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To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground runningRichard Branson
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The first thing that has to be recognized is that one cannot train someone to be passionate--it's either in their DNA or it's not.Richard Branson
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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.Richard Branson
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A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.Richard Branson
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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.Richard Branson
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Fun is at the core of the way I like to do business and it has been key to everything I've done from the outset. More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin's success. I am aware that the ideas of business as being fun and creative goes right against the grain of convention, and it's certainly not how the they teach it at some of those business schools, where business means hard grind and lots of 'discounted cash flows' and net' present values'.Richard Branson
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I don’t believe it can be taught as if it were a recipe. There aren’t ingredients and techniques that will guarantee success. Parameters exist that, if followed, will ensure a business can continue, but you cannot clearly define our business success and then bottle it as you would a perfume. It’s not that simple: to be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running; and, if you have a good team round you and more than your fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula. Business is a fluid, changing substance.Richard Branson
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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.Richard Branson
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Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.Richard Branson
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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!Richard Branson
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Steve did not have a death wish. He had the exact opposite. His appetite for life was so strong, it outweighed all fear. So what if his choices shortened his life? His choices filled his life, and enriched the lives of those around him.Richard Branson
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Screw it. Let's do it.Richard Branson
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It is only by being bold that you get anywhere. If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside.Richard Branson
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What we are trying to do at Virgin is not to have one enormous company in one sector under one banner, but to have two hundred or even three hundred separate companies. Each company can stand on its own feet and, in that way, although we've got a brand that links them, if we were to have another tragedy such as that of 11 September - which hurt the airline industry - it would not bring the whole group crashing down.Richard Branson
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A passionate belief in your business and personal objectives can make all the difference between success and failure. If you aren't proud of what you're doing, why should anybody else be?Richard Branson
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Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.Richard Branson
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From my very first day as an entrepreneur, I've felt the only mission worth pursuing in business is to make people's lives better.Richard Branson
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All you have in business is your reputation - so it's very important that you keep your word.Richard Branson
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Starting your own business isn't just a job - it's a way of life.Richard Branson
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To me, business isn't about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It's about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.Richard Branson
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When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn't set out to build a business empire... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that's going to make a real difference to other people's lives.Richard Branson
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If you want to be more productive, then start at the start: get there on time. Whether it is a meeting, a flight, an appointment or a date, it's important to ensure you are there when you say you will be there. This may feel like an old-fashioned tip to give, but it has served me well for five decades in business.Richard Branson
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One thing is certain in business. You and everyone around you will make mistakes.Richard Branson
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Overcoming fear is the first step to success for entrepreneurs. The winners all exemplify that, and the hard work and commitment they have shown underlines what is needed to set up a business.Richard Branson
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I've never gone into business to make money. Every Virgin product and service has been made into a reality to make a positive difference in people's lives. And by focusing on the happiness of our customers, we have been able to build a successful group of companies.Richard Branson
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Well, I think that there's a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you're likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.Richard Branson
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My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you're moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.Richard Branson
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My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, 'Oh God, I've got to do this today.'Richard Branson
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We're one of the only animals in the world that don't really think of ourselves as animals, but we are animals, and we must respect our fellow animals.Richard Branson
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If you are a small company taking on a big company, you need to have a sense of humor.Richard Branson
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I'm a lad of the '60s. I started a magazine to try and end the Vietnam war, but it was a number of years before I had the profile, the financial resources and the time to do more.Richard Branson
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Treat failure as a lesson on how not to approach achieving a goal, and then use that learning to improve your chances of success when you try again. Failure is only the end if you decide to stop.Richard Branson
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We have teams of people working on electric cars. So you never know - you may find Virgin competing with the Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business.Richard Branson
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We have one planet in our solar system that's habitable, and that's the Earth, and space travel can transform things back here for the better. First of all, by just having people go to space and look back on this fragile planet we live on. People have come back transformed and have done fantastic things.Richard Branson
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My early business ventures included growing Christmas trees and breeding birds.Richard Branson
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The balloons only have one life and the only way of finding out whether they work is to attempt to fly around the world.Richard Branson
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I read everything, but generally more fact than fiction - especially autobiographies and biographies. I've read 'Long Walk to Freedom' by Nelson Mandela at least twice on holiday. Every time, I'm totally awed by his vision, strength and forgiveness. I feel honoured to have got to know him and his wonderful wife Graca over the years.Richard Branson
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The music industry is a strange combination of having real and intangible assets: pop bands are brand names in themselves, and at a given stage in their careers their name alone can practically gaurantee hit records.Richard Branson
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Those who know me know I'm passionate about lists, and top of my list of priorities is my family. My wife Joan and I do not consider our legacy to our children to be wealth or fame but the opportunity to pursue happiness by following their own path.Richard Branson
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Devon holds a special place in my heart. As a child, I normally went on holiday to Bantham and have lots of happy memories from my time there. I used to catch sand eels in the early morning and go fishing for bass throughout the day. I remember a gull taking my bait.Richard Branson
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When I was four, my mother insisted I get out of the car and find my own way home. Although I got lost, I did find my way home. It taught me the value of independence at an early age.Richard Branson
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You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.Richard Branson
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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.Richard Branson
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Fun is one of the most important - and underrated - ingredients in any successful venture. If you're not having fun, then it's probably time to call it quits and try something else.Richard Branson
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Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader you have to listen to the people who are on the front line.Richard Branson
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A complaint is a chance to turn a customer into a lifelong friend. I say that seriously, not as some press release baloney.Richard Branson
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When exploring London, you will come across lots of excitement by chance, so try to take everything in rather than just rushing around to all of the major tourist haunts.Richard Branson
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An important priority for me is a business must get their own house in order. Be or become an agent of positive change in your own enterprise and adopt responsible practices to eliminate the risks that often lie at the root of inequality and poverty.Richard Branson
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The funny thing is people won't let me pay for things. I'll be in a restaurant and the manager will say, 'Oh no, it's on the house.'Richard Branson
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The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.Richard Branson
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Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won't make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa - and it's about getting a balance.Richard Branson
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Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are.Richard Branson
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My mother was determined to make us independent. When I was four years old, she stopped the car a few miles from our house and made me find my own way home across the fields. I got hopelessly lost.Richard Branson
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I love Africa, and Ulusaba, our home in South Africa, is pretty special. It's on a rocky hill overlooking the bush, and from your room, you can see lions stalking zebras by the waterhole.Richard Branson