He is a man with a very roaring appetite to start business ventures and see them excel. He enjoys new challenges, especially situations in which the market has a few large firms as the most dominant. That is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, the great entrepreneur from Britain. His marketing strategies as well as his balloon adventures make him attract lots of media attention. He is an icon I would love to emulate in matters of business. As a young child with dyslexia and nearsightedness no one anticipated him to rise to fame. Despite going to an exclusive learning institution known as Stowe School, Branson did not perform well and finally dropped out.
One striking thing about Branson’s life is that he was knighted to become Sir Richard Branson at Buckingham Palace. He was named in the New Year’s Honors List for his efforts in entrepreneurship on 30th March 2000. It is not a usual fete to be recognized in this manner and thus deserved a mention. He became a millionaire at the age of 24 and he often appears in the Forbes’ list of the world’s richest. He also owns Necker Island which is part o the British Virgin Islands. Not only is he a businessman but also a public figure attracting interest from both the young and the old alike.
As a businessman Richard Branson as well as his Virgin brand are unique. This is in the sense that despite living in a world of strategists, he sniffs out great opportunities in unchartered territories; places where others fear treading. He is a dramatically different kind of entrepreneur. He is a highly hands on type of business person.
Branson’s life is one that inspires someone to expect more out of life. His personal principles concerning life, his business and the brand he brought to life give me a sense of direction in my dream to be among the best in the world of business. I was so impressed when I first heard of Branson’s plan to start Virgin Galactic to deal with the business of ferrying people to suborbital space. He not only owns large business firms but also smoothie shops. How the idea to own such a form of business came up is in line with my thinking of how business should be done; taking his jogs in the morning, Branson could not find any juice shops open, he thus took up a franchise and established a smoothie shop on the main street.
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Main Part
I chose this topic because I found it logical to appreciate and laud one of the most successful business men in the world today. This is a man every person, not only those who are interested in business can draw a lot of inspiration from. I became interested in talking about Richard Branson as my business idol because I felt that many people are inspired by him, and by speaking about him, I thought more people could know more about him and try to emulate his ways.
Richard Branson was born in the year 1950 in Surrey. His mother was an airline steward and his father a lawyer. After dropping out of Stowe School at age 16, he began his entrepreneurial life by starting a student magazine. He did not continue his studies to graduation, a decision that saw the commencement of the Virgin brand. The venture had its initial start as a discount records mail order business that he partnered with Nik Powell, a friend of his; he had the ability to easily connect with other people despite his academic shortcomings.
In its first edition, the student magazine launched by Branson sold close to $8,000 from advertising alone; a sign of his business prowess. The first 50, 000 copies of the publication were disseminated for free. The idea of starting a mail order record company was introduced to assist him in funding the magazine project. It performed modestly well to enable him expand the business and start a recording label. This was in 1972 in Oxford shire and it was known as Virgin Records,. The first record for the label was a hit. It stayed for about 247 weeks in the UK music charts. This was ‘Tubular Bells’, a debut album done by Mike Oldfield. Later on the label signed top talents such as the Sex Pistols, Simple Minds, and Genesis among others. This was a very controversial move, Virgin signed artists that other record labels had adamantly refused to work with; he looked at things from a business perspective unlike the others and this turned out to be a marketing coup. The record company became one of the very famous six world record companies. Branson relates with people in a positive and inclusive way as opposed to the use of aggression. This makes him likeable to me.
He is a people person and targets to offer great customer service. In most of his companies, if not all, he has built a great employee culture as well. He later undertook a major reform in his way of doing things by expanding further his business empire. He increased his entrepreneurial efforts further by adopting the Voyager Group in the year 1980. This was a travel company. Later in the year 1984, Virgin included the airline Virgin Atlantic to its share of business ventures plus several other megastores. The situation however did not turn out to be all rosy for Virgin. In the year 1992, uncertainty set in and the ventures started struggling financially. At this time success was not all assured and therefore the business was sold for $ 1 billion to THORN EMI. Despite this harrowing and challenging experience, Branson remained unmoved and was determined as never before to remain in the music industry.Determination is virtue that any aspiring businessman should have.
Virgin Airlines which is co-owned by Singapore Airlines is among the major businesses of this flamboyant British entrepreneur. It has won quite a number of accolades and considered the second largest long haul international airline by the British. NTL, Telecoms Company bought Virgin mobile in 2006. In the transaction the company was allowed to use the Virgin name and was thus renamed Virgin media on condition that they pay an annual fee for the same. It is not surprising that the largest shareholder of this company is Branson himself. Virgin Mobile USA has gone on record as being the fastest company to yield revenues of above one billion dollars.
Ending
In his quest to help humanity and save the world from global warming, Branson started the Virgin Earth Challenge. This endeavor proposes to award $ 25 million to any individual or group that invents a mechanism that will ensure greenhouse gases are reduced annually for at least a period of ten years without causing any harmful impacts. He has diversified his ventures such that he is the only person in the world to have started from scratch and built eight billion-dollar business ventures in eight completely different sectors. The brand started by Branson is among the most popular brands of the world today. He now owns ventures in over thirty countries. The business ventures are said to be more than 200 in number.
He epitomizes a new generation of business entrepreneurs. For example his adventures and business antics in a way have revolutionized the business world. There’s more to business than just the usual white collar and tie; he has created a sense of fun in business. Sometime in 2004, he announced about a deal signing that would see Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company charged with licensing Spaceship One technology to ferry passengers to suborbital space using Scaled Composites White Knight Two. In 2006’s Sunday Times Rich List Branson was number nine with wealth slightly above three billion pounds. There are quite a number of products yet to be unveiled, but one new innovation is the Virgin money that was recently rolled out. .
Opinion
Virgin Racing was a team that started with the commencement of the 2009 Formula one racing season after the Virgin brand sponsored the Brawn GP Team. Branson in his personal life also enjoys himself by engaging in unique leisure activities. He was the first person to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. This is not just an adventure meant for fun but is also an avenue for brand placement and advertising of the Virgin brand. The 2011 Forbes list of billionaires put him at number four in Britain and 254th in the whole world. In the management fraternity, many have labeled Branson to be a transformational leader. He employs his maverick strategies with keenness; it is no wonder that he is always assured of success. He is an idol any business student would love to dine with, leave alone emulating.
Therefore, Richard Branson is a business idol, not only to me but also many other aspiring business people. It is important that we learn to appreciate such people who have succeeded where not many people do.
Reference
A. T. (2012). Richard Branson biography. Retrieved March 22, 2012, from www.biography.com: http://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520
Branson, R. (2012). Autobiography. Retrieved March 22, 2012, from www.virgin.com: http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/autobiography
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