Look, I Think That When We Started Virgin Atlantic 30 Years Ago, We Had One 747 Competing With The Airlines That Had An Average Of 300 Planes Each. Every Single One Of Those Have Gone Bankrupt Because They Didn't Have Customer Service. They Had Might, But They Didn't Have Customer Service, So Customer Service Is Everything In The End.

-Richard Branson

Please Wait....
Translating....

Look, I Think That

Richard Branson

Topic

Thinking

Average

Years

More From Richard Branson

Just Watching Israel Bombarding Palestine And Palestine Sending One Or Two Little Rockets Over To Israel - It's Just Too Sad For Words.

Israel

Two

Littles

We've All Got To Do Everything We Can To Avoid Conflicts.

Conflict

If Family Or Friends Are Unwell Or Ill - It's Perhaps The Only Thing That Really Can Make One Feel Vulnerable.

Vulnerable

Ill

Feels

Sometimes I Do Wake Up In The Mornings And Feel Like I've Just Had The Most Incredible Dream. I've Just Dreamt My Life

Love

Marriage

Dream

If You Are Glass Half Empty Type Of Person, Maybe You Just Haven’t Been Holding The Right Glass

Glasses

Half

Empty

Just Start. You Will Learn So Many Lessons Just By Doing.

Lessons

I'm A True Believer In Working Hard And Partying Hard. I'm Fortunate To Be One Of Those People Who Can Have Just As Much Fun Partying Without Alcohol.

Fun

Party

People

I Just Love Every Minute Of My Life. I Love The Variety. Every Minute Of Every Day I'm Meeting Fascinating New People, Learning And Working With Wonderful Teams Of People Creating Wonderful Things.

Team

Creating

People

You Can Create A Business, Choose A Name, But Unless People Know About It You're Not Going To Sell Any Products.

Names

People

Knows

We Don't Actually Plan To Launch New Businesses Over The Next Few Years, But We Are Planning To Take The Ones We Have Into New Territories.

Years

Territory

The Quality Of Business Communications Has Become Poorer In Recent Years As People Avoid Phone Calls And Face-to-face Meetings, I Can Only Assume, In Some Misguided Quest For Efficiency.

Communication

Phones

Years

Records Are Made To Be Broken. It Is In Man's Nature To Continue To Strive To Do Just That.

Life

Change

Men

Have Fun Do Good And The Money Will Come

Fun

Having Fun

Whatever Business You Are In, Every Company Can Shoot For The Start In Their Own Way.

Inspirational

Business

Way

I Would Not Be Able To Change A Sparking Plug And I Would Not Be Able To Fly A Spaceship Or Build A Rocket Or Whatever. But What I Am Good At Doing Is Finding Brilliant People And Surrounding Myself With Brilliant People.

People

Able

Rockets

I Think You Should Do In Life What You Think You'll Make A Real Difference At. And Generally, As A Businessperson, You Do Things You Don't Really Have Experience In.

Real

Thinking

Differences

One Of The Best Bits Of Advice I Can Give Is, Early On, When You're Building A New Business, Try To Find Somebody To Run It On A Day-to-day Basis To Free Yourself Up To Look At The Bigger Picture.

Running

Giving

Advice

Communicate Your Passion Clearly, Concisely And With Genuine Conviction.

Leadership

Passion

Engagement

It's Incredible To Get People To Turn Out Right In The Middle Of No Where.

People

Incredibles

Middle

All Successful People - Not Just Entrepreneurs - Have Got Things Wrong Over And Over Again Before Finding The Right Solution.

Successful

People

Entrepreneur

If You Get Your Face And Your Name Out There Enough, People Will Start To Recognize You.

Names

People

Faces

Breaking The Rules And Challenging Convention Is In The Dna Of Every Successful Entrepreneur.

Successful

Dna

Entrepreneur

My Number One Rule In Business, And In Life, Is To Enjoy What You Do. Running A Business Involves Long Hours And Hard Decisions; If You Don't Have The Passion To Keep You Going, Your Business Will More Than Likely Fail. If You Don't Enjoy What You Are Doing, Then You Shouldn't Be Doing It.

Running

Passion

Numbers

Complexity Is Your Enemy. Any Fool Can Make Something Complicated. It Is Hard To Keep Things Simple.

Simple

Entrepreneur

Challenges

I Know Enough To Know That No Man Is An Island.

Men

Islands

People

Irreverence Ran On Both Sides Of Our Family...my Parents Brought Me Up To Think We Could All Change The World.

Change

Thinking

Parent

Colleagues Should Take Care Of Each Other, Have Fun, Celebrate Success, Learn By Failure, Look For Reasons To Praise Not To Criticize, Communicate Freely And Respect Each Other.

Fun

Innovation

Culture

Many Assume My Business Success Has Brought Me Happiness. But The Way I See It, I Am Successful Because I Am Happy.

