There's no point beating around the bush - business can be tough. Really tough. Sometimes you can't remember why you're doing what you're doing - sometimes you need a push just to take that first step into the next thing you need to do.

It may be cheesy, but sometimes remembering the words of the wise ones who've been there and done it all before you can be just the thing you need to get you through the end of the week. Or just as encouragement and inspiration.  Here at Smarta, we even each have our favourite quotes on the back of our business cards - it's a conversation starter because it always gets noticed, and, well, we like remembering the advice of the people we admire most.

So here goes - our selection of our favourite business quotes. Get inspired, feel revived, and remember why you do what you do...

"The big shots are only the little shots who keep shooting." - Christopher Morley

"Satisfaction does not come with achievement, but with effort. Full effort is full victory." - Mahatma Gandhi

"A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done." - Ralph Lauren

"You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile." - Brian Tracy

We've created the Voice of Small Business government wishlist board to give you a voice. Once we've collected all your views, we're going to take it to the ministers that matter, and make sure they listen to what you have to say.

You can see the beginnings of the board above. Many of the Smarta 100 winners added their voices to it at Wednesday's event. You can too.

We often say here at Smarta that it doesn't matter how big or small your business is or how much money you've got, you can still be smart. What does smart mean? It means resourceful, kind, collaborative rather than competitive, giving the customer extra value for money, bringing a smile to people's faces, caring about your customer. It's about doing the little things that make a huge difference - those same little things that big companies hardly ever manage.

So here are three random examples just from my day today to show you how small businesses are doing brilliant business - not because they're rolling in profit, not because they have an army of marketing specialists telling them what to do, but because they're smart in the way that only small businesses truly can be.

What makes a business really, really smart? Profits of millions and squillions? Nah. Sometimes, but not necessarily. Being a smart business means making the most of what you have, being truly innovative, and providing service better than your competitors - whether you're a 1,000-person super-company or a one-person start-up.

And that's what we celebrated last night at the first ever Smarta 100 awards. We announced the full Smarta 100 a few months back, but last night Smarta's partners wanted to commend some especially special smart businesses. And so did all of you, when you were busy voting for your favourite Smarta 100 winner! And so to the results of last night's special prizes - and why they're so darn smart.

"A weak pound and sluggish domestic market means now is the right time for British businesses to go abroad," Theo Paphitis explains at we join him for the last episode of this super-useful series on expanding into emerging economies. But Brazil, it turns out, is not so emerging after all. In fact, it's the 10th largest economy in the world.

The thing that really makes Brazil an exciting place to do business is that it's an incredibly young market. The average age of a Brazilian is 24, and every year a new fashion-savvy, cash-splurging generation flood into shops ready to buy. Brazilians are also internet fiends. Access to the internet is better than in many parts of Europe and North America, a collective of formidable Brazilian business magnates tell us during the show, and the people are 'totally committed to what's happening - they're very young and very creative'.

Our economy might still be unstable (at best), but Brazil's is thriving. Think negotiations to the beat of the bossa nova are a million miles out of reach? Think again. Tonight Theo Paphitis is back on our screens taking British companies out to Brazil to discover untold opportunities out there. It's not easy, but it is possible, and as the world's 10th largest economy, Brazil is ripe for the picking if you're a canny business ready to grow.

What hasn't already been said about YouTube? At two billion views a day (and counting) the internet's third most popular website boasts double the number of all three major US TV networks combined. More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than those networks created in 60 years (that's 24 hours of video uploaded every minute).

It's viewed in more than 200 countries, localised in 23 countries, available in 24 different languages and 70% of its traffic comes from outside the US. What's more, partner ad revenue tripled in 2009 and it now monetises a billion videos a week.

A genuine phenomenon, even those aware of the company's dramatic rise will have been taken aback to hear that Sunday marked only its FIFTH birthday.

Let me ask you a question asked to me this week: 'are you a risk-taker?' Now it's tempting to say 'yes' to this without thinking.  Risk is cool and sexy. You only have to look at our iconic heroes to see that. Fame is awarded to those daredevils who take chances us mere mortals wouldn't even consider. They're the high rollers who risk everything for the big wins, living every day with a 'no risk, no reward' mentality.

The duller roles in society are typically played by those more 'risk averse' than 'risk-taker': the accountant, the lawyer, the insurance clerk, the banker. There's certainly not much street cred in saying, 'Actually, I'd rather not risk it for a biscuit'. More pertinently, it's not what you'd traditionally consider 'entrepreneurial'.

Kids can be pretty inspiring at the best of times. But when they're kids who can turn £10 into £500, you know you've got something really special on your hands.

Those are exactly the kind of kids that yesterday's Make Your Mark with a Tenner awards was celebrating. It's an annual enterprise competition that gives young people aged six to 19 £10 each, and challenges them to turn a profit. The nice bit is that even those who only end up with £15 benefit from a sense of achievement and a realisation of just how enjoyable and financially productive entrepreneurship can be.

What do small businesses need under our new coalition government? We chatted to the Dragons' Den entrepreneur, Ryman owner and Smarta investor to find out.