The most common way to grow a business is by overseeing each and every aspect of the company - the 'ground up' method.

Everybody starts with creating or acquiring certain property in order to create the material to work with. When we started our business, we thought first of all about development, how to grow, and we managed to do this, even with all the difficulties and all the difficult rules that were implemented in Russia at that time.

I believe that starting any business should be as easy as a 10-year-old starting a lemonade stand.

It's exciting to be able to be part of the block and tackle of building a company from a smaller base.

I run businesses all around the United States, all around the globe.

I'm not looking to... I'd like to build my company and make a bigger company always, but I think in the behind the scenes arena is where I'd prefer to spend my time.

I already have enough apparel businesses that are either doing well or not really doing anything at all, and I'm looking to broaden my portfolio.

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.

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

We built that into a wholesale business that became, really, one of the largest companies in the United States. We had success in building new markets, opening markets for competition, and that takes a personal toll.

I get a bit of a kick out of exporting private enterprise and incentives.

Start small; get to know the landscape. We take risks but not major risks. We always started with small capital - €4m in Holland, $10m in Russia - and as we get to know the landscape of a country, we think about other businesses.

For small businesses to thrive, they require an environment that is conducive for growth.

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.

Well, as we built the business in the 1990's, as I said, I enjoyed that.

I think it's natural for any manager to want to grow his business. The question is at what rate, and in what direction, and in what format?

The United States is a huge market, and once you get rolling, you can replicate that model over and over pretty easily. Your supply lines are taken care of. You don't have technicians to deal with. You've got your customer base.

Votorantim is attentive to opportunities that arise in both domestic and international markets to expand its businesses.

Entrepreneurs, guys that start businesses, grow with them. It's more painful than it would appear.