Richard Branson famous quotes

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.
-- Richard Branson

#Inspirational #Success #Business

Realize that the people who are working with you, this is their life. You know, 80% of their time is spent at work. Make sure that they're proud of what they're doing, that they're enjoying what they're doing.
-- Richard Branson

#People #Proud #Realizing

You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
-- Richard Branson

#Inspirational #Success #Encouraging

Smoking marijuana, as long as you leave the nicotine out of it, is certainly no more damaging than having a drink, and I suspect better for you than having a drink.
-- Richard Branson

#Marijuana #Long #Smoking

Play fair, be prepared for others to play dirty, and don't let them drag you into the mud.
-- Richard Branson

#Dirty #Play #Mud

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Running #Passion #Numbers

Please don’t get hung up on this question of whether you need to have experience in an industry before you launch your startup.
-- Richard Branson

#Needs #Please #Hung

I think that ***** should be legalized. I think the only reason it isn't legal is because politicians who smoked it when they were young men or young women just don't have the courage when they become politicians to legalize it.
-- Richard Branson

#Marijuana #Men #Thinking

Rather than getting nostalgic...embrace the new opportunities and challenges available to you now.
-- Richard Branson

#Positivity #Opportunity #Challenges

I think business needs to have a heart and to have a heart a company must be more than just a moneymaking machine.
-- Richard Branson

#Heart #Thinking #Machines

The best way of learning about anything is by doing.
-- Richard Branson

#Successful #Way

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Entrepreneur #Important #Losing

Have fun, work hard and money will come. Don't waste time - grab your chances. Have a positive outlook on life. When it's not fun, move on.
-- Richard Branson

#Success #Fun #Moving

I think business leaders all over the world should not just think of how we can make lots of money, which is fine, but to take some of the problems in the world and get out there and tackle them using business. I think that if businesses do that we can get on top of these problems.
-- Richard Branson

#Thinking #Leader #World

We had an electrical fault about 500 miles into the trip and lost more than half our fuel. We had a fire on the roof. And missed Los Angeles by 3,500 miles at the end of the trip and ending up in the arctic in a snowstorm.
-- Richard Branson

#Adventure #Fire #Half

By working hard, by making the right moves, you can create your own luck, I think. But certainly luck plays a part.
-- Richard Branson

#Moving #Thinking #Play

Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn't you have fun at work?
-- Richard Branson

#Fun #Adventure #Home

People do not mind people who try things and fail. If you're a good entrepreneur, you're not going to succeed in every single thing you try. You've got to try to succeed at more things than fail.
-- Richard Branson

#People #Entrepreneur #Mind

You get the idea. Every business, like a painting, operates according to its own rules. There are many ways to run a successful company. What works once may never work again. What everyone tells you never to do may just work, once. There are no rules. You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over, and it's because you fall over that you learn to save yourself from falling over. It's the greatest thrill in the world and it runs away screaming at the first sight of bullet points.
-- Richard Branson

#Running #Fall #Successful

I just kind of dive in if I think I can create something that will make a difference and then try to get the numbers to stack up after the event. So most of the things I've done I would not have done if I'd have asked the accountants to look at them before.
-- Richard Branson

#Thinking #Differences #Numbers

Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.
-- Richard Branson

#Inspirational #Business #Opportunity

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Stars #Balloons #Lucky

Your employees are your company’s real competitive advantage. They’re the ones making the magic happen-so long as their needs are being met.
-- Richard Branson

#Real #Long #Magic

A little humour is good for the soul - regardless of how old you may be.
-- Richard Branson

#Soul #Littles #May

Being an entrepreneur simply means being someone who wants to make a difference to other people's lives.
-- Richard Branson

#Mean #Differences #People

Life's too short. If you're passionate - stand up.
-- Richard Branson

#Passionate #Too Short

[If] man creates the problem, surely man can solve it.
-- Richard Branson

#Men #Problem #Solve

I believe in myself. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love.
-- Richard Branson

#Believe #Heart #Thinking

I think in life the key thing is just to fight really hard to make sure something survives. If it looks like you've done everything you can to avoid failure, just move forward, move on and learn from it.
-- Richard Branson

#Moving #Fighting #Thinking

The world is made of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.
-- Richard Branson

#Wish #World #Made

There are millions of people out there who would love to become astronauts, who'd love to go to space - they'd love to look back at this wonderful world from space. That will be the engine that will enable us then to develop spaceships to transport people around the world at tremendous speeds in an environmentally friendly way.
-- Richard Branson

#Space #People #Friendly

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. People are no different from flowers. If you water flowers, they flourish. If you praise people, they flourish. That's a critical attribute of a leader.
-- Richard Branson

