Richard Branson: Advice for Entrepreneurs | Big Think

Summary

Richard Branson reflects on key lessons he's learned running Virgin, emphasizing the importance of praising employees, being a good listener as a leader, and giving teams freedom. He recounts an early crisis when his bank threatened to shut Virgin down and how he swiftly changed banks and got funding to survive. While Branson acknowledges he built the Virgin brand initially, he has focused on delegation so it can thrive without him. He believes as long as you treat people well and give them room to make some mistakes, a brand and business can flourish.

Takeaways

• 😊 Remember that a company is a group of people - be a great listener, motivator and praiser
• 💡 The line between success and failure is very thin - be prepared and don't give up
• ✈️ Had a bad experience as an airline customer - decided to start an airline
• 😨 Bank went into panic when the airline struggled at first - had to change banks quickly
• 👍 Got support from music distributors to get temporary financing
• 🏦 Don't be beholden to any one bank - be willing to switch when needed
• 🌟 Built the Virgin brand through my own efforts initially
• 🤝 Learnt the art of delegation - now have a great team running Virgin companies
• 😎 Give Virgin companies freedom as if they were their own
• 💪 Virgin brand now strong enough to survive without me

Q & A

What does Branson say is the most important thing to remember when running a company?

Branson says the most important thing is to remember that a company is a group of people, and as a leader you need to be a great listener, motivator, and praiser to help people flourish.

What example does Branson give regarding the thin line between success and failure in business?

Branson gives the example of when he started an airline and his bank went into a panic, threatening to close Virgin down. He had to quickly get loans from music distributors to survive.

What happened when Branson returned from the inaugural Virgin Atlantic flight?

When Branson returned, he found his bank manager at his house saying the bank would close down Virgin that Monday unless he paid back his loans in 2 days.

How did Branson manage to keep Virgin Atlantic operating after the bank threatened to shut it down?

Branson spent the weekend ringing music distributors globally to ask for temporary loans to get through the following week, which they provided. This allowed Virgin to change banks and get a larger overdraft facility.

What lesson did Branson learn from his experience with the banks?

Branson learned not to think of your bank as something you're beholden to. Sometimes you need to be willing to change banks, just as you'd change doctors.

How is Virgin able to operate without Branson's day-to-day involvement now?

Branson has built an excellent team and delegates responsibility, giving them freedom as if they own the companies themselves. This allows the Virgin brand to flourish even without his direct oversight.

What does Branson say his role has been regarding the Virgin brand?

Branson says he used himself to build the Virgin brand and companies initially, but has since focused more on delegation and marketing while leaders run the companies day-to-day.

What makes Virgin resilient even without Branson according to him?

Branson says Virgin is now a top global brand that is well-respected. So even without him personally, Virgin can live on healthfully with his team running operations.

How does Branson describe his current role in Virgin?

Branson says now he mainly just provides some "icing on the cake" in terms of extra marketing budget, but Virgin operates fine without his daily oversight.

What analogy does Branson use regarding employees and leadership?

Branson compares employees to flowers - he says if you water flowers, they flourish. Similarly, if you praise people, they flourish under good leadership.

Outlines

00:00

😊 Leading a Company by Supporting Employees

The most important thing in running a company is remembering that a company is a group of people. As a leader you must be a great listener, motivator, and praiser to help people flourish. There is a thin line between success and failure when starting a business without financial backing.

😣 Overcoming Early Financial Troubles at Virgin Atlantic

After starting an airline, Branson's bank panicked and threatened to shut Virgin down. He got temporary loans from music distributors to survive a week until finding a new bank to provide the needed financing. The experience taught the need to sometimes be willing to change banks.

😌 Building a Sustainable Virgin Brand

Branson built the Virgin brand himself initially but also learned to delegate to a fantastic team that now runs the company groups. He gave them freedom to make some mistakes. The brand is now highly respected and will continue even without Branson.

Keywords

💡company

A company refers to a business organization that manufactures goods or provides services for profit. In the video, Richard Branson emphasizes that a company is simply a group of people, so as a leader you need to focus on motivating and praising people to help them flourish. He gives the analogy of people being like flowers that blossom when watered, relating to the importance of praise.

💡leader

A leader refers to the head or guide of a group, company, or country who makes important decisions. Richard Branson states key attributes of an effective leader - being a great listener, motivator, and praising people's talents. He shares how nourishing people, much like watering flowers, can help them thrive.

💡bank

A bank refers to a financial institution that accepts deposits, offers loans and other services. Richard Branson recounts an experience when his bank threatened to shut down Virgin Atlantic right after its inaugural flight due to loan concerns. He took a defiant stand against the bank and found alternate financing.

💡brand

A brand refers to the identity, logo, design scheme or other visual elements that identify a company or its products. Richard Branson built Virgin into one of the top 20 global brands, respected worldwide, and believes it can continue successfully without him due to good leadership delegation.

