Brad D. Smith

The ultimate proof of confidence for a small-business owner is, are they hiring employees? ”

The number one thing small business needs is to get more customers. Spend more time serving existing customers and getting new ones. The challenge for small business is knowing where customers are and reaching them effectively. ”

About 10 million people start a business each year, and about one out of two will make it. The average entrepreneur is often on his or her third startup. ”

Usually when there are a lot of layoffs, like in 2008 and 2009, business creation tends to spike. But that didn't happen right away, partly because people trying to start a business couldn't get credit. ”

Many small businesses are running entire businesses from a mobile phone. ”

Customer-driven innovation was at the core of Intuit's first product, 'Quicken,' and it continues to guide us as we look to solve new problems in areas like mobile payments. Products like Intuit 'GoPayment' and the IntuitPayment Network are helping small businesses get paid faster, keeping cash flow strong and their business healthy. ”

I've done a number of things in the spirit of employee motivation. I tend to be a storyteller and a student of history. I often tell stories of great battles, like the battle of Thermopylae, to inspire teams who face what appear to be insurmountable odds. ”

I'd say the best way to train someone is to remember that you have two ears and one mouth, and use them in that ratio. That's hard to do, and ultimately what we've learned is how many false positives you get from listening to what someone says they're going to do instead of observing what they actually do. ”

At Intuit, we've introduced concepts like unstructured time to enable individuals and small teams to be entrepreneurial and identify new processes or product ideas. ”

I was in martial arts starting at the age of 14, and I got my black belt by the time I was 18. Soon after, I was teaching an entire school, with about 150 students. It was unbelievably intense because of the self-awareness part of becoming a black belt. ”