Michael Gerber Quotes

Young entrepreneurs should spend an awful lot of time thinking about what they want to go into.

If opening your own business is the dream, then it must start with a Dream - not only to understand what it is that you want to do, but also, how you are going to build something better than the same chaotic environment you just left.

Most entrepreneurs think capital is the biggest problem they have - but it's not. You can have all the capital you want, but if the market fit and ability to adjust are not present, your startup will likely not succeed.

As the years passed, and I was nine, 10, 11 years old, it became obvious I was going to start up a business of some sort.

People come in with business plans and, I mean I know that no one is going to meet everything they say in a business plan but you got to have something to, to guide towards.

Every entrepreneur, whether man or woman, should start with a robust business structure.

Your first job, as an owner and an entrepreneur, has to be to understand how the business is going to actually work.

In getting Under Armour started, like any business, I think, number one, you need a great idea.

Launching a successful product or startup has little to do with luck. Any business that gains traction on the market is the result of very careful strategizing and market analysis, not to mention the development of an original product or service.

While 'The Owner's Manual' is not a formula for guaranteed success by any means, we're confident it will help reduce the failure rate of most startups that use our Customer Development process.

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

Before you start a business, careful planning is in order to obtain to where you ought to be. The biggest part is to ensure that, once you might have created your own plan, that you simply take motion. Without motion, you are unable to succeed.

Set your business plan to win; raise the bar or you're not going to be prepared. You need to think that what you're doing will make you $100 million.

I think the mistake people make most often when they invest in other kinds of startups is they say, 'This is totally different.' And so the things that matter, like making a product that people desperately want, like talking to customers, they throw this out the window. That is a recipe for heartache and tears.

Every startup should address a real and demonstrated need in the world - if you build a solution to a problem lots of people have, it's so easy to sell your product to the world.

It's important to have a really clear strategy so when you are in business, you only have to make micro-strategy changes.

You need to make certain decisions to expand your market.

When you're starting a new business, you don't need to know much about it. A lot of the work is blocking and tackling - it's the same type of stuff no matter what sector you're in.

The business model is both the starting point and the scorecard for Customer Development progress.

We now understand the distinction between startups - who search for a business model - versus existing companies - that execute a business plan.

Entrepreneurs always begin the journey believing that they have the next big idea. They dream of the fame and fortune that awaits them if only they had the funding to pursue it. But the reality is that as the product is built and shared with customers, flaws in their concept are discovered that - if not overcome - will kill the business.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs think they need money to build the business faster when they actually haven't figured out the business equation yet.

Customer Development changes almost every aspect of startup behavior, performance, metrics, and, as often as not, success potential.

A startup is not just about the idea: it's about testing and then implementing the idea. A founding team without these skills is likely dead on arrival.

Successful entrepreneurship takes complete dedication and careful strategizing along with market analysis. Plus, successful startups provide countless benefits to a healthy economy and consumers in need.