💡failure

Failure refers to lack of success in achieving goals or desired results. Richard Branson notes the thin line between success and failure for entrepreneurs without financial backing, and how he narrowly stayed solvent early on through persistence and changing banks.

💡delegation

Delegation means entrusting tasks or authority to others. Though Richard Branson built the Virgin brand himself initially, he learned the art of delegation over time and now has fantastic teams running the various Virgin companies quite autonomously.

💡freedom

Freedom here refers to autonomy or independence in decision-making. Richard Branson believes in giving his Virgin company leadership a lot of freedom to operate the businesses as if their own, including the freedom to make mistakes.

💡praise

Praise means expressing approval or admiration. Richard Branson emphasizes praise as a key way leaders can motivate people to flourish, like watering flowers.

💡team

A team refers to a group organized to work together on tasks. Richard Branson credits having a fantastic team of people now running the various Virgin companies successfully under his high-level guidance.

💡inspiration

Inspiration means the process of being mentally stimulated to feel creative. Though not explicitly stated, Richard Branson has served as an inspiration for many entrepreneurs over the years through his mentality, stories, and approach to business.

Highlights

The most important thing about running a company is to remember it's a group of people, so you have to be a great listener, motivator and praiser.

People are like flowers - if you water and praise them, they flourish, which is critical for a leader.

There's a very thin line between success and failure when starting a business without financial backing.

I set up an airline because I was fed up with flying other airlines, but almost went bankrupt days later.

I had to beg our music distributors for loans to save Virgin Atlantic after my bank panicked.

I pushed the bank manager out for threatening to close Virgin - you can't be beholden to banks.

We found a new bank willing to lend 30 times more than our old bank - be willing to switch banks.

Virgin works without me now after I built the brand and culture - I taught my team to run companies.

I give Virgin teams freedom to make mistakes and build their own ideas - that's why Virgin grew.

The Virgin brand is now top 20 globally and will outlive me - I just added some extra flair.

I used myself initially to build the Virgin brand across 400 companies worldwide.

Maybe I provide some marketing icing, but Virgin can live healthfully without me.

My near-failure taught me to sometimes move banks like doctors if needed.

Success and failure dividing line is so thin; most fail without financial backing.

Changed banks for 30X overdraft after survival weekend begging music distributors.

Transcripts

but I think that the most important the

most important thing about running a

company is to remember all the time what

a company is a company is simply a group

of people and as a leader of people you

have to be a great listener you have to

be a great motivator you have to be very

good at praising and looking for the

best in people you know people are no

different from from flowers if you water

flowers they flourish if you praise

people they flourish and and that's a

critical attribute of a leader

you know there is a very very thin

dividing line between success and

failure

most people who set up in business

without financial backing they fail that

sometimes in their lives and you know

I've only just stayed at the right side

of that dividing line for instance just

after you know we had a record company I

was fed up flying on other people's

airlines I felt that the experience of

flying another people's Airlines was an

unpleasant one and I decided to set up

an airline

well our bank went into into complete

panic attack and when I came back from

Lourdes doing the inaugural flight of

Virgin Atlantic's very very first flight

from London to New York I came back to

find the bank manager sitting on my

doorstep

and and informing me that they were

going to close virgin down on the Monday

and this was the Friday and that I had

two days to effectively pay that pay

them off the monies that they'd let

they'd loaned us and I remember pushing

the bank manager out of my house

telling him he wasn't welcome which is a

dangerous thing to do to your bank

manager and then spending the weekend

ringing around the world and to all of

the distributors of our music asking if

they could give us a temporary loan to

get us through the following week which

they were good enough to do and by the

end of the week we changed banks we'd

actually managed to find a bank that was

willing to lend us 30 times the the

overdraft facility that that our bank

and had Bank Atlantis and and we managed

managed to survive and I think you know

the moral of that story is actually you

know don't you know think of your your

your bank has somebody that you're

beholden to we don't you know

I mean people just don't move from one

bank to another sometimes you need to be

willing to step up and move move your

banks in the same way that you should

step up and move their doctor on

occasions or and anyway

I learned I learned from that lesson

Virgen does work very well without me I

mean I used myself to build the brand to

build you know this sort of three or

four hundred companies around the world

but I'll also learnt the art of

delegation have a fantastic team of

people who run the Virgen companies give

them a lot of freedom to run the

companies as if they were their own

companies give them the freedom to make

mistakes and and you know the Virgin

brand is now maybe one of the top 20

brands in the world well respected and

you know when my balloon bursts virgin

virgin will will will continue to

flourish and you know maybe I had the

icing on the cake on occasions maybe

that I have to spend a bit more money on

marketing but but fortunately the Virgin

is in a state where it can live on

healthfully without me