Successful

Business Success

Way

I Think Sometimes When You Come From A Conservative Background, You Want To Rebel A Little Bit. I Dropped Out Of School At 15 And Learned Early In Life That Saying Yes Was A Lot More Fun Than Saying No. If You Have The Opportunity To Explore The Skies And Attempt Something People Haven't Done Before - Well, I Was Damned If I Was Going To Sit Around Watching Television While Someone Else Was Doing It.

Fun

School

Opportunity

As An Adventurer...i Try To Protect Against The Downside. I Make Sure I Have Covered As Many Eventualities As I Can. In The End, You Have To Take Calculated Risks; Otherwise You're Going To Sit In Mothballs All Day And Do Nothing.

Health

Inspire

Risk

Don't Wait Till You Are Big Before You Begin Building Your Brand. Build A Brand From Scratch Alongside Your Business.

Waiting

Survival

Scratches

Can You Afford To Ignore China? It's Like Saying You Can Afford To Ignore The Internet. I Don't Think So.

Thinking

Internet

China

Give Your Employees A Mission That Matches Their Ambitions. When You Challenge People, They Surprise You.

Ambition

People

Giving

And You Know, I've Had Great Fun Turning Quite A Lot Of Different Industries On Their Head And Making Sure Those Industries Will Never Be The Same Again, Because Virgin Went In And Took Them On.

Fun

Different

Virgins

I'd Like To See The Government Back A Programme Of Research Into The Medical Properties Of Cannabis And I Do Not Object To Its Responsible Use As A Recreational Relaxant.

Weed

Marijuana

Government

Too Many Companies Want Their Brands To Reflect Some Idealised, Perfected Image Of Themselves. As A Consequence, Their Brands Acquire No Texture, No Character And No Public Trust.

Business

Character

Texture

Have Passion For What You Do; Believe In Yourself And Your Product And Your Customer; Persevere; Delegate; Listen. Have Fun. Today, I Add: "do Good".

Fun

Believe

Passion

If You Follow Your Dreams And Spend Your Life Doing What Brings You Joy, You Are More Likely To Find Success

Dream

Joy

Ifs

Be Creative. Innovate Consistently On The Little Things That The Big Companies Ignore. Little Things Often Make Big Differences In Business.

Differences

Creative

Survival

We Have A Business That Some People Feel Pollutes, And I Happen To Agree With Them. ... And So On The Basis Of Trying To Do Good And, You Know, Hopefully Turn A Profit, What We Did Was We Pledged That We'd Put All The Profits From Our Airline Business Into Trying To Develop Clean Fuels.

Airline Business

People

Trying

An Entrepreneur Is Somebody Who Is Taking Bold Risks, Is Often Doing Things That Have Never Been Done Before, Trying To Do Things Better. And An Adventurer Is Challenging Themselves, Often Doing Things That Have Never Been Done Before, Seeing What They're Capable Of. In Both Cases, You've Got To Protect Against The Downside.

Entrepreneur

Risk

Challenges

Clearly In The Eyes Of The Consumer; The Brand Has Not Been Diluted, But We Must Guard Against That Happening At All Costs.

Eye

Cost

Entrepreneurial

Run Lean; Avoid Unnecessary Expenses.

Running

Survival

Unnecessary

To Launch A Business Means Successfully Solving Problems. Solving Problems Means Listening.

Mean

Listening

Problem

If You Look After Your Staff, They'll Look After Your Customers. It's That Simple.

Leadership

Simple

Looks

I Make Up My Mind About Whether I Can Trust Someone Within 60 Seconds Of Meeting Them

Mind

Meetings

Seconds

My Parents Brought Me Up With This Philosophy. You Must Do Things. You Mustn't Watch What Other People Are Doing. You Must Not Listen To What Other People Are Doing.

Philosophy

People

Parent

I Never Set Out To Be A Businessman

Businessman

Your Company Should Act As A Springboard For Ambitious Employees, Not A Set Of Shackles.

Inspirational

Business

Ambitious

Space Is Hard - But Worth It. We Will Persevere And Move Forward Together.

Moving

Space

Together

I Think Bands Will Actually Make More Money Without Record Companies; A Much Bigger Share Of The Money Will Go To The Bands. You Won't Have Record Shops Taking 40 Percent Of The Money. You Won't Have Record Labels Taking 40 Percent Of The Money. So They Don't Have To Sell As Many Albums As They Used To In The Past. So It's Not Necessarily A Bad Thing If Record Companies Disappear.

Past

Thinking

Albums

When People Warn Me Against Doing Something Once My Mind Is Made Up, I Grow Increasingly Determined To Try It.

People

Mind

Trying

One Key To Entrepreneurial Success Is To Get A Great Group Of People Around You Who Believe In Your Idea.

