Profit From Your Laptop: Richard Branson

Showing posts with label Richard Branson. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Richard Branson Says He Writes His Own Blog Posts, And He's Read Your Comments

Each week, Richard Branson answers Entrepreneur.com readers' questions by drawing from his own business experience. Recent blog posts have discussed multitasking, why entrepreneurs sometimes struggle with formal education and how to increase employee engagement.

Branson is a notoriously busy man (look out for our upcoming print issue, which hits newsstands on September 23, for an update on his most recent exploits), so it's not unsurprising that readers often wonder if he actually writes the numerous columns and blog posts attributed to him.

The serial entrepreneur and LinkedIn Influencer took to the platform to address this very question in, appropriately, a blog post. "As tempting as it is to reply to each person with a resounding ‘yes!’, I hope that what my posts actually say is enough to prove it is yours truly behind these words," he wrote. The post was published as part of LinkedIn's Behind the Scenes series, in which more than 60 influential business leaders revealed the details involved in one aspect of their work.

Here are a few of Branson's favorite writing tips.

Use conversations with friends and co-workers as inspiration for potential topics. Writer's block can happen to anyone. If you're truly stuck, Branson recommends simply paying attention to the conversations taking place around you: "What do you talk to your friends about? What was that interesting article you read the other day? What was everyone chatting about in the office at lunch? Could there be a blog in that? More than likely, yes."

Write your observations down to use for later. Documentation is key. "I keep a notebook with me at all times, and write down every thought that might come in handy later," Branson writes. "I also note any intriguing links on my iPad. If you don’t write it down, it could soon be gone forever. Lots of the scribbles end up as blogs at some time or another."

Keep it personal. Inauthenticity is easy to sniff out. "If it wasn’t really me writing on LinkedIn or posting my virgin.com blogs, people would spot it a mile off. There are more – how shall I put this – 'corporate' blogs out there, which is all well and good. But if you’re going to do something, it is worth doing it right…I love sharing what is happening in my world, the latest happenings at Virgin, and my views on the wider universe," he writes. "What better way to do it than in real time, online?"

Delegate. "As ever, I wholeheartedly encourage the art of delegation," Branson writes, although delegating isn't the same thing as finding a ghost-writer. Instead, "it means finding people to help you write more efficiently and effectively. I work with Virgin’s head of content and team on ideas for blogs every day, firing ideas back and forth and collaborating on the best angle to take. Then, once a theme is decided upon (like this one, for instance!), we work it up into a blog."

Interact with your audience. Writing is just the beginning. "The whole point is to start a debate and provoke a conversation. While I sometimes struggle for time, I try to read as many replies as possible, and reply to at least a few people every day," Branson writes, noting that he often comes across comments saying 'Richard Branson doesn’t really read this.'

His reaction? "The temptation to jump in and wave a big digital hello is sometimes too much."

Article sourced from - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237537

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Richard Branson on Decision-Making For Entrepreneurs

Richards latest book, The Virgin Way, can be purchased from Amazon (link on right hand side)

Entrepreneur.com Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. What follows is the latest edited round of insightful responses. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column.

Q: What were your most important managerial decisions -- the ones that changed your business? -- Volodymyr Kravchuk, Kiev, Ukraine

A: Most good chief executives or entrepreneurs only make three or four key decisions every year. Running your business's day-to-day operations and managing your team can take much of your time, so there are usually only a few that stand out -- the game-changing decisions that can make or sometimes break a business.

Looking back over my career, which now spans more than four decades, there were many occasions when I got it right and a few when I did not. A few guiding principles helped; these are the things I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out.

1. Trust your instincts.
There have been many occasions when I have led our team into markets that industry experts told us to avoid because the competition was too fierce or the cost of entry too high.

This was the case when we launched our airlines Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Blue (recently rebranded Virgin Australia), in 1984 and 2000, respectively. On both occasions, my fellow directors were nervous about our chances for survival, given the strengths of our competitors -- namely their market share and fleet sizes and experienced personnel. But I felt that our competitors had become complacent; that passengers wanted something different. With the right energy, focus and flair, we could make our mark.

Virgin Atlantic went from strength to strength, and now carries over 5 million passengers per year. In the case of Virgin Blue, we backed the plans of a former Virgin Express executive and entrepreneur Brett Godfrey, who first presented his ideas to me sketched out on a beer mat. After launching the business with just two Boeing 737s, we have built Australia's second biggest airline, and now have a fleet of nearly 90 planes.

2. Focus on your customers, not your critics.
It wasn't just our team that occasionally worried about our stepping into tough markets. Over the years, our critics fretted about Virgin's expansion into airlines, financial services and mobile phone services. What did our company know about these industries and how would we manage the complex issues?

I rarely paid attention (which also drew criticism from some analysts). My answer was always to focus on the customer experience, ensuring that we offered the best service, most innovative products and best value.

This worked especially well in mobile services, where most companies still require customers to sign contracts that are difficult and expensive to exit. We revolutionized the market by offering a pre-paid model. Our position was radical, but we were selling exactly what a number of younger and newer users wanted. Our businesses grew quickly in the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, South Africa, the United States, and more recently in India, expanding our customer base and brand far and wide.

3. Always support your team.
In previous columns, I have discussed how crucial it was for me to find great managers to run our businesses. Day-to-day management has never been my forte, and my early decision to step back from operations gave me the freedom to focus on our main challenges and opportunities.

This meant that I had to learn to trust the management teams, and to support them when they saw an opportunity. When Matthew Bucknall and Frank Reed came to us in 1999 with the concept of a family friendly health club, we decided to invest. Very quickly, they impressed all of us with their innovative approach to customer service and team building.

