Steve Ballmer Quotes

A well-managed business will have a high return on invested capital. But that's a consequence. It's not a way to manage a business.

I've made a payroll. I know what it's like to execute a business plan. I know what it's like to expect the proper return on investment... and I know you can't spend your way out of debt.

Economy consists in a due and proper application of the means afforded according to the ability of the employer and the situation chosen; care being taken that the expenditure is prudently conducted.

For resourceful tech founders, finding capital is rarely a problem; making the best use of it is another story. A few years slinging pepperoni pies and chicken wings - on tiny margins and with minimal investment - might not be the worst fiscal training.

You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.

The chief executive officer is also the chief sales officer. He or she is responsible for the success of the company and making a profit. The closer the CEO is to the everyday selling process, bringing in business, the more successful the company will become.

I'm a hard-nosed businessman, that if a company is paying its way, increasing profits for thirty-odd consecutive years, you don't put it into receivership.

If you don't operate it as a business, you aren't going to be around very long.

Some entrepreneurs talk of a high burn rate, high advertising rate, and so on, with no outcome, so it doesn't impress me. But an entrepreneur who has that kind of a feeling of responsibility towards his investors is somebody who will have all my support.

The first aspect of a business that you need to make it work well is money. Once the money aspect is flowing, you can freely work on other aspects.

One of the degrees I have is in business, and I was a healthcare administrator that ran a 365-bed skilled nursing facility for years and generated several million dollars a year profit for them. So I have a background in business.

What we are doing is increasing our focus on cash flow, return on investment, and value creation.

You know what kind of companies generally survive? Companies that make more money than they spend. I know, duh, right?

You can't run a business based on sympathies; otherwise our business would be hampered.

Run a home like you would a small business and treat it with the same seriousness.

Some of the analysts were saying, Now you're a cash cow, there's no growth at all, pay it all out in dividends, give me it all, you can't invest wisely.

The business end of business has never interested me.

There is never a time in a company's history when cost control can be relegated to the back burner, but for a startup company, keeping costs low is a vital necessity.

When I first came into baseball, people didn't want to hear that a team was a business. But it is. And the better the business is run, the healthier the team on the field is going to be.

If you don't drive your business, you will be driven out of business.

Landing a million-dollar investment for your startup is exhilarating. But as big as that number sounds, it doesn't go far. Many startups just getting off the ground won't have a CFO to monitor finances. It doesn't take much for spending to spiral out of control.

If we take care of the business and keep our eye on the goal line, the stock price will take care of itself.

Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.

I have a business to run and stockholders to think about.

I consider each business investment based on concept and revenue.