Inspiring

Believe

Keys

A Company Is People … Employees Want To Know… Am I Being Listened To Or Am I A Cog In The Wheel? People Really Need To Feel Wanted.

People

Cogs

Needs

Look For The Best In People To Build A Fantastic Team

Team

People

Self Improvement

We Have The Enormous Opportunity In Our Hands To Make A Positive Difference For Business, People, And The Planet.

Opportunity

Hands

Differences

The Best Advice I Ever Received? Simple: Have No Regrets.

Regret

Simple

Advice

And Ever Since Then [i] Have Set Up Businesses Basically Out Of Frustration. I Mean, I Set Up Virgin Atlantic With One Second-hand 747 Because I Hated The Experience Of Flying On Other People's Airlines. And I Thought, You Know, I Could Try To Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On. And People Liked It.

Mean

Frustration

Hands

Every Single Astronaut Who Has Come Back From Space Comes Back Determined To Do More To Protect It.

Space

Determined

Astronaut

If You Create Something That Makes A Difference In People's Lives, You Are Likely To Become A Business Success As Well

Differences

People

Self Improvement

In The '80's My Gut Feeling Was That Airlines Were Crap. I Hated Spending Time On Planes. I Thought We Could Create The Kind Of Airline I'd Like. So We Got A Secondhand 747 And Gave It A Go.

Feelings

Aviation

Kind

I Learnt From An Early Age This Need To Delegate Responsibility Out To Other Team Members As There Is Just Too Much For One Person To Do Themselves. What Is The Point Of Hiring Talented Team Members If You Don't Give Them The Freedom To Make The Most Of The Chance You Have Given Them?

Team

Responsibility

Giving

I Was A Risk-taker As A Young Man, And I Don't Regret It. I'm Not Adventurous In Quite The Same Way Now, But I Still Love The Challenge Of Testing Myself To The Limits, Flying Around The World, Or Seeing If I Can Be The First To Fly A Balloon Across The Atlantic, Or Trying To Take People Into Space At An Affordable Price In An Environmentally Friendly Way. I'll Be Going Into Space With Three Generations Of My Family!

Regret

Men

People

Making Money Never Was My Incentive. I Just Want To Fight Big Companies.

Fighting

Incentives

Want

I've Used The Phoenix Centrifuge To Replicate What The Body's Going To Go Through On The Flight Up. I've Also Done Some Gravity Tests With Zero-g [a Charter-flight Service In Arlington, Va., That Uses Modified Boeing 727s To Simulate Weightlessness], Which Went Great.

Zero

Adventure

Phoenix

A Business Has To Be Involving, It Has To Be Fun, And It Has To Exercise Your Creative Instincts.

Life

Success

Business

I'm Not The Sort Of Person Who Fears Failure.

Persons

I Think It's Quite Great To Set Yourself A Big Challenge And Then You've Got Another Reason For Keeping Fit.

Thinking

Challenges

Fit

Throughout My Business Life I Have Always Tried To Keep On Top Of Costs And Protect The Downside Risk As Much Possible. The Virgin Group Has Survived Only Because We Have Always Kept Tight Control Of Our Cash. But, Likewise, I Also Know That Sometimes It Is Essential To Break These Rules And Spend Lavishly.

Risk

Groups

Essentials

I Like To Take Chances On People, And Whenever Possible, Promote From Within - It Sends A Great Message To Everyone In The Company When Someone Demonstrates A Passion For The Job And Leadership Skills At Every Step Along The Way And Is Rewarded With A Leadership Role.

Jobs

Passion

Skills

Whenever I See People Getting A Bad Deal I Want To Step In And Do Something About It. Of Course, This Is Not Pure Altruism - There's A Profit To Be Made Too.

People

Want

Steps

There Are Quite A Few Things I've Done That Even I Thought Might Have Been One Step Too Far. But If You Are Willing To Make A Fool Of Yourself And Make People Smile, As Long As You Do It With A Sense Of Fun, You Can Get Away With It.

Fun

Long

People

It's Obviously Incredibly Important To Keep The Body Fit In Order To Keep The Mind Fit, And Be Able To Find Time For Friends.

Order

Mind

Important

On Conflicts, Generally Speaking, The World Is A Hell Of A Lot Better To Live In Today Than It Was Thirty Years Ago, Despite What's Going On In Syria. There Are Definitely Hopeful Signs That The World Is Moving, Decade By Decade, In The Right Direction.

Moving

Years

Hopeful

My Very First Venture Was A National Student Magazine To Try To Campaign Against The [vietnam] War. And So I Wanted To Be An Editor. I Wanted To Bring The Magazine Out. And In Order For The Magazine To Survive I Had To Worry About The Printing And The Paper Manufacturing And The Distribution. And, You Know, I Had To Try To, At The End Of The Year, Have More Money Coming In Than Going Out.