Soon after we opened the first few clubs, Nelson Mandela called me, asking if Virgin could rescue a chain of South African gyms. That seemed a stretch, because we had only a handful of locations in Britain, but Bucknall and Reed were confident, and such was our trust in them and their team that we signed onto the deal. And they were right: Virgin Active South Africa is one of the key drivers of that business's growth.

4. Know when to say goodbye.
It can be very difficult to know when to sell, since as a founder and entrepreneur you become very attached to your business and your team. Look into whether selling will be good for the overall health of your company, or if you need objectivity, ask trusted advisers to do this. But brace yourself -- the answer might be yes.

We have sold a number of Virgin companies over the years. Probably the most notable occasion was in 1992, when we sold Virgin Records to EMI and used the cash to expand Virgin Atlantic and other companies in the group. It was a very emotional day for me -- at one point, I broke down in tears. Looking back, it's clear that we sold at the right time and the decision made sense for Virgin as a whole. That secured our group's future and gave us a war chest for investing in new businesses.

Selling is difficult, and you will be tempted to hold on too long. This is one of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur or chief executive can make.

I held onto Virgin Megastores for too long. Despite the warnings of my management team, I could not bring myself to sell the business until a few years ago. By that time, DVD sales had collapsed and the whole industry had been revolutionized by Apple's iTunes store. You can't get them all right!

Finally, when you are facing a difficult choice or must make an important decision on behalf of your company, keep in mind that the answer might not always be yes or no -- sometimes there are other options. Your job is to lead your team in the search for the best solutions, which are not always the easiest ones.

Article by -

RICHARD BRANSON

CONTRIBUTOR

Author and Founder of Virgin Group

The Virgin Way by Richard Branson, book review: "Get your derrière outthere"

Richards latest book, The Virgin Way, can be purchased from Amazon (link on right hand side)

After all these years, it seems that we still can't get enough of Sir Richard Branson's home truths

According to a poll, one in four Britons would choose Sir Richard Branson as their "dream boss". The Virgin founder easily tops surveys of best-known business figures. It's as if we haven't produced anyone worthy of note in commerce over the past few decades apart from him.

Part of the reason for that profile is Branson's genius for self-publicity. A key ingredient in this method is the book. There are no fewer than nine works on Branson by Branson. Then there are the books about Branson by others. There are just as many of those – Tom Bower alone has written three. To this groaning shelf can now be added The Virgin Way.

Like Branson's Losing My Virginity, which has scarcely moved off the business bestseller list since it was published in 1998, this one is guaranteed to fly. We can't get enough, it seems, of the billionaire's tips for success, his homespun philosophy laced with humour, and his constant chiding at the Establishment and corporate behemoths that are too stuffy and slow to give ordinary people what they want and deserve. Wannabe consumer champions will lap up this detailed manual. It's littered with references to real-life experiences and encounters with famous global figures. The book is subtitled "How to Listen, Learn, Laugh and Lead".

Certainly a key facet of the Branson approach is "listening, not hearing". He puts great store by listening intently and, as he says, writing copious notes in notebooks. I can vouch for that, having met him several times – he is attentive, and yes, he does scribble away, taking down whatever is being said.

He does not have an office as such, as he points out, preferring to get around his businesses to see people where they work rather than they go to him. If a more formal one-to-one conversation is required he likes it to be in the living room of his house, with him sitting cross-legged on the sofa, shoes off. Be warned, though: his casual manner belies a sharp brain. Senior representatives of some of the world's biggest, toughest, most security-conscious corporations have come a cropper as what they've said to Branson has come back to haunt them in future litigation.

None of his entreaties amount to rocket science. "Turn off that laptop and iPhone and get your derrière out there", "Delegate and spend more time with your family", and "Have fun and look after your team", would be risible if they came from anyone else. But because Branson enjoys iconic status his outpourings, however simple and even banal, will be treated as profound.

His early run-in with the law is well known and recounted again here, almost with relish, as Branson uses his own example to show that miscreants deserve a second chance. Take risks, relish in being the underdog, find holes in the operations of the "big dogs" and exploit them, change the game, and beat them. These are Branson's directly put rules. If only it was that easy. Branson is not infallible; he does not have an answer for everything: in fact, he has experienced more business failures than he has successes.

The latest may be Little Red, his troubled domestic airline. When he launched the carrier last year, Branson promised: "Little Red will stop British Airways dominating routes and driving higher prices." Virtually unaffected by Little Red – so much for his advice about beating the big dogs – BA has pressed on regardless.

Similarly, a Virgin culture in which employees feel "valued, empowered and trusted" so they can "go out and make amazing things happen" has yet to deliver a start date for Branson's space flights.

Likewise, reading that "giving our customers, both internal and external, a better work environment or service experience than they can find anywhere else" rings hollow for anyone who had to report a fault with Virgin Media before it was bought last year by Liberty or has had to endure a poor experience on Virgin's West Coast trains.

These days, Branson lives on Necker, his Caribbean island. While he says he made the move because he craved the lifestyle, rather than for financial purposes, it does mean he gains considerable UK tax benefits as a non-resident. For years, long before he based himself on Necker, Virgin profits were routed through offshore trusts.

But even his tax status – in an age when tax avoiders are vilified – does not dent his broad appeal. Branson, it seems, long ago acquired a trademark jumper coated in Teflon. He can do no wrong – or if he does, the damage never causes lasting harm.

Plenty of copies of The Virgin Way will be sold, and compared to many business books there's no doubting it's refreshing, easily understood and instructive. Those of a more critical persuasion, however, might not be so impressed. Onward the Branson legend goes.

Article by -

Chris Blackhurst

Group Content Editor of The Independent, i, The Independent on Sunday and Evening Standard - and former Editor of The Independent.

Article sourced - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-virgin-way-by-richard-branson-book-review-get-your-derrire-out-there-9726437.html

Profit From Your Laptop