In this report the entrepreneur considered is Richard Branson. Entrepreneurs are responsible for the success and failure of the company. Skills and experience he/she needs to demonstrate reflects on how good an entrepreneur he or she is. Richard Branson is a philanthropist, innovator and ultimate entrepreneur who has developed a business philosophy of generating opportunities from contradiction and conflicts (Wasson, 2016). Founder of Virgin Group, he is an exceptional entrepreneur who has established eight billion-dollar companies in eight different industries from scratch. One of his successes can be seen in case of Virgin Mobile USA that generate a billion dollars in revenue faster than any other organization such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google (Fisher, 2009). It is his entrepreneurial skills and experience that helped him achieve this recognition and establish over 200 companies in more than 15 nations and across different sectors like retail stores, travel, publishing, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, beverages, entertainment and fitness (Fisher, 2009). The report would assess the entrepreneurial skills displayed by Richard Branson and reflect it on my individual self along with showing its impact on economy, society and environment.
Research Undertaken
Since Richard Branson is a known personality in the corporate world and his success and failure are well recorded in different articles and papers, therefore this research is entirely based on secondary sources. Different published articles and papers will be considered to evaluate the entrepreneurial skills of Richard Branson.
Critical Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Skills of Richard Branson
Richard Branson learnt his business lessons on the street. Adaptation, experimentation and action are key to his development of practical and powerful business philosophy (Burns, 2016). The key idea behind his philosophy is to deal with paradoxes where he learned to become comfortable with uncertainty and has developed a mindset that allows him to develop innovative new businesses (Williams, 2017). Several people consider Branson to be an attention-seeking, adventurous and flamboyant billionaire but examining his style too closely reveals his reasonable and deliberate approach to use time for maximum effect on different facets of his business (Fisher, 2009). His attention to detail, copious notes on improvement areas and dedication to execution and delivery makes him manage his business empire and achieve sustainability. Having said that, the following is the critical evaluation of his entrepreneurial skills that helped him build the Virgin Group.
#1. Risk Taker
Reports have shown that Branson is a risk taker and takes calculated risk to achieve the business success. Irrespective of small or big activities, he has taken risks. For instance, seeing that the terminal was full of stranded passengers in the Virgin Islands, including he and his wife, due to cancellation of American Airlines, Branson decided to establish Virgin Airlines. He left the island by chartering a plane to Puerto Rico and asking the stranded passengers to divide the charter cost, which led to $39 per head (Burns, 2017).
Risk-taking as per Kuratko (2016) is a key skill that entrepreneurs should possess. Business growth and risks go hand in hand however, when companies take calculated risks by assessing the likely results and have contingency strategies and plans then they are able to ain success in the industry. Unless an entrepreneur takes the risk to carry out any activity, there is no way he or she would be able to move forward. Risk taking results in innovation and creativity that is important in the competitive corporate world (Burns, 2016).
Richard Branson took some risky decisions where it rivalled with global super brands like British Airways and Coke and in certain cases came out to be the top brand whereas in some cases it suffered losses (Elkins, 2017). However, this never discouraged him, and he made it a point to be prepared and have contingency plans to remedy the failure he faces. Branson always protected the downside and had clarity about his actions (Fisher, 2009). For instance, when he bought his first plane, he negotiated a deal with Boeing to sell it back to them in the initial year in case things didn’t work out. Similarly, he protected the downside in every business he established.
#2. Simplify Actions and Appreciate complexity
Branson understood and described issues in its simplest form where majority of business people tend to make things more complex. For instance, global accounting standards, description of reasons for the recent financial crisis and other external environment analysis require deep understanding and analysis of intricate details to understand the market (William, 2017). However, when Branson looked at any problem in existing business or a new business, he always makes an effort to explain it for himself and others in the simplest manner. In an interview, he stated that it is important to think with clarity where business is reduced to its essentials. He considers complexity to be an easy activity but an enemy to the company whereas it is very hard to make things simple (Elkins, 2017).
