ROBERT HERJAVEC

People ask, 'Are entrepreneurs born, or are they made?' I think it's a combination of both.

If you are under the illusion that you can start a business and run it at your life's schedule, you are mistaken. The business is like a starving puppy - when it needs to eat, then it needs to eat regardless of what you have going on personally.

Just like any business is a living, breathing thing, an entrepreneur has to be able to adapt over time.

Oh, I'm all about small business. I think what we've learned from big business and big Wall Street is that unchecked greed and the creation of false value gets us all in trouble. If we look at the American economy, who's really creating value? It's the small businesses.

I don't think anyone wakes up and says, 'I want my life to suck today.'

I came from a communist country where there are no luxury cars.

I'm really inspired to build a billion-dollar company. The hardest part is building the vehicle to get you there.

It is human nature, especially as we get older, to look for stability in our lives. But if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to fight against that somewhat, as starting a business requires movement. You cannot stay still.

I have my mother's hips. The minute I eat it, it ends up on my hips.

When I was a waiter, I wanted to be the best waiter I could be and worked to be better at it every day.

When I sold my first business, I wanted to do something nice for my dad. I wanted to give my parents a bunch of money, but they wouldn't take anything from me. They were so happy for me; they felt they didn't need money.

I don't think anybody ever started a great business because they wanted to make a little more cash. They had a dream. They wanted to better their life.

Business is a sprint until you find an opportunity, then it's the patience of a marathon runner.

I never dreamed I could build a $100 million company. I just happened to build a $1 million company that became a $5 million company, and so on.

Older cars tend to drive like older cars. That is not for me.

I just don't sleep enough. But I have never met someone very successful who, at the end of their life, says 'I wish I slept more.'

I was one of those guys who never wanted to start their own business. I never saw myself as a leader. I saw myself as a great No. 2.

I try to get in one, one-hour spinning class per week.

What is great about entrepreneurship is that entrepreneurs create the tangible from the intangible.

Long before I had money, my passion for cars was there.

I own a Ferrari race team, and we race all over North America.

I balance my meals. I have never been a big dessert guy.

You can never be satisfied as an entrepreneur, and the basis of any successful, growing business is new clients.

Some people will lie to you because they mean to. Others will do it to tell you what you want to hear.

The idea of getting a lifetime job, and making $100,000 a year, with benefits, is dead and gone. It's over. And it may never come again. That's a very scary thought for a lot of people.