#Flower #Water #People

Universities are fantastic places to gain knowledge on a subject, develop a personal network, explore your character and learn new techniques to approach problems. I do however believe that there is a strong argument for students who have an idea they are passionate about to just try and turn it into a reality. I fell into this category and I don't regret not going to University.
-- Richard Branson

#Strong #Regret #Believe

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

#Business #People #Groups

If people are jumping down people's throats all the time, in the end, they'll just shrivel up like a flower shrivels up that's not watered.
-- Richard Branson

#Flower #Jumping #People

Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life's greatest pleasures!
-- Richard Branson

#Jobs #Fun #Adventure

Breaking the rules and challenging convention is in the DNA of every successful entrepreneur. Doing things differently and solving problems with new, innovative and fresh approaches are the very reason many start-ups are able to compete and sometimes outpace the established market leaders.
-- Richard Branson

#Successful #Dna #Entrepreneur

A company's employees are its greatest asset and your people are your product
-- Richard Branson

#People #Assets #Employee

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.
-- Richard Branson

#People #Able #Rockets

Money is only interesting for what it lets you do and create.
-- Richard Branson

#Interesting

I learnt from an early age the 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?
-- Richard Branson

#Team #Responsibility #Giving

Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for the perfect moment - they create it
-- Richard Branson

#Successful #Perfect #Waiting

I have always believed that there is no point in having regrets as you learn far more from mistakes than successes. Embrace a mistake and learn from it; don't regret them.
-- Richard Branson

#Regret #Mistake #Embrace

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

#Powerful #Passion #World

If you run your business fairly; if you treat people well; if you try to move your business into areas that are making a real positive difference to other peoples lives; I think you'll A. have much pleasant life, but B. I think you'll have a much more successful business.
-- Richard Branson

#Running #Real #Moving

My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had - everyday I'm learning something new.
-- Richard Branson

#Motivation #Long #Entrepreneur

It's far more difficult being a small-business owner starting a business than it is for me with thousands of people working for us and 400 companies. Building a business from scratch is 24 hours, 7 days a week, divorces, it's difficult to hold your family life together, it's bloody hard work and only one word really matters - and that's surviving.
-- Richard Branson

#Divorce #Hard Work #People

When I started Virgin from a basement flat in West London, I did not set out to build a business empire. I set out to create something I enjoyed that would pay the bills.
-- Richard Branson

#Pay #Bills #London

I am a great believer that you need passion and energy to create a truly successful business. Remember many new businesses do not make it and running a business will be a tough experience, involving long hours and many hard decisions - it helps to have that passion to keep you going.
-- Richard Branson

#Running #Passion #Successful

In business, as in life, all that matters is that you do something positive.
-- Richard Branson

#Meaningful #Matter #Meaningful Work

Set impossible challenges. Then catch up with them.
-- Richard Branson

#Meaningful #Challenges #Impossible

I never really felt secure until I was well into my 30s, because anytime I had success, I would invest in new projects.
-- Richard Branson

#Projects #Wells

I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.
-- Richard Branson

#Intuition #Statistics #Instinct

I was the kind of entrepreneur that never really felt I made it. When Mike Olefield's "Tubular Bells" [Virgin Records' first release] sold 8 or 10 million copies, I suppose, at age 19, I could've possibly retired on the money. Instead, I immediately pushed the boat and took that risk again.
-- Richard Branson

#Entrepreneur #Risk #Age

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Stay Strong #Brave #Forever

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Real #Successful #People

It is the satisfaction of doing it for yourself and motivating others to work with you in bringing it about. It is about the fun, innovation, creativity with the rewards being far greater than purely financial.
-- Richard Branson

#Success #Fun #Creativity

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.
-- Richard Branson

#People #Risk #Venture

Ideally, since 80 percent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours
-- Richard Branson

#Passion #Life Is #Should

Not enough people realize the satisfaction you can get from really pushing yourself to the limits.
-- Richard Branson

#People #Limits #Satisfaction

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Marijuana #Government #Use

I like to set myself a new adventure challenge at least once or twice a year because I love that side of my life. I love getting fit and training for it.
-- Richard Branson

#Adventure #Years #Challenges

A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.
-- Richard Branson

#Life #Success #Fun

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Entrepreneur #Challenges #Risk

Setting customer expectations at a level that is aligned with consistently deliverable levels of customer service requires that your whole staff, from product development to marketing, works in harmony with your brand image.
-- Richard Branson

#Educational #Expectations #Marketing

I just wanted to create things that I could be proud of. Money was just an evil byproduct to pay the bills at the end of the year.
-- Richard Branson

#Years #Evil #Proud

Most "necessary evils" are far more evil than necessary.
-- Richard Branson

#Business #Evil #Necessary Evil

Most entrepreneurs are not doing it for financial motives in the first place. They're just people who love creating.
-- Richard Branson

