10

From Richard Branson

Businessand Life

TIPS ON

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You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over, and it’s because you fall over that you learn to save yourself from falling over.” ― Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur

“The best lesson I learned was to just do it.”

TIP 1. Yes, You Can Do It!

“Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.”

The staff at Virgin have a name for Branson and it is “Dr. Yes.”

In the book, Screw it, Let’s do it:

“I don’t believe that that little word ‘can’t’ should stop you.”

His strategy and motto in life :

“screw it, let’s do it!”

“If you don’t have the right experience to reach your goal, look for another way in. Keep your eyes open. Look and learn. You don’t have to go to art school to be a fashion designer. Join a fashion company and push a broom. Work your way up.”

“I think because I have great difficulty saying the word, ‘no,’ almost every day’s a different adventure.”

TIP 1 Recap: Yes, You Can Do It!

1. Are you saying no more than you are saying yes to things.

2. Are you allowing the word “cannot” to stop you?

“I just Love learning. I am incredibly inquisitive. I love taking on the status quo and trying to turn it upside down.”- TED talk: Life at 30,000 feet

TIP 2. Life is One Long Learning Process

“I have seen life is one long learning process.”- TED talk: Life at 30,000 feet

TIP 2 RECAP:Life is One Long Learning Process

1. Learn something new everyday.

2. Be curious and ask questions about things you do not understand.

Tip 3. Make Your Life a Fun and Creative Adventure

“You only live once, and I just don’t want to waste a minute of my life.”

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.”

Branson tells a story when he was going to go around the world in a hot air balloon in 1997. The trip was considered very risky and he was not sure if he would return from his adventure. 

He wrote a letter to his children that said: “Live life to the full. Enjoy every minute of it. Love and look after your mum.”

Branson’s life philosophy:

Do not waste any time, have a lot of fun and love your family...

Tip 3 RECAP. Make Your Life a Fun and Creative Adventure

1. Are you having fun in your life?

2. Combine your unique skills and passions in a way that serves the world and fulfills your dreams.

“We have a lot of fun and I think the people who work for it enjoy it. We go in and shake up a lot of industries. We do it differently and industries are not quite the same as a result of Virgin.”- On his Virgin group of companies 

Tip 4. Work as Play: Make Your Work and Workplace Fun and Exciting!

An inspiring story about making work fun comes from Branson’s part vacation and fun and part work trip to Jamaica in 1977.

He came across a new form of music made by the local DJ’s and was called “toasters” that felt like early rap music and Branson signed on almost twenty reggae artists and some toasters...

Since Jamaican musicians did not take checks, he had to sign them up with a case full of cash and went on to sell many records with them.

This is a great example of Branson’s motto of having a lot of fun and the money will follow.

“Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life’s greatest pleasures!” ― Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur

Tip 4 RECAP. Work as Play: Make Your Work and Workplace Fun and Exciting!

1. Infuse fun and excitement into work.

2. Do not be afraid to be creative and attempt to do things differently and

push the status quo. 

Tip 5. Opportunities Are Everywhere

“Have Fun, Work hard and money will come. Don’t waste time-grab your chances. Have a positive outlook on life. When it’s not fun, Move on.” -Screw it, Let’s Do it.’

In 1977, on the way to Puerto Rico from the Virgin Islands, Branson’s flight got canceled.

He saw that people were looking lost and were aimlessly wandering around in the airport. 

“No one was doing anything. So I did-someone had to.”

“I chartered a plane for $2000. I divided that by the number of people. It came to $39 a head. “

“I borrowed a blackboard and wrote on it: Virgin Airways. $39 single flight to Puerto Rico.”

And thus was born the idea for an airline...in the middle of a holiday!

Tip 5 Recap. Opportunities Are Everywhere

1. Great opportunities are

everywhere!

2. Look for opportunities and when

you find them, take a small step forward.

Tip 6. Engage Your Creative Talents

“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”

“If you are trying to grow a diverse, creative team, you don’t need to bring your employees to the Caribbean to keep them learning. Invite guest speakers to your office. Go to events focusing on topics that are not strictly related to your industry and bring some of your employees along.”

“Watch a few of the many incredible TED talks online. Remember, one of the best ways to learn is by taking your team members out of their comfort zone and embracing new ideas — and you’ll see results.

Focusing on a topic out of the norm can bring renewed vigor to everyday activities.”

1. Make sure that you and your team

are stretching beyond the comfort zone.

2. Do something new and embrace novel ideas that get generated by the collision of old and new ideas.

Tip 6 Recap. Engage Your Creative Talents

Tip 7: Connecting With and Inspiring Other People

“I learnt early on that If you can run one company. You can really run any company. A company is all about finding the right people and inspiring those people, drawing out the best in people.”

“ If you treat people well, people will come back for more. All you have in life is your reputation and it is a very small world.”

“I actually think that the best way of becoming a successful business leader is dealing with people fairly and well and like to think that is how we run Virgin.”