War

Order

Years

Values Cannot Be Speedily Forgotten If It Is Inconvenient Or Commercially Expedient. Values Have To Have Meaning And Longevity; Otherwise They Are Valueless. You Cannot Embrace Innovation Up To A Point Or Only Sometimes. Branding Demands Commitment; Commitment To Continual Re-invention; Striking Cords With People To Stir Their Emotions; And Commitment To Imagination. It Is Easy To Be Cynical About Such Things, Much Harder To Be Successful.

Commitment

Successful

Imagination

What Matters Is Working With A Few Close Friends, People You Respect, Knowing That If Times Did Turn Bad These People Would Hold Together.

Success

Leadership

Knowing

Companies Need To Have A Lot More Flexibility With Their People... . If Somebody Wants To Golf Around The World For Two Months, Okay, Well, Maybe On An Unpaid Basis, Let Them Do It. That Sort Of Flexibility I Think Is Incredibly Important Because Most Of Our Time, We Spend At Work.

Golf

Thinking

Two

Respect Is How To Treat Everyone, Not Just Those You Want To Impress.

Inspirational

Respect

Business

I've Been In Africa, And I've Been To Hospitals Of Africa, And They're Not Hospitals, They're Places Where People Go To Die. And Rows And Rows And Rows Of People Just Dying And The Waiting Rooms Of The Hospitals Are Full Of People Waiting To Get Into The Beds Of The People Who Died The Night Before, And They're Dying From Unnecessary Diseases.

Night

Waiting Rooms

People

If You Look For The Best In Your Employees, They'll Flourish. If You Criticize Or Look For The Worst, They'll Shrivel Up. We All Need Lots Of Watering.

Insightful

Needs

Looks

If You Get Into Entrepreneurshi P Driven By Profit, You Are A Lot More Likely To Fail. The Entrepreneurs Who Succeed Usually Want To Make A Difference To People’s Lives, Not Just Their Own Bank Balances. The Desire To Change Things For The Better Is The Motivation For Taking Risks And Pursuing Seemingly Impossible Business Ideas.

Motivation

Ideas

Differences

I Drink About 30 Cups Of Tea A Day. I'm A Complete Tea Addict.

Tea

Cups

Drink

Of Course An Individual Can Make A Huge Difference But It Is When Those Individuals Come Together With Like-minded Souls That They Can Change The World For Ever And Importantly For The Better.

Differences

Soul

Together

Enjoy Life - You Only Get One.

Enjoy Life

Enjoy

With The Casino And The Beds, Our Passengers Will Have At Least Two Ways To Get Lucky On One Of Our Flights.

Two

Luck

Bed

It Is Important To Remember That Life Is Not A Dress Rehearsal And That None Of Us Should Waste Our Time On Doing Things That Don’t Spark Fires Within Us. My Golden Rule For Business And Life Is: We Should All Enjoy What We Do And Do What We Enjoy.

Fire

Important

Dresses

Making The Extra Effort To Say Thanks In A Genuine, Personal Manner Goes A Long Way. It Is Pleasurable To Do, And It Encourages More Of The Same Good Behavior.

Long

Effort

Way

Learn To Raise Capital By Any Means Necessary. That's Your Primary Job As An Entrepreneur. You Must Continually Raise Capital From Family And Friends, Banks, Suppliers, Customers And Investors.

Jobs

Mean

Entrepreneur

A Business Is Simply An Idea To Make Other People's Lives Better.

Ideas

People

Life Is A Helluva Lot More Fun If You Say Yes Rather Than No

Inspirational

Life

Fun

Business Opportunities Are Like Buses, There's Always Another One Coming.

Inspirational

Business

Opportunity

It Isn't Effective Or Productive To Force Your Employees To Do Anything. Choice Empowers People And Makes For A More Content Workforce.

Leadership

People

Choices

I Have Had A Lot Of Fun Pushing The Boundaries On My Balloon And Kitesurf Adventures, Breaking Some World Records In The Process, And I Think This Attitude Of Having Fun Whilst Working Hard Is One That Lends Itself Very Well To Successful Entrepreneurship.

Fun

Attitude

Adventure

As People's Access To The Internet Grows We're Seeing The Sharing Economy Boom - I Think Our Obsession With Ownership Is At A Tipping Point And The Sharing Economy Is Part Of The Antidote For That.

Thinking

People

Tipping

Allowing My People To Have A Good Work-life Balance By Working Flexibly Is Very Important To Me.

People

Balance

Important

I Wanted To Be An Editor Or A Journalist, I Wasn't Really Interested In Being An Entrepreneur, But I Soon Found I Had To Become An Entrepreneur In Order To Keep My Magazine Going.

Success

Business

Writing

Money Is For Making Things Happen.

Money

Happens

Things Happen

We Will Be Producing Supersonic Planes Which Will Go Far, Far Faster Than Concordes. New York To Tokyo Could Be Less Than An Hour. You Could Be Traveling At 19,000 Miles An Hour Orbitally.

