Richard Branson Quotes

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,

It's so graceful to be blown by the wind, to go where the wind takes you. Just drifting over beautiful rivers in a balloon is perfect.

The companies that look after their people are the companies that do really well. I'm sure we'd like a few other attributes, but that would be the most important one.

Exploration is a wonderful way to open our eyes to the world, & to truly see that impossible is just a word.

People who think and say we more often than I are a lot more likely to succeed.

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.

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.

I know enough to know that no man is an island.

Create the kind of workplace and company culture that will attract great talent. If you hire brilliant people, they will make work feel more like play.

I have enjoyed life a lot more by saying "yes" than by sayings "no".

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.

Launching a business is essentially an adventure in problem-solving.

I am prepared to try anything once.

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.

We will eventually build space science labs and hotels, prodding the capability for missions beyond the orbit of the Earth. Our space-hotel guests will be able to take breath-taking excursions, flying a couple of hundred feet above the Moon's surface in small two-man spaceships. In time, we will launch missions to Mars and beyond.

Most people assume that a record shop's success lies in selling records. In fact, Virgin's success both in mail order and the record shops lay in skill at buying records.

Believe in yourself and back yourself to come out on top. A fulfilling career is waiting for those brave enough to find it.

You must have the courage to trust your instincts and be ready to question what other people don't. If you do that, you can seize opportunities that others would miss. Believe in yourself, and use everything you can - including the obstacles - to propel you along the road to success. Who knows what you might achieve?

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.

I have no secret. There are no rules to follow in business. I just work hard and, as I always have done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun.

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.

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

There is so much to be learned from listening to people's hopes, frustrations, and points of view

Taking bold climate action now has the potential to unleash the full power of business and at the same time lift millions of people out of poverty. We're the first generation to recognize this and the last generation that will have this opportunity.

I personally don't believe anything is impossible. With enough determination and effort, almost everything is possible.

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.

Whatever business you are in, every company can shoot for the start in their own way.

When you are ready to make your first hires, look for people who understand your passion, want to add to your ideas and can envision ways to make improvements.

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.

So I became a publisher by mistake - well, not quite by mistake, because I wanted to be an editor but I had to make sure the magazine would survive. The point is this: Most businesses fail, so if you're going to succeed, it has to be about more than making money.

Take a chance - it's the best way to test yourself, have fund and push boundaries.

You shouldn't blindly accept a leader's advice. You've got to question leaders on occasion.

Explore this next great frontier where the boundaries between work and higher purpose are merging into one, where doing good really is good for business.

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.

Build your own business team. Survival in business requires a synergy of skills.

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

Everyone needs something to aim for. You can call it a challenge, or you can call it a goal. It is what makes us human. It was challenges that took us from being cavemen to reaching for the stars.

In a sense, when we started Virgin Atlantic, I was trying to create an airline for myself. If you try to build the perfect airline for yourself, it will be appreciated by others.

Meet regularly with your business team and brainstorm. Intricate business problems are mostly resolved at brainstorming sessions.

An exceptional company is the one that gets all the little details right.

To be a great leader, you must be a great listener

It isn't effective or productive to force your employees to do anything. Choice empowers people and makes for a more content workforce.

I never went into business just to make money - but I found that if I have fun, the money will come. I often ask myself, is my work fun and does it make me happy? I believe that the answer to that is more important than fame or fortune. If it stops being fun, I ask why? If I can't fix it, I stop doing it.

And obviously, from our own personal point of view, the principal challenge is a personal challenge.

What does the name Virgin mean? We are a company that likes to take on the giants. In too many businesses, these giants have had things their own way. We are going to have fun competing with them.

Records are made to be broken. It is in man's nature to continue to strive to do just that.

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.

I don't buy a lot of things. I like to create things. I've been lucky enough to be able to build my beautiful island in the Caribbean. I certainly haven't regretted that.

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.

Growth does not always lead a business to build on success. All too often it converts a highly successful business into a mediocre large business.

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.

My definition of success? The more you are actively and practically engaged, the more successful you will feel.

I have always believed that personal relationships are vital in business and that people should be directly accountable for their actions.

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

First of all, if you're setting up a new company, you want to try to find a brand that can work on a global basis.

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,

Drive, determination, passion and hard work are all free and more valuable than a pot of cash.

I've had to create companies that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference. Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I don't want to spend my life doing something that I'm not proud of.

Perhaps, therefore, it is odd that if there is any one phrase that is guaranteed to set me off it's when someone says to me, 'OK, fine. You're the boss!' What irks me is that in 90% of such instances what that person is really saying is, 'OK, then, I don't agree with you, but I'll roll over and do it because you're telling me to. But if it doesn't work out I'll be the first to remind everyone that it wasn't my idea.'

THE KEY TO GENERATING LOYALTY AND RISING ABOVE THE GENERAL NOISE SEEMS TO BE ALL ABOUT CREATING AN AUTHENTIC VOICE.

I have always believed that the only way to cope with a cash crisis is not to contract but to try to expand out of it.

To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running

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.

Through the right people focusing on the right things, we can, in time, get on top of a lot if not most of the problems of this world. And that's what a number of us are trying to do.

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.

No failure means no risk, which means nothing new

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.

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.

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.

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.

Don't wait till you are big before you begin building your brand. Build a brand from scratch alongside your business.

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

The truth is this: the Earth cannot provide enough food and fresh water for 10 billion people, never mind homes, never mind roads, hospitals and schools.

Listen to the customer's complaint and act fast.

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

The balloons only have one life and the only way of finding out whether they work is to attempt to fly around the world.

To launch a business means successfully solving problems. Solving problems means listening.

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".

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.

Success Comes from listening to your customer.

Brave people don't live forever, but cautious people don't live at all.

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.

The extraordinary thing about the record industry is how success can take off without warning.

Focus on your business strengths and keep its weaknesses away from the competition or public.

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.

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.

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.

I think that not relying too heavily on one bank and one bank manager is a good rule to learn.

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.

Once a changemaker, always a changemaker but only a few swim against the tide.

However tight things are, you still need to have the big picture at the forefront of your mind.

We always enter markets where the leaders are not doing a great job, so we can go in and disrupt them by offering better quality services.

Confidence breeds confidence and negativity breeds negativity. Treat those around you with respect and dignity and they will thrive.

A business is simply an idea to make other people's lives better.

When I was young, every time I criticized someone, my mother would stand me in front of the mirror and say: 'The flaws you see in others are actually a reflection of yourself.' That taught me to pay close attention when I looked at others.

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

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.

Your company should act as a springboard for ambitious employees, not a set of shackles.

We're going where no one has gone before. There's no model to follow, nothing to copy. That is what makes this so exciting.

We'll go into orbit. We'll go to the Moon. This business has no limits.