Business Stripped

Bare

– Richard Branson

(Founder & Chairman

– Virgin Group)

History of the Virgin Group Something about Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson

About The Book – Business Stripped Bare

Quotes from the Book Learning from the book

Branded Venture Capital Organization – founded in 1970 (Incorporated : 1989)

Core business areas - travel, entertainment and lifestyle among others.

Net worth - £5,010,000,000 Consists more than 400 companies

Virgin Blue Virgin Books Virgin Brides Virgin Cars Virgin Comics Virgin Holidays Virgin Mobile Virgin Radio

………. These are just a few names …….

First successful business venture at age 16 Audio Record Mail-order business - 1970 Chain of record stores - 1972 261st richest person according to

Forbes’2009 Estimated net worth - £1.5 billion Had a record of dyslexia and poor academic

performance as a student

Made several world record-breaking attempts after 1985

Attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing – (missed first but beat the record by 2 hrs the next time)

Virgin Atlantic Flyer – largest hot air balloon – at 2.3 million cubic feet

Crossed Pacific after that

Starred as himself in Friends, Baywatch, Birds of a Feather, Only Fools and Horses, The Day Today

Cameo Appearance in several films – Around the world in 80 days, Superman Returns, Casino Royale

Honorary Degree of Doctor of Technology

Success in Business boils down into 4 things – An eye for an opportunityThe ability to weigh up riskThe ability to protect against riskLUCK

Bold principles – Honesty, Integrity and Hard Work

Emphasis – Value for the customer People who work for Virgin – lively, fun

and intelligent

Several hundred limited companies – Mitigating Risk

Relocate employees within the group Admit mistakes and learn from them Book written in 2008 – so talks a lot of

recent stuff about credit crunch Recommended strongly to wannabe

entrepreneurs

“ At its heart, business is not about formality, orwinning, or 'the bottom line', or profit, or trade, or commerce, or any of the things the business books tell you it's about. Business is what concerns us. If you care about something enough to do something about it, you're in business “

“ Ethics aren’t just important in business. They are the whole point of business. “

“ Welcome, then, to the first law of entrepreneurial business: there’s no reverse gear on this thing. “

“ So put people together in a way that will have them bouncing ideas off each other, befriending each other and taking care of each other, and suddenly they are coming to you not with gripes and problems, but with solutions and great ideas. “

“ A disciplined employee will have the patience to conduct routine business routinely, the talent to respond exceptionally to exceptional circumstances, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two. “

“ Remembering who you are: it’s the biggest challenge an expanding business ever has to face “

“ Befriending one’s enemy is a good rule for business – and life “

“ Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can makesomething complicated. It is hard to makesomething simple. “

“ Over the years we’ve been criticized for turning ourselves into a ragbag of unconnected businesses. But we are modular. We can shed limbs and split functions without turning the whole operation upside down. “

“ No one is asking you to save the planet. Justdream up and work on a couple of good ideas.No one expects you to find a global solution toeverything. Just make a difference where youcan. Local solutions have a value in themselves,and some can be scaled up, so it doesn't matter how modest your budget, you can and willmake a difference ”

Opportunities might stare you at your face and you might not even be aware of them. So grab as many opportunities as you can

Business is not about being upset about every little thing. Its about being relaxed and finding simple solutions to problems and give other people the relaxation they need

Employers today are not looking at grave individuals. They are more often looking at people who can have fun and can laugh their way out through problems.

Let’s talk about ethics in business and realize that even a small thing like throwing garbage in the bin, that’s meant for it, can save the earth.

People are the core of business, may it be the customers or your employees. Learn to keep them happy.

Life has its lessons learnt the hard way. One big thing can be riskier than two

hundred small things

Thank you!!