Starting a business can be a lonely task. You’ll face many difficulties and often no one other than you will be able to overcome them. To help keep you going through these difficult times, and to provide inspiration for anyone looking to start a business, we’ve put together some of the best quotes from some of the top entrepreneurs around. Let us know if they help.

“Opportunities are like busses, there’s always another one coming.”

Richard Branson – founder of the Virgin group of businesses

What it means for small businesses:

We’ve all had that “what if” feeling and it’s always worse when that “what if” is a result of our turning down what turned out to be a fantastic opportunity. But that’s hindsight and it’s never useful to look back. As long as you’ve got your business in a position to generate good opportunities, then it doesn’t matter if you miss one as they’ll be another along soon after.

“Brands that respect you as a person and make you feel like you are you, and that you, rather than they, have control over you, will be the ones who are successful.”

 Martha Lane Fox – Cofounder of Lastminute.com

What it means for small businesses:

Big brands often feel impersonal and can struggle to make that one-to-one connection that customers value so much. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, often have opportunities to do something special for their customers. In business, every advantage matters so make sure that you make the most of this one.

“You want to be extra rigorous about making the best possible thing you can. Find everything that’s wrong with it and fix it. Seek negative feedback, particularly from friends.”

Elon Musk – Cofounder of PayPal and founder of SpaceX

What it means for small businesses:

Just because you’re happy with something doesn’t mean that it’s good, or even good enough. When it comes to your business, you’ll invariably be biased and often this can mean you miss things that need to be changed. So seek out other opinions and then implement their recommendations.

“You can run a business any way you like, but you’ll run it better if you build it around your strengths.”

Duncan Bannatyne – Serial entrepreneur

What it means for small businesses:

There’s no one right way to run a business (although there are lots of wrong ones.) So although it makes sense to learn about how others have succeeded, only you can know what will work in your particular case. If you’re good at working in a particular way, then do it. Don’t worry about following the crowd.

“Anyone can become an expert at anything in six months, whether it is hydrodynamics for boats or cyclonic systems for vacuum cleaners.”

James Dyson – Founder of the Dyson company

What it means for small businesses:

Starting your first online business involves a lot of learning. Although you don’t need to become an expert in web design or marketing to run a successful business, doing so is certainly help. With dedication, it’s possible to master the fundamentals of running an online business quicker than you might imagine.

“Learn from your mistakes, only work with people who share your vision and culture and most importantly, focus on your customer.”

Alan Sugar – Serial entrepreneur

What it means for small businesses:

If you’re running a small business, especially in the early days, you may not be working with anyone else at all. However, it’s still important that you understand your vision and culture so you have solid guidelines to work towards. By getting this right, you’ll be better able to serve your customers and will stand a better chance of growing.

“If you’re not careful, if you don’t measure things, it’s incredibly easy to throw away your meagre profit or to give it away, incredibly easy.”

Charlie Bingham – Founder of Bingham’s

What it means for small businesses:

This quote may refer to the weighing of the ingredients that go into making the Charlie Bingham line of ready meals, but it could refer to any number of things in business. Put simply, if there’s something you’re not measuring then you won’t know if there’s a problem and if you don’t know there’s a problem you could unwittingly be chipping away at your profits.

What inspires you? Let us know in a comment below.