Marcus Lemonis Quotes

I don’t know if people consciously get in the way of their own success. In fairness, people have a lot of pride, and they fall back on what they know to be safe and correct. Anybody, including me, struggles with change.

It’s okay to work for someone else; not everyone is cut out to own a business, and even so, working for someone else is a chance to learn how to both be an employee and an employer.

The best advice I ever got was from Lee Iacocca…. It was get into a business where you can be a big fish, not the little fish. Get into a business where you can be a change agent, where you can make a difference.

I’m really not a great businessperson. I understand business, and I understand numbers, but I think what I understand more than that is people… Ultimately, I think businesses fail and people fail because they don’t have their act together.

When selecting businesses, I first have to be enticed by the product or the industry they are in. Then I look for passion. If a company has these two qualifiers, I go for it.

If you respect people, and you pay them well, they will do anything for you

It’s a privilege and not a right to own a business.

Put no more than three messages on a lemonade stand. You have to describe what your product is, why it’s the best, and how much it is. Don’t be drawing turtles and flowers and footballs all over it, distracting people. Keep it clean.

I’m not a seller. I’m a holder.

You can’t run a business just by selling one thing.

I regret the Pro Fit investment because I didn’t know that I was dealing with people who were more concerned about the exposure than fixing their business.

Money is the by-product, it is not the purpose.

Working and being involved in multiple businesses and fixing things has almost turned into an addiction, but I can’t seem to want to change it.

Small businesses are a risky proposition, and most celebrities want a home run.

If I ever took a business public, I wouldn’t want to take the shares off the table. I don’t want people thinking I’m doing it just to make money and then going to run for the hills. I think that’s a very important distinction.

I became an entrepreneur as a child. I liked the art of the deal whether I was mowing lawns or selling candy or promoting clubs at the age of 16. I understood early on the importance of knowing my numbers and surrounding myself with the best people.

Control your cash. Stick to your core business. Know your numbers.

People are the core of every business. Businesses are based on relationships, and relationships are based on people. I would go to an average restaurant run by amazing people over an outstanding restaurant run by awful people.

You have to assign specific tasks to everybody so you don’t bump into each other and start arguing about silliness.