“There’s a reason why I avoid boardrooms. I’d rather spend time with people ‘in the field,’ where eye contact, genuine conviction and trustworthiness are in full evidence.” - In an interview to the Forbes magazine

1. Connect, uplift and inspire the people in your work and at home.

2. Interact with others like they

really matter and attempt to

learn from others.

Tip 7 Recap: Connecting With and Inspiring Other People

“When you’re first thinking through an idea, it is important not to get bogged down in complexity. Thinking simply and clearly, is hard to do.”

Tip 8: Keeping it Simple And in Focus

In a recent interview with Forbes magazine: “If something can’t be explained off the back of an envelope, it’s rubbish.”

Branson does not care for long and uninteresting presentations.

Instead, he prefers short and simple pitches and also the outdoors and unconventional settings.

Action Tips:

Keep your plans and goals simple and in ready focus.

Try meeting outdoors and/or go for short and simple pitches.

Tip 8 Recap: Keeping it Simple And in Focus

Tip 9: Every Small Detail Matters and Makes Up The Entire Experience

“Sometimes a small detail, such as more transparent pricing or a friendlier staff, gave us our edge.”

In a recent article written by him in the Entrepreneur magazine :

Branson gives the example of Innocent: the British Smoothie company

In a recent article written by him in the Entrepreneur magazine :

The company’s big picture: Provide healthy smoothies to everyone in a fun way and while making the planet a little better.

Big picture is addressed by having the right structure, choosing the right team and building relationships.

The company also prides itself for checking even the tiniest details like the lids on their bottles.

The lids list the “enjoy by” date and not the “use by” date.

Branson carries a notebook with him at all times to jot down ideas and conversations with customers and with employees.

“If you’re running an airline, restaurant, or any other company, it’s attention to detail that defines great delivery.”

Attend to the small details because it is the details that make up the big picture.

Keep a small notebook or a digital application handy to jot down the details of new ideas.

Tip 9 Recap: Every Small Detail Matters and Makes Up The Entire Experience

“I was dyslexic. I had no understanding of school work whatsoever. I certainly would have failed IQ tests. It is one of the reasons that I left school when I was 15. If I am not interested in something, I just don’t grasp it.”

Tip 10: The Secret to Success is Managing and Learning from Failure

In a recent article by him in the Entrepreneur magazine : Branson says that the three attributes that can make a real difference to someone’s career are keeping it simple, realizing that at first you may not succeed and having fun.

In a recent article by him in the Entrepreneur magazine : “Few first ventures work out. It is how a beginning entrepreneur deals with failure that sets that person apart. In fact, failure is one of the secrets to success, since some of the best ideas arise from the ashes of a shuttered business.”

Branson tells the story of Dylan Jonsson who is a chef and started his own restaurant that ended up failing due to poor planning.

In a recent article by him in the entrepreneur magazine :

Jonsson has since launched “A Thyme to Dine” that incorporates cooking and catering and also sells 4 types of chocolate balsamic reductions.

Jonsson developed the reductions while he was running his restaurant that failed to be successful.

This quality of finding a winning idea within despair and failure and developing a skill and idea that can repurposed and launched as a successful business sets apart the truly successful from those who fail and give up.

Jonsson’s sauces and drink powders have been picked up by two chains in South Africa and he is looking to begin international sales.

"I will work day and night to avoid failure, but if I can't, I'll pick myself up the next day. The most important thing for entrepreneurs is not to be put off by failure."

1. Develop the habit of managing and learning from failure.

2. Focus on learning new skills and even if a venture fails, you may be able to creatively apply what you have learnt and repurpose it to create value.

Tip 10 Recap: The Secret to Success is Managing and Learning from Failure

“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”

BONUS TIP: Dream BIG and Be Bold

When Branson was four or five, while on a vacation to the county of Devon in England, his Aunt Joyce bet him 10 shillings that he would not be able to learn to swim by the time that they returned back.

On the way back home, when he spotted a river, he asked his dad to stop the car and jumped into the river. After a bit of a struggle, some kicking and splashing and swallowing water, he soon began to swim downwards. He had won the bet and received a 10-shilling note.

Most of the days, the seas were rough and despite all his attempts at splashing around, he was unable to learn.

In an interview to Inc magazine:

"Unless you dream, you're not going to achieve anything."

After the huge success of Virgin Atlantic, Branson dreamed of offering flights into space and Virgin Galactic will do just that.

1. Live life like it is a daring adventure.

2. You need to have big dreams and then take the actions towards it to make it possible.

BONUS TIP Recap: Dream BIG and Be Bold

THANK YOU for being such an inspiration!

All Quotes in this presentation from Richard Branson!

SUMMARY1.  Yes, You Can Do It!2. Life is One Long Learning Process.3. Make Your Life a Fun and Creative Adventure.4. Work as Play: Make Your Work and Workplace Fun and Exciting!5. Opportunities Are Everywhere.6. Engage Your Creative Talents.7. Connect with People and Inspire Them. 8. Keep it Simple And in Focus. 9. The Small Details Do Matter and Make up the Big Picture. 10. The Secret to Success is Managing and Learning from Failure.BONUS TIP: Dream BIG and Be Bold

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