Richard Branson Survived Irma and is Helping Others Rebuild. Here Are His Words on How to Weather Any Storm.

[ad_1]

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

He's a billionaire. He's been knighted by the queen. He's had so many business ventures even he has trouble keeping track of them all. You might think the guy does not know much about cutting his losses. However, Richard Branson has had to change tactics, pivot or ditch more times than most.

Virgin Records, his billion-dollar music enterprise, started to fund the cash-strapped magazine he'd dropped out of school at sixteen to found. On its initial test flight, his airline's only plane suffered extreme damage when a flock of birds flew into its engine. He almost didn't get the certification he needed to get the money for repairs. Branson himself almost died when he and his co-pilot accidentally dumped most of their fuel and flew into a gale.

But through it all, Richard Branson has consistently found inspiration and determination to continue moving forward. Even now as he and his neighbors rebound from the destruction of Hurricane Irma, Branson charges forward with the good of all in mind.

Here's what he says about when to change course, when to quit and when to keep going full steam ahead.

1. "Life is a hell of a lot more fun if you say yes rather than no."


2. "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."


3. "Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."


4. "Learn from failure. If you are an entrepreneur and your first venture wasn't a success, welcome to the club!"


5. "If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline."


6. "You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."


7. "My mother drummed into me from an early age that I should not spend much time regretting the past. I try to bring that discipline to my business career. Over the years, my team and I have not let mistakes, failures or mishaps get us down. Instead, even when a venture has failed, we try to look for opportunities, to see whether we can capitalize on another gap in the market."


8. "The business was losing a lot of money. We did not make a speedy exit in part because I resisted closing the business. I was worried about losing the flagship stores' presence in Times Square and on Oxford Street since they were so important to brand recognition and our link with the past. But the scale of the losses meant that we had to sell the business to its management and focus our attention on markets where we could be the disrupter, not the disrupted."


9. "The businesses I became closest to are the ones that, like a child, were getting bullied. Virgin Atlantic went through a lot of bullying from the bigger airlines, who went to extraordinary lengths to try to put us out of business. So it was like having a daughter at school and people being nasty to her. It's been wonderful to see that child grow into a lovely woman and see her flourish."


10. "Face failure head on, don't be afraid of it, and people will support and welcome you even more."


11. "For a startup, if your idea doesn't work, not many people will have noticed. Keep pushing on to the next idea."


12. "One thing is certain in business. You and everyone around you will make mistakes."


13. "Chance favors the prepared mind. The more you practice, the luckier you become."


14. "If you're hurt, lick your wound and get up again. If you've given it your absolute best, it's time to move forward."


15. "You've got to take risks if you're going to succeed. I would much rather ask forgiveness than permission."


16. "If you spot an opportunity and are really excited by it, throw yourself into it with everything you've got."


17. "Entrepreneurial business favors the open mind. It favors people whose optimism drives them to prepare for many possible futures, pretty much purely for the joy of doing so."


18. "If you don't succeed at first, there's no need for the F word (Failure). Pick yourself up and try, try again."


19. "If you want swashbuckling action in your life, become an entrepreneur and give it a go."

The post Richard Branson Survived Irma and is Helping Others Rebuild. Here Are His Words on How to Weather Any Storm. appeared first on inc-asean.com.

[ad_2]