“Have Fun And The Money Will Come”

That’s the business philosophy of Sir Richard Branson, British entrepreneur, who through his venture capital organization Virgin has over 300 branded companies all over the world. As you probably know Virgin is part of the name in practically any business venture, be it Virgin Books, Virgin Media, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic Airways, etc.  Virgin being a well recognized brand name gives any new business he establishes a head street with name recall.

At the early age of 16, Branson already showed his business side when he put up a student magazine and began making a profit out of the venture.  He then started a mail order record company which later on became Virgin Records.  From his success in recording new businesses emerged, an airline company, a railway company, a soft drink company, travel companies, hotels, and the list keeps growing.

He often positions himself as upstart against the giants, like when he started his airline company offering an alternative to traditional airline companies.  This same approach he used when launching his soft drink company. What is obviously part of his business strategy is to get as much media mileage as possible when launching of any of his business ventures.

Like Donald Trump he enjoys media attention and is himself a brand name. Unlike Donald who only has Trump, he has himself and Virgin as two recognizable names; a stroke of genius there.

An avid adventurer, he has crossed the Atlantic with the fastest time in a speed boat, crashing on his first attempt. Not contented he crossed the Atlantic on a hot air balloon almost dying in the process.  He works hard and plays hard.

Knighted in 1999 for “services to entrepreneurship”, he just keeps going. His interest in space led to the creation of Virgin Galactic. He now wants to explore the deepest part of the oceans. Naturally this has led to a new venture, Virgin Oceanic.

With his long hair and beard he seems to belong more to a rock band than in the corporate board room. It’s not all about inspiration, he does crunch his numbers.  Virgin Management Ltd provides the managerial backbone to all his ventures with Virgin Group being his holding company.

He is truly living his business philosophy.