10 secrets of business success from Richard Branson

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Richard Branson, one of the most famous entrepreneurs, shares the secrets that led him to success.

Richard Branson dropped out of school at 16 and started his own student magazine with his friends. At 20, he launched Virgin Records (a future multimillion dollar business) and founded the Virgin Group. At 30, he created Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Trains. His company Virgin Galactic is one of only two space tourism companies in the world.

Not bad for someone who never even graduated from high school, right?

Richard Branson is one of the UK's most successful businessmen and entrepreneurship guru, having written several books, one of which we have a review. And here are 10 secrets of his success.

1. Follow your dream

If you are looking to start a business, make sure it is related to your hobby, passion, or something you really enjoy. Don't start a business just for the money. It seems to me that many have great ideas, but only a few can bring them to life.

Many also think that their ideas have long been embodied, but they themselves will not succeed, they will go bankrupt and, in general, such risks are a waste of time. When I tried to interview for my student magazine, I wrote to every celebrity I knew. Only a few people answered. But they answered!

2. Your business should make people's lives better

Your business should give people something special - so that they would not imagine how they lived without it before. Remember that business is your opportunity to change the world for the better. With this attitude, it will be much more pleasant for you and your team to work.

3. Believe in your ideas

The idea should become a passion. Moreover, you must learn to pass on your passion to other people. If the idea is really good, you should be able to describe it in two or three sentences. Also, your idea should be somewhat better than the competitive ideas.

It made no sense for me to create another airline, the same as the others. Therefore, I created an airline that is in many ways better than all the competitors.

4. Have fun and respect your team

I am 100% sure that if you do not enjoy your work, then this is a sign that you need to move on. Pleasure is the most important part of any job. Moreover, the pleasure is not only yours, but also your team's. Make sure the managers in your company care about the employees as much as you do.

5. Don't give up

It is very important not to give up at the first loss. And there will be losses, believe me! When I crossed the Pacific in a hot air balloon, all circumstances were against me, and the desire to surrender was very attractive. The life of an entrepreneur is a lot like the life of a traveler.

There are many situations when you are backed up against the wall, and the chance to solve the problem seems scanty. Do your best to overcome this feeling and return with renewed vigor the next day.

6. Create lists and challenge yourself

I create dozens of lists daily. And I believe that this is what distinguishes a successful entrepreneur from an ordinary one. The details are too important to be neglected.

I also think that setting yourself new, albeit small, goals is very important. You need both long-term and short-term goals. At the beginning of the year, write down goals for the entire year, at the beginning of the month for the next month, and so on. This will give you the opportunity to constantly improve and move on.

7. Spend time with family and learn to delegate tasks

One of the things to learn at the very beginning of your business journey is delegating tasks. Find people who are better than you in some way, and entrust them with specialized tasks. This will free yourself up some time to reflect on the big picture of the business and for the family. Spending time with your family is very important, especially if you have children.

I know that I am a good entrepreneur, but I am not sure if I would be a good manager of my company. These are two different things. My thoughts are always in the future, and my main desire is to create something new, and not dwell on the present. That is why I found people who run my company while I make plans for the future.

8. Forget TV

“Poor people have big televisions and small libraries; rich people have small televisions and huge libraries."

As a child, my mother taught us not to follow the lives of other people, but to live our own, for which I am very grateful to her. Now, with my own children, I try to spend as little time as possible watching TV and devote as much attention as possible to really useful things.

9. If people say bad things about you, prove them wrong

We are all familiar with people who sit on the tail of your success or failure and try to cash in on them. If you know that criticism is not justified, do your best to prove it. Or just ignore such people.

10. Do what you love and put a sofa in the kitchen

Life is only given once, so I will only do what I like. I advise you the same. You probably find it funny to hear this from a man who has his own island in the Caribbean, but once almost all my life was spent on the couch in the kitchen. And even then I was happy.

The secret to happiness is simple: if you have a kitchen that fits a sofa, you have a bedroom and a person you love, nothing else matters. However, if in addition to that you do what you really enjoy, the result will exceed all expectations.