If you’re an entrepreneur it’s important to leverage the experience of other successful entrepreneurs so you can save time, avoid costly mistakes, and achieve your goals faster.

I’ll share with you some principles from one Entrepreneur—Richard Branson who founded the Virgin Group but first let’s get to know a little more about who he is.

Who is Richard Branson?

Richard Branson is an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who founded the Virgin Group, which has 400 companies under it. When he was still starting he stood against the giants in the industry such as the British Airlines and was able to rise up despite having less advertising budget.

How much is the net worth of Richard Branson?

As of 2017, his net worth is 5.1 billion US dollars.

What are Richard Branson’s Philanthropy projects?

First he works with The Elders which is a group of leaders who join together to resolve conflict all over the world. One of the founders is Nelson Mandela, the president of South Africa and a Nobel Peace Laureate.

Another is the Carbon War Room, an organization founded by Virgin Unite for combating global warming by reducing carbon emissions.

Richard Branson’s Reality TV about entrepreneurs

Richard Branson has a reality TV show about developing entrepreneurs called The Rebel Billionaire – Branson’s – Quest For The Best. See below video:

Who does Richard Branson consider as his role model?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu – who fought against racial discrimination and is also one of the founding members of The Elders.

What is Richard Branson’s vision?

To ensure world conflicts are resolved more effectively or even become a thing of the past.

29 Powerful Business Principles From Richard Branson

Now that we know who Richard Branson is and where he’s coming from, here are some of his principles and advice to grow your business. These principles were based on an interview of him written at the start of his book “Like A Virgin” which despite the title is actually a business and management book.

1. What’s the best advice he can give? Look only for the best qualities in people.
2. What’s the best advice he can give? Only a fool never changes his mind.
3. The key to success in three words: People. People. People.
4. Luck doesn’t just happen, you have to work at it.
5. Love what you do, love people, love making a difference.
6. Avoid negativity, avoid looking for the worst in others, avoid having ‘glass-empty’ mentality.
7. Avoid gossiping.
8. Overcome challenges, and if you fail, pick yourself up quickly.
9. Five secrets to starting a business: if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. Why? Because starting a business consumes a lot of time so you need to be willing to spend huge amounts of hard work and time.
10. Five secrets to starting a business: be innovative, create something radically different. Do things that have never been done before and continue innovating. If you enter a crowded industry, be ready to offer customer service that blows the competition away.
11. Five secrets to starting a business: Build your business so that people are proud to be associated with the company. It generates a special level of advocacy and dedication from your people. In most businesses, people are your biggest assets.
12. Five secrets to starting a business: lead by listening and be extremely good at lavishing praise. Never openly criticize people. Never lose your temper. Always be quick to applaud a job well done. People flourish on praise. Usually people don’t need to be told that they’ve done wrong because most of the time they know it.
13. Be visible: even if you work from home be constantly out and about and meet people. Keep a notebook as you go out and jot down questions, concerns and good ideas. Meet as many of the people that your company is serving because you will get good suggestions or ideas. Write those ideas down. Talk to your staff and customers at every opportunity, listen to the good and the bad feedback and act on it. Appoint leaders in your team who have the same philosophy–keep it proactive, responsive, and friendly.
14. Learn from failure, then pick yourself up again. Some of the best lessons are learned from failure, but pick yourself up and start all over again.
15. The real engine of any business – people. Good people are not only crucial to your business, they ARE the business.
16. Find the right people
17. Manage the right people
18. Inspire the right people
19. Hold on to the right people
20. Keeping and maintaining the right people are one of the most important challenges that a business leader faces
21. What sets a business apart from others are the attitude of the people
22. Your people should be smiling, cheerful, pleased to help, so customers want to do business with you again.
23. People are your key asset.
24. A good leader must know the team, its strengths and weaknesses. Socializing and listening to the team is key.
25. Remind the managers and leaders in your team about having a true sense of pride in the business because that’s what makes all the difference.
26. Be willing to give people a second chance. Remember the times when you too made mistakes and were given a second chance. Branson once tried to sneak duty-free records out of the UK and escaped a criminal record only by paying a fine. He was given a second chance to start over.
27. Call people out in private when they do something wrong, but give them a second chance. Branson said this to one of his staff who messed up by trying to steal and then sell his record labels: “Everyone messes up, I expect you to learn from this mistake and go back to doing what you do best.”
28. Your people need to be looked after, and celebrated.
29. How to handle people who don’t perform up to standards:

• Don’t be aggressive
• There’s plenty of ways to get your point across and make your business successful without being aggressive
• Always remember that you love what you do and your role is to persuade others to love your business too, so that people will want to work with you.
• Engage with everyone in a positive, inclusive manner rather than in an aggressive, combative, or negative way
• If the companies or individuals you deal with do not respond to a positive approach, ask yourself if they are the right companies or people to work with.
• For every supplier or people who are aggressive towards you, there are another five who will want to work with you.
• Look for companies or individuals who want an inclusive, positive partnership.
• Strong personality is important when starting a business, but ‘strong’ does not have to mean ‘aggressive’.
• Have confidence in your ability to follow you vision
• Listen to others
• Master the art of delegation
• Delegate to a member of your team when you encounter frustrations when dealing with others.
• Delegating difficult problems to your team brings a fresh pair of eyes and ears, and a different approach and perspective
• Surround yourself with a great management team who complement you and ensure that the team have all-round skills to make the business succeed.
• When negotiating, remain calm and collected.
• When negotiating, if you are getting angry take a deep breath, pause, and realize that you are taking things personally. Take a step back. Rely on the team around you to help you out.
• Learn to negotiate without aggression. Understand what you want to achieve and what leverage you possess to help you reach your goals. You need less aggression and more determination.
• Confide in your team the difficulties you encounter, it will help you put everything in a clearer perspective.
• Attract and keep good partners and staff by making them feel that they have done well with you.
• Be willing to listen to other people’s suggestions, and recognize when those suggestions are better than yours. Don’t be afraid to admit you’re wrong. Take action when the suggestions are better.
• Build a healthy rapport with your team and the companies you work with. Don’t take everything personally.

Take Action

That’s a lot of things you can act on here immediately that can have a positive on your business and that’s only from the first 21 pages of Richard Branson’s book! Personally I learned some new things I can implement immediately in several of my businesses. Which of these principles can you immediately implement in your business and why did you choose these principles over the others?

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