New York

Space

Tokyo

You See, It's Essential That One Of Us Stays Awake During The Flight [ballon]. So, Rather Than Using The Comfortable Virgin Seats Which We Used To Cross The Atlantic, We've Asked British Airways For Two Of Theirs.

Two

Essentials

Insult

Learn To Look After Your Staff First And The Rest Will Follow

Looks

Firsts

Staff

Exploration Is A Wonderful Way To Open Our Eyes To The World, & To Truly See That Impossible Is Just A Word.

Eye

World

Way

The Bigger The Dream, The Greater The Opportunity

Dream

Opportunity

Bigger

Consider Getting Smaller In Order To Get Bigger.

Order

Bigger

Good Brands Reflect The Histories Of The Time And The Group Of People That Made Them. They Can Not Be Copied. They Can Not Be Recycled.

Business

People

Groups

I Like Challenges In Life And Pushing Myself Out Of My Comfort Zone.

Challenges

Comfort

Pushing

It Is Not For Me (to Decide). It Is Up To The Company To Decide Whether The Price Is Fair Or Not.

Company

Fairs

Be Authentic And Organic. It Can't Be Forced Or It Won't Work. And Most Importantly, Have Fun.

Fun

Having Fun

Our Generation Has Inherited An Incredibly Beautiful World From Our Parents And They From Their Parents. It Is In Our Hands Whether Our Children And Their Children Inherit The Same World. We Must Not Be The Generation Responsible For Irreversibly Damaging The Environment.

Beautiful

Children

Responsibility

I Believe In Benevolent Dictatorship Provided I Am The Dictator.

Be Swift To Take Advantage Of Business Opportunities. Bigger Companies Are Too Cumbersome To Move Quickly; This Can Be A Competitive Advantage For You.

Moving

Opportunity

Survival

If You Find Yourself Stuck In The Middle There Is Only One Way To Go, Forward.

Finding Yourself

Way

Middle

From The First Days Of My Career As An Entrepreneur, I Have Always Used My Own And My Team's Lack Of Experience To Our Advantage. In Fact, At Our First Venture, Student Magazine, We Used Our Newcomer Status To Secure Great Interviews And Generate Publicity - People Were Excited About Our New Project And Wanted To Get Involved. Our Inexperience Fed Our Restless Enthusiasm For Trying New Things, Which Became Part Of Our Core Mission.

Team

Careers

People

The Years I Would Have Spent At University, I Spent Building Student Magazine And Virgin Records. For Me That Was Far More Fun And Satisfying. I Have Treated Everyday As The University Education I Never Had And Think I Learnt More About Business And Life Than I Would Have At University In The Process.

Fun

Thinking

Years

If You're Looking To Become An Entrepreneur Then Don't Waste Your Time Going To University Or Business School - Just Get On And Do It.

School

Entrepreneur

Waste

You Only Live Once, And I Just Don’t Want To Waste A Minute Of My Life.

Life

Want

You Only Live Once

I Think The Thing About Capitalism Is It's An Evil Necessity, Capitalism. Communism Has Been Tried And Failed, And Socialism, That Doesn't Work Very Well. Capitalism Works, But The Problem About Capitalism Is It Does Mean That A Few Individuals Become Very Wealthy. Therefore, I Think Those Individuals Have Enormous Responsibility To Redistribute That Wealth Either By Creating New Businesses Or Creating New Jobs And Making Sure That Money Just Doesn't Lie In A Bank Account For Future Generations.

Jobs

Lying

Mean

I Myself Have Invested In Uber And Hailo, I Think They Offer Great Alternatives To Disrupt Markets That Have Remained Unchanged For Many Years.

Thinking

Years

Uber

What Can You Do To Make A Difference? And Why Should You Do It? (...) The Scale Of One's Social Investments Doesn't Matter. What Matters Is That You Operate As A Force For Good At Every Scale Available To You.

What Matters

Differences

Making A Difference

Global Warming Is Another Big Area That We Need To Get On Top Of. And Diseases In Africa, Which We're Also Working On And Seeing If We Can Make A Difference On. And There Are Lots Of Issues That Governments Seem To Be Blind About.

Differences

Issues

Government

A Successful Business Must Have A Sound Knowledge Of Its Market And Work On How Its Product Or Service Will Be Different, Stand Out And Improve People's Lives. If You Can Ensure It Responds To A Real Need In The Market Place, Your Business Can Punch Well Above Its Weight.

Real

Successful

People

I'm A Great Believer That Saying Yes Is A Lot More Fun Than Saying No.

Fun

Saying Yes

Saying No

If A Chairman Of A Company Visits Seattle, That Chairman Should Take All The Staff Out In The Evening And Have A Few Drinks Together, Talk Together And Party Together And Not Be Embarrassed About The Staff Seeing The Weaker Side Of You.

