“The greatest value in creating a [business] plan is not the final document. It’s the communication, prioritization, focus, clarity and learning that make the process worthwhile. ”

- Jim Horan, author and consultant

Commentary: This quote speaks for itself, of course we would pick Jim Horan to quote about business plans, he is the author of one of our favorite business books of all time: The One Page Business Plan. Read more about writing a business plan on our page dedicated to that topic.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”  - Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor

If being more productive (also known as “lifehacking”) isn’t a concern of yours as a small business owner, then it should be.

Whitepapers.org has collected the 100 Best Productivity Blogs all on one page which we highly recommend.

“The man who never makes a mistake always takes orders from one who does.”   – Daisy Bates

Commentary: If you are terrified of failing or making mistakes, then you simply will not have the fortitude to do anything beyond mediocre. Great people tend to fail - a LOT - but when they succeed, they win big because they are willing to risk big. Great people see “failures” as “learning opportunities”.

When starting a business, it’s important to realize the value of mistakes. The key is learning from your failures and pressing forward.

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.”

– J.C. Penney, businessman

“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your energies on a limited set of targets.”  - Nido Qubein

Commentary:

If you focus on too many targets at once, you tend to not put enough energy in each to make any real progress. Instead, take a maximum of 5 (probably 1-3 is better) and brutally concentrate on them. This applies to goals, to-do lists, relationships, business, etc.