Richard Branson - Like a Virgin

I firmly believed back then, and still do now, that you can apply those rudimentary values to any business situation. Today Virgin has become one of the most diverse brands in the world as we have continued breaking into new markets and shaking them up for the customer’s benefit. And our brand values are the glue that holds it all together.

That doesn’t mean our business is a complete free-for-all, as my team often reminds me. Though we receive proposals for almost every imaginable product and service – drinks, plastic surgery, clothing, restaurants, care for the elderly, even funeral services – we have a central team that evaluates each idea to see if it fits with our values and what consumers expect of Virgin. Sometimes the debate is fierce!

And then sometimes our risk-taking pays dividends, such as our turnaround of Britain’s NTL:Telewest cable business, which became the successful, customer-focused business now known as Virgin Media. This major effort involved moving some of our best people into that business and changing the focus from quarterly sales targets to longer-term goals that involved keeping customers happy and loyal. Keeping customers and employees happy is good for the business, and not a cost that can be cut!

As nice as it is to read articles that say the Virgin brand is one of the most powerful in the world, our corporate goal is to make it one of the most trusted.

To this end we have put together a structure to ensure that every company in the Virgin Group is fully attuned to our values as well as the customer expectations that accompany them. We provide brand training for all our businesses and supply the tools they need. We set targets at all our call centres for customer satisfaction and measure them on a regular basis. We bring together all our marketing departments to share ideas. And every new business gets all this help right from the start.

We try to lay out how we will make Virgin even stronger in the future. Regardless of how respected Virgin has become – we now operate in over thirty countries, employ over 50,000 people and serve millions of customers every month – we cannot be complacent. We focus on core areas that all Virgin companies must treat as priorities in order for the brand to flourish. These include everything from Virgin brand basics to connecting with customers online. It also emphasises collaboration among Virgin companies, entrepreneurialism, ethics – and also music, fun and rock ‘n’ roll! In essence, it is a route map connecting our past to our future.

I often mention people – not sales statistics or the bottom line – because, as I hope I have made very clear in this book, I truly believe that our people are the heart and soul of our brand. The simple concept of offering customers a better experience, and having fun while you do it, attracts very bright and enthusiastic people. That said, as important as it is to have gifted, creative types developing great products and marketing, it will all go for naught if the people at the sharp end aren’t delivering it to our customers, in the right way, 24/7. This emphasis on the importance of every one of our people is what really makes Virgin’s brand values something more than a dusty mission statement stuffed into a drawer somewhere.

In business schools, brand values are often discussed in terms of marketing, as though they are an end result of a scientific process, rather than embedded in a business’s soul. Thankfully, I’ve learned that in the real world of business it’s better to rely on creativity, intuition and empathy. You can hire consultants to build a brand using a hands-off, theoretical approach, but you’ll do far better – and have more fun – if, like Virgin did, you nurture your own.

Can entrepreneurship be taught? Can an aspiring business leader learn to choose the right plan, take the right risks, select the right team and then navigate all the turbulence that follows?

With most of the West’s major economies showing sluggish growth at best, many in politics and business are keen to find answers, because a new wave of energetic entrepreneurs is urgently needed to kick-start trade all over the world, shake up the markets and create jobs.

In my experience, success as an entrepreneur depends upon a fairly unusual combination of personality traits and instinctive skills, most of which can only be honed on the job. Formal coursework may be a start but is certainly not enough. Most entry-level entrepreneurs need the kind of guidance that only a trusted mentor can provide.

It’s critical that experienced executives and CEOs volunteer to coach young entrepreneurs in their communities: this is one of the most immediately rewarding and concrete ways successful business leaders can foster economic growth in their region. There are many young entrepreneurs who, if they are given the critical boost of great advice as they launch their start-ups, will someday bring in new jobs. To find a mentoring group in your area, consult local universities, industry groups and small-business development centres.

As I mentioned earlier our team has set up two Branson Centres of Entrepreneurship, non-profit organisations where entrepreneurs, mentors, community members and investors can gather to discuss projects, learn practical skills and spread the word about their ideas.

Since we set up the first Branson Centre in Johannesburg six years ago, more than a hundred entrepreneurs have taken part in our programme, and, at present, eleven of their businesses are in operation, employing many people. One of our more recent ‘graduates’ is Lesego Malatsi, a fashion designer and entrepreneur whose stunning designs were showcased at London Fashion Week in September 2011.

We opened the second school in Jamaica in late 2011 and a new class of fifteen people is working on launching businesses in everything from hospitality to education services to recycling.

Do you know someone trying to start a business? As a mentor, there are six things you should keep in mind:

Don’t sugar coat it! Your most important job is to help a beginning entrepreneur cut through confusion and misinformation to the truth. The evaluations may be intensely personal: what sort of leadership style do they have? What can they do to improve? It may be difficult for your mentee to hear your critical comments, but you must explain very clearly what is going wrong.

Many entrepreneurs need help in more than one area. When I started out, my dyslexia made keeping accounts difficult so a family friend who was an accountant stepped in and helped me. His advice was crucial in helping me to understand how things worked and how to run a business. If you are unable to provide all the advice your mentee needs, help them find someone who can.

When the founders of our centre in Jamaica evaluated prospective students for the current class, they found that all of those who applied identified obtaining better access to capital through our programme as a key goal, but only 14 per cent had asked for a loan. In different cultures, there are different barriers to approaching prospective investors; almost everyone needs advice and help in this area. Share your experiences, review the pitches and practise approaches.

Start-ups often struggle to attract customers and then to keep costs under control as orders increase. Access to investors makes all the difference for many businesses. Be prepared to call industry contacts and old friends; whatever it takes to help your mentees connect with those who will see the potential in their projects.