Party

Together

Evening

It's Never Easy To Set Up Any Business, But It Comes Back To Determination And Drive And The Love Of What You Do!

Determination

Easy

You Shouldn’t Blindly Accept A Leader’s Advice. You’ve Got To Question Leaders On Occasion.

Leadership

Advice

Accepting

So I've Seen Life As One Long Learning Process. And If I See - You Know, If I Fly On Somebody Else's Airline And Find The Experience Is Not A Pleasant One, Which It Wasn't In - 21 Years Ago, Then I'd Think, Well, You Know, Maybe I Can Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On.

Thinking

Years

Long

We Hope To Create Thousands Of Astronauts Over The Next Few Years And Bring Alive Their Dream Of Seeing The Majestic Beauty Of Our Planet From Above, The Stars In All Their Glory And The Amazing Sensations Of Weightlessness And Space Flight.

Dream

Stars

Future

...making Profits Is Important Because It Keeps All Our People In Jobs And, You Know, It Keeps What We - What We've Created Going, But, You Know, What We're - What I Get My - What I'm Proud About Doing Is Creating Companies Which We're Really Proud Of, You Know, Which We Can Really Be Proud Of And A Byproduct Of That Hopefully Will Be That They'll Be Profitable And Be Able To Pay The Bills.

Jobs

Business

Creating

Above All, You Want To Create Something You're Proud Of.

Successful

Marketing

Business Success

I Think I've Learned That If You Have A House, You End Up Living In The Kitchen, So If You Have One Big Kitchen And Then Enough Bedrooms For Your Family, That's About All You Need For A Home.

Home

Thinking

House

Anyone Who Makes An Effort At Whatever They Hope To Accomplish Can, And Will, Seriously Improve Their Chances Of Succeeding.

Success

Effort

Succeed

First And Foremost, Any Business Proposal I Like Must Sound Fun.

Fun

Adventure

Sound

We Need Government And Business To Work Together For The Benefit Of Everyone. It Should No Longer Be Just About Typical "corporate Social Responsibility" Where The "responsibility" Bit Is Usually The Realm Of A Small Team Buried In A Basement Office - Now It Should Be About Every Single Person In A Business Taking Responsibility To Make A Difference In Everything They Do, At Work And In Their Personal Lives.

Team

Responsibility

Government

Grow Internally First. Strengthen Your Bottom Line First Before Considering External Growth.

Growth

Survival

Lines

In 30 Years Time, As Technology Moves Forward Even Further, People Are Going To Look Back And Wonder Why Offices Ever Existed.

Moving

Technology

Years

Launching A Business Is Essentially An Adventure In Problem-solving.

Powerful

Adventure

Problem

There Are No Quick Wins In Business - It Takes Years To Become An Overnight Success.

Winning

Years

Overnight Success

Right Now I'm Just Delighted To Be Alive And To Have Had A Nice Long Bath.

Nice

Long

Alive

I’ve Always Had A Soft Spot For Dreamers – Not Those Who Waste Their Time Thinking ‘what If’ But The Ones Who Look To The Sky And Say ‘why Can’t I Shoot For The Moon?’

Moon

Thinking

Sky

The Time To Go Into A New Business Is When It’s Badly Run By Others.

Running

Powerful

Innovation

I Can Honestly Say That I Have Never Gone Into Any Business Purely To Make Money. If That Is The Sole Motive Then I Believe You Are Better Off Not Doing It. A Business Has To Be Involving, It Has To Be Fun, And It Has To Exercise Your Creative Instincts.

Motivational

Business

Fun

Set Impossible Challenges. Then Catch Up With Them.

Meaningful

Challenges

Impossible

My Mother Always Taught Me Never To Look Back In Regret But To Move On To The Next Thing.

Regret

Moving

Looks

To Have Created One Of The Most Respected Companies In The World. Not Necessarily The Biggest.

Business

Vision

Legacy

Well, I'm Somebody Who Is Just Living ...living Life, And If I Get Frustrated By Something, Then I Like To Try To Put It Right.

Live Life

Frustrated

Trying

I Never Really Felt Secure Until I Was Well Into My 30s, Because Anytime I Had Success, I Would Invest In New Projects.

Projects

Wells

Secure

Good Customer Service Begins At The Top. If Your Senior People Don't Get It, Even The Strongest Links Further Down The Line Can Become Compromised.

Senior

People

Links

If Somebody Offers You An Amazing Opportunity But You Are Not Sure You Can Do It, Say Yes-then Learn How To Do It Later!

Motivational

Inspiring

Powerful

I Have Always Been A Huge Believer In The Inestimable Value Good Mentoring Can Contribute To Any Nascent Business

Good Man

Mentoring

Believer

Business Is What Concerns Us. If You Care About Something Enough To Do Something About It, You're In Business

Care

Enough

Concern

Well, I Think That There's A Very Thin Dividing Line Between Success And Failure.