As per studies, using a simple approach can result in effective decisions (Burns, 2017). Businesses and markets are very complex to understand and therefore trying to take every aspect in the simplest manner will result in effective solutions for the companies (Kuratko, 2016). Making things simple allowed Branson to appreciate the essential of the business model or the problem and assess a proposal or an issue based on intuition and feelings without getting complicated by numbers and calculations. This approach allowed him to be quick and make effective decisions (Fisher, 2009). Such an approach was seen in this plan to enter into mobile telephony; setting up consumer firearm or setting up an airline. In all these cases, he considered the main issues from the viewpoint of the customer and produced simple solutions to the customer needs (Duttons, 2016).
Understanding the market and getting educated on the needs and requirements, thereby giving solutions in the simplest way is also a success criterion for businesses, which Branson showed in case of global warming, Aids pandemic, banking regulations to make a bid for Northern Rock (Fisher, 2009). Hence, Branson believes in solving obdurate issues in simple manner.
#3. Decision-maker
Studies have shown that entrepreneurs should be effective and quick decision-makers (Shepherd et al., 2015). While taking any decision, it is not only important to consider the pros and cons of the market one is serving but it is also necessary to learn from the experiences and knowledge of people associated with the industry. Branson has always been surrounded with bright people and majority of his success stories is possible because of his ability to quickly tap into the collective wisdom of the people around him (Duttons, 2016). Having poor education background, Branson was not a specialist in any industry where he has established his business. For instance, he considered the experience and knowledge of Sir Freddy Laker, founder of Skytrain when establishing Virgin Atlantic (Fisher, 2009). When entering into the banking field to make a bid for Northern Rock, Branson convinced the leading banker of his generation Sir Brian Pitman and made sure to understand the rules and risks linked to banking from his knowledge and experience (Fisher, 2009). However, Branson believed that even though one takes helps from industry experts, but the final decision should be of the person who is taking the risk. As per Burns (2017), entrepreneurs cannot outsource decision-making activity to develop big ideas. There is a need to create your own ideas, do research and turn the idea into action.
#4 Individuality and Learning
Schneider and Albornoz (2018) conducted a study to show that entrepreneurs are more inclined towards individuality. They show qualities of individual responsibility and effort. In support of this, Guiso et al. (2015) found that even though entrepreneurs show individuality, but they learn from their surrounding environment, be it the market, workplace or personal environment. In the recent book of Branson, Business Stripped Bare, he explained that entrepreneurship is about being yourself and undertaking activities that you want to do and the manner in which you want to do it. However, while he believes that it important to be individual but on the other hand, he also believes that learning and gaining insights from industry experts is an opportunity that everyone should embrace (Fisher, 2009). For instance, he learned from Herb Kelleher, Larry Page and Sergy Brin, Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela, founders of Southwest Airlines, Google, and Apple respectively. Understanding their mindset and learning from the experiences, Branson adopted what worked well for him and his business, thus showing his individuality.
#5. Diversify
As stated before, innovation and creativity are an essential factor of success in business. Due to global competition, studies have shown that diversity has become essential for companies. Majority of the organizations are entering into different industries to capture different markets and grow on a global scale (Kuratko, 2016). For an organization to be diverse, it is essential that its entrepreneur is open to diversify and is creative and innovative. Branson has pointed out that diversity of Virgin Group is the key success factor of the brand. Diversity of industries, revenue streams and geographies gave the company the ability to endure the economic recession (Wasson, 2016). Virgin Group has spread its risk to different areas and therefore failure in any one area would not impact the entire brand. However, Branson believes that while diversity is the key strength, but it should focus on the core area of the business and what binds it together (Wasson, 2016).
#6 Patience and Boldness
Many studies have concluded that patience is an essential quality that entrepreneurs should bear. Rome was not built in a day. It takes lot of hard work and patience to establish a business empire. There are certain risks that pay off while certain risks do not work well. in such cases, entrepreneurs need to keep patience yet show their bold and risk-taking attitude in order to gain success in the future (Borissov et al., 2018). Branson, who is usually seen as a risk taker, has stated that he and his team are very careful when taking any risks or actions. Watchfulness is the key to success and patiently waiting for the actions to yield fruitful results is important (Elkins, 2017). Virgin Group was not established in a short time, but it took decades to establish the business where many risks brought success in less time while others took more time (Williams, 2017).