#Creating #People #Entrepreneur

Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no
-- Richard Branson

#Inspirational #Life #Fun

It's never easy to set up any business, but it comes back to determination and drive and the love of what you do!
-- Richard Branson

#Determination #Easy

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.
-- Richard Branson

#Inspirational #Crazy #Believe

There's no better satisfaction than watching the people around you, who have worked day and night to get something right, realising the dream.
-- Richard Branson

#Dream #Night #People

The bigger the dream, the greater the opportunity
-- Richard Branson

#Dream #Opportunity #Bigger

It always pays off to focus on things that will make you feel proud. Remember this during every difficult decision you face.
-- Richard Branson

#Decision #Focus #Proud

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

#Motivational #Ideas #Challenges

Take the competition seriously, but not yourself.
-- Richard Branson

#Competition

If you have an idea that's going to make a big difference to people's lives, and other people are not doing it, you know, just say "screw it," do it and get on with it, and give it a go.
-- Richard Branson

#Ideas #Differences #Giving

For a successful entrepreneur it can mean extreme wealth. But with extreme wealth comes extreme responsibility. And the responsibility for me is to invest in creating new businesses, create jobs, employ people, and to put money aside to tackle issues where we can make a difference.
-- Richard Branson

#Jobs #Mean #Responsibility

Happiness doesn't come from making a fortune and owning lots of possessions. 'Stuff' doesn't bring happiness. Family, friends, good health and the satisfaction that comes from making a positive difference are what really matter.
-- Richard Branson

#Differences #Matter #Stuff

If people are crazy enough to dare, impossible things happen.
-- Richard Branson

#Crazy #People #Impossible

You know I think if the people who work for a business are proud of the business they work for, they'll work that much harder, and therefore, I think turning your business into a real force for good is good business sense as well.
-- Richard Branson

#Real #Thinking #People

If you want to be a Millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.
-- Richard Branson

#Entrepreneur #Dollars #Want

When something doesn't go exactly to plan, money is tight or a business is struggling - see it as a challenge rather than a failure. Look outside the box and try and find a solution - you'll be surprised how many great opportunities and possibilities arise when things look bad. You've just got to open your mind and not be afraid of sticking your neck out!
-- Richard Branson

#Struggle #Opportunity #Challenges

Listen more than you talk. Nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak.
-- Richard Branson

#Hearing #Speak

If you offer people a decent service, if you give them you know Internet access, if their phones are not cut off on the trains, you know if you have plugs where they can plug in their computers, and if you have a smiling, cheerful staff; and if you can travel really quickly, then you can make a success out of the rail business.
-- Richard Branson

#Cutting #Phones #Giving

Right now I'm just delighted to be alive and to have had a nice long bath.
-- Richard Branson

#Nice #Long #Alive

I think great businessmen are more likely made than born. I don't know if it's from your upbringing, your parental background, the struggles you go through. In my own particular situation, I left school at 15 and I was struggling to survive in the jungle and that was a great education. So I think just getting out there, hands on, learning to survive teaches you a lot.
-- Richard Branson

#Struggle #School #Thinking

There is no such thing as a boring person: everyone has stories and insights worth sharing. While on the road, we let our phones or laptops take up our attention. By doing that, we might miss out on the chance to learn and absorb ideas and inspiration from an unexpected source: our fellow travelers.
-- Richard Branson

#Inspiration #Ideas #Phones

I think that being a business a leader that treads all over people to get to the top is actually not the way I think to become a successful business leader.
-- Richard Branson

#Successful #Thinking #People

If you want to stand out from the crowd, give people a reason not to forget you
-- Richard Branson

#Giving #People #Crowds

I am always working on the go. I have never had an office that I work out of and work has become intertwined with my personal life. Fortunately I am able to work from my home and can answer my e-mails in the morning, play tennis or kitesurf in the afternoon to keep fit and have meetings or phone calls in between.
-- Richard Branson

#Morning #Home #Phones

But the majority of things that one could get stressed about, they?re not worth getting stressed about.
-- Richard Branson

#Reality #Stressed #Majority

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Running #Giving #Advice

Don't bother doing something unless you're radically different from the competition.
-- Richard Branson

#Competition #Different #Bother

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Opportunity #Skills #Doors

If something can't be explained on the back of an envelope, it's rubbish.
-- Richard Branson

#Envelopes #Rubbish

Two heads are definitely better than one and by brainstorming as a team and sourcing ideas from each other, you have a better chance of coming up with a strategy that will allow your business to overcome a setback or challenge.
-- Richard Branson

#Team #Ideas #Two

Whether we're fighting climate change or going to space, everything is moved forward by computers, and we don't have enough people who can code
-- Richard Branson

#Fighting #Space #People

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.
-- Richard Branson

#Hard Work #Thinking #Two

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

#Mother #Home #Independent