Success

Thinking

Lines

I Don’t Think Of Work As Work And Play As Play. It’s All Living.

Life

Money

Thinking

It's Really Important To Find An Hour Or Two To A Day To Make Sure That You Keep Healthy, Keep Fit. It's Very Easy Just To Forget That Aspect. And If You're Feeling Really Good And Fit, I Think You Can Get Two Or Three Extra Hours A Day Of Hard Work In As Well.

Hard Work

Thinking

Two

The Best Lessons Are Usually Learned From Failure. You Musn't Beat Yourself Up If You Fail - Just Pick Yourself Up, Learn As Much As You Can From The Experience And Get On With The Next Challenge...the Brave May Not Live Forever, But The Cautious Never Live At All.

Stay Strong

Brave

Forever

Tough Times Are Inevitable In Life And In Business. But How You Compose Yourself During Those Times Defines Your Spirit And Will Define Your Future.

Tough Times

Spirit

Your Future

Having A Good Network Can Be Invaluable. It Opens Doors For You And Allows You To Enter Into Opportunities That Are Beneficial To Your Business. In This Sense, 'who You Know' Is Undoubtedly Important, But To Me 'what You Know' Is More Important Because Once An Opportunity Shows Itself, It Is Up To You To Make The Most Of It, And This Is Down To Your Knowledge And Skill.

Opportunity

Doors

Skills

Only A Fool Never Changes His Mind.

Mind

Fool

Never Change

Publicity Is Absolutely Critical. A Good Pr Story Is Infinitely More Effective Than A Front Page Ad.

Communication

Stories

Pages

As An Entrepreneur, You've Got To Protect Against The Company Going Bust. And As An Adventurer, You've Got To Protect Against Losing Your Life. It's Even More Important As An Adventurer To Get It Right.

Entrepreneur

Important

Losing

The Way You Treat Your Employees Is The Way They Will Treat Your Customers

Way

Employee Appreciation

Treats

The Brand Is Only As Good As Your Products, So.. If People Have A Good Experience On Virgin Atlantic Or If They Have A Good Experience On Virgin Trains Or.. If They Have A Virgin Mobile Phone And They Can Get Straight Through To Our People And They're Well Looked After And Then They'll Try The Next Product That We Launch.

Phones

People

Trying

I Love Stirring The Pot. I Love Giving Big Companies A Run For Their Money - Especially If They're Offering Expensive, Poor-quality Products.

Running

Business

Poor Quality

As Much As You Need A Strong Personality To Build A Business From Scratch, You Also Must Understand The Art Of Delegation. I Have To Be Good At Helping People Run The Individual Businesses, And I Have To Be Willing To Step Back. The Company Must Be Set Up So It Can Continue Without Me.

Leadership

Running

Art

I Suspect In Most Companies, The Public Relations Person Is Down At No. 20 In The Pecking Order. But Here, He Is Fighting Incredibly Important Battles. If A Negative Story Starts Running Away With Itself In The Press And Is Not Dealt With Fast, It Can Badly Damage The Brand, And So We Put Enormous Weight On Our Pr People.

Running

Fighting

Order

Of Course, A Lot Of Businesses Want To Reach Students, So I Funded The Magazine By Selling Advertising. I Sold Something Like $8,000 Worth Of Advertising For The First Edition, And That Was In 1966. I Printed Up 50,000 Copies, And I Didn't Even Have To Charge For Them On The Newsstand Because My Costs Were Already Covered.

Purpose

Cost

Magazines

Smiling Can Be A Competitive Advantage. It Makes Everyone Feel Better And Every Situation Brighter.

Feel Better

Advantage

Situation

Quality Brands Never Go Bankrupt.

Quality

Brands

The Brands That Will Thrive In The Coming Years Are The Ones That Have A Purpose Beyond Profit.

Years

Purpose

Profit

I Think That You're Going To Get So Much More Out Of Life If You Just Say Yes At Every Opportunity.

Opportunity

Thinking

Ifs

Kite Surfing Is A Great Way Of Keeping Fit. Kiting Is Great Because You're Bouncing Over The Waves And You're Surfing The Waves. I Do Quite Long Kite Surfs-50 Miles In A Day.

Adventure

Long

Surfing

We Love Formula One And Think Formula One's Great. But We Think Formula E Is Different. We Would Be Making A Big Mistake If We Tried To Compete With Formula One And Be Similar To Formula One, We Have To Be Radically Different To Formula One To Have A Chance Of Survival. I Don't Mean Survival By Beating Formula One But Co-existing Complimentary To Formula One.

Love

Mistake

Mean

What Is A Business? It's Simply An Idea That Makes Someone Else's Life Better

Ideas

If You Aim Higher Than You Expect, You Could Reach Higher Than You Dreamed.

Aim High

Aim

Higher

My Philosophy Is That If I Have Any Money I Invest It In New Ventures And Not Have It Sitting Around.

Philosophy

New Ventures

Marketing

By Nature I Am Curious About Life, And This Extends To My Business.

Curious

Commitment Is Not Letting People Down. That's Very Important In Life.

Commitment

People

Important

Everything In Your Business Can Be Outsourced... If You're Not Emotionally Attached To Doing It All.

Outsourced

Ifs

To Achieve Consistently Terrific Customer Service, You Must Hire Wonderful People Who Believe In Your Company's Goals, Habitually Do Better Than The Norm And Who Will Love Their Jobs; Make Sure That Their Ideas And Opinions Are Heard And Respected; Then Give Them The Freedom To Help And Solve Problems For Your Customers. Rather Than Providing Rules Or Scripts, You Should Ask Them To Treat The Customer As They Themselves Would Like To Be Treated - Which Is Surely The Highest Standard.

Jobs

Believe

Ideas

If You're Hurt, Lick Your Wounds And Get Up Again. If You've Given It Your Absolute Best, It's Time To Move Forward.

Inspirational

Hurt

Business

My People Are At The Core Of Everything I Do, And I Recognize The Importance Of Giving Them The Flexibility To Balance Work Around Their Personal Lives.

Giving

People

Balance

Screw The Competition - Focus On Good Customer Service.

Focus

Competition

Good Customer Service

I May Be A Businessman In That I Set Up And Run Companies For Profit, But When I Try To Plan Ahead And Dream Up New Products And New Companies, I'm An Idealist.

Leadership

Running

Dream

I Always Tell Other People To Protect Against The Downside, And Not Risk Roughing On New Ventures, But I Never Stuck To That Rule Myself.

New Ventures

People

Risk

If You Can Run One Company, You Can Run Another. Running Companies Are About Inspiring And Driving The Best Out Of People.

Running

People

Driving

I Have Learnt More From My Failures Than My Successes.

I Believe A Great Company, Whether Improving A Sector Or Creating A New One, Needs To Have An Excellent Product Or Service At Its Core; Needs Strong Management To Execute The Plan And A Good Brand To Give It The Edge Over Its Competitors. Providing Quality Service, Combined With Value For Money And In An Innovative Way Ensures You Offer Real Value - And Finally To Be Responsible To Society And The Planet.

Strong

Real

Believe

I Have Always Lived My Life By Thriving On Opportunity And Adventure. Some Of The Best Ideas Come Out Of The Blue, And You Have To Keep An Open Mind To See Their Virtue.

Adventure

Opportunity

Blue

The War On Drugs Has Gone On For About Forty-five, Fifty Years - And It's Been A Complete Failure. If You Had A Business That Was Failing So Badly, You Would Change Course. And It's Just Incredible That Governments Continue Along The Same Course.

War

Years

Government

We Experiment Endlessly, With New Products, New Methods, New Companies And New Marketing. A Successful Business The Emphasis Is On Experiment And Development, Ideas Are The Lifeblood Of Business.

Successful

Ideas

Marketing

I've Been Lucky To Have Survived Balloon Trips, Boating Trips, You Know, A Lot Of Rather Foolish Things In My Life, So I Was Definitely Born Under A Lucky Star.

Stars

Lucky

Balloons

I Am A Believer In Trying To Treat People Properly And Trying To Respond And Making Sure That I Find The Time To Be Courteous.

People

Trying

Treats

I Love The Freedom Of Movement That My Phone Gives Me. That Has Definitely Transformed My Life.

Life

Phones

Giving

Have Faith In Yourself. Think Yes Not No. Live Life To The Full. Never Give Up.

Giving Up

Live Life

Thinking

I Have Always Lived My Life By Making Lists: Lists Of People To Call, Lists Of Ideas, Lists Of Companies To Set Up, Lists Of People Who Can Make Things Happen. Each Day I Work Through These Lists, And That Sequence Of Calls Propels Me Forward.

Ideas

People

Each Day

If You Are A New Startup Company, Try Not To Arouse The Interest Or Suspicion Of Your Competition; Especially If They Are A Bigger Company. They Can Crush You While You Are Still In Your Startup Phase. Lie Low While Still Strengthening Your Bottom Line.

Crush

Lying

Competition

I Think Business Needs To Have A Heart And To Have A Heart A Company Must Be More Than Just A Moneymaking Machine.

Heart

Thinking

Needs

One Day Offices Will Be A Thing Of The Past

Past

Office

One Day

The First Thing To Look For When Searching For A Great Employee Is Somebody With A Personality That Fits With Your Company Culture. Most Skills Can Be Learned, But It Is Difficult To Train People On Their Personality.

Fun

Caring

Helping Others

No Matter How Big You Are, Details Count!

Details

Matter

Bigs

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

Trending Author