Hence, the analysis shows that Branson shows majority of the qualities of a successful entrepreneur due to which he was able to establish a big and sustainable empire.
Reflective
From the analysis of entrepreneurial skills of Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, the key qualities that are considered as essential in an entrepreneur are risk-taking, individuality, learning from others, patience, diversity, simple actions, innovation and creativity. Irrespective of the industry one belongs, it is important to think creatively and take risks for innovation. Branson has showed the ability of analytical thinking in different contexts and has taken risky decisions to solve different issues. This has resulted in developing creative and innovative businesses for the consumers, allowing the company to gain success. In my case, I need to work on my creative thinking skills. Currently, I have less experience in the industry and therefore taking risks should be a long-term improvement area but having an open mind to creative ideas and indulging into activities that would help me come up with more creative ideas would help me develop my long-term goal of being a risk taker. In order to improve my creative thinking skills, I intend to engage into as many activities as possible and undertake in-depth research of the market to see what solutions can satisfy the market. Brainstorming those ideas with experts and coming up with a new innovative idea would be my success criterion.
Talking about learning creative and risk-taking skills, patience is one quality that is essential. Branson has shown the quality of patience throughout his career. He patiently waited for the entire business to flourish. Patience is one quality that I possess. I believe that my approach towards dealing with people and criticisms at work has helped me developed this quality of mine. Learning from others and yet maintaining individuality is an essential quality that Branson has shown. While taking advice and learning from others is my strong point, showing individuality is my strength. I make sure that whenever I am engaging myself into any work, not only do I consult my superiors and industry experts to know their viewpoint on the various approaches of dealing with the activity, but I also engage into self-managed learning. However, since I am introvert by nature therefore showing boldness and individual traits is not my strength. However, I intend to improve this quality by taking more individual projects where I could show my ability of being a decision-maker.
Lastly, simple actions are, as per Branson, the key to any successful business. Instead of making the issues complex by analysing it more and more, it is important to go into its depth and consider every point and take simple actions. Though I have yet not received any opportunity to explore this quality of mine, but I believe that taking more individual projects, I would be able to assess whether I can or cannot simplify the issues rather than making it complex. Hence, with my ten-year goal of being an entrepreneur of a huge restaurant brand, I believe that I need to work upon my qualities of being a risk-taker and show more individuality.
Impact on economy, society and business
Entrepreneurship has a huge impact on the business and economy as well as the society and environment. Entrepreneurship in the global corporate world is not about generating huge profits but it is equally about developing the society and protecting the environment (Deses, 2017). Richard Branson has shown through his business venture that he not only contributes revenues to his business but also contributes to the economy, society and environment.
Richard Branson and Business
Through his exceptional entrepreneurial skills and risk-taking behaviour, Branson was able to establish a huge business empire that only diversified in different industries but is also spread across different nations. Virgin Mobile USA that generate a billion dollars in revenue faster than any other organization such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google (Fisher, 2009). On the other hand, Virgin Atlantic recorded £2.7 billion in revenue in 2017 (Virgin Atlantic, 2017). The entrepreneurial qualities of Branson have allowed the brand to gain success in different industries and achieve sustainability through innovation and creativity.
Richard Branson and Economy
Through the success of Virgin Group across the world, the company has contributed to development of world economy in terms of GDP, employment and many other aspects. The company operates in over 200 nations and employs more than 71000 people. Therefore, the company’s operations and Richard Branson entrepreneurship has reduced the unemployment levels in different nations. It has also invested in many start-ups like $62.75 million in Doctor on Demand in 2015, $6.4 million in cloud computing company Rescale in 2011, $30 million in travel booking software company Zozi in 2015 and many others (Shaed, 2015). This further strengthens the economies and helps them overcome or deal with the uncertainties, for instance uncertainties associated with Brexit in the UK. In addition, it has also reduced it airline prices by reducing the fuel charge and having a strategy to buy fuel months in advance (Branson, 2016). Hence, the price fluctuations do not affect the costs of the company thereby allowing them to reduce their ticket fares. This shows the decision-making ability and simple action approach of Branson’s entrepreneurship.
Richard Branson and Society & Environment
Richard Branson has been listed as one of the 100 creators who are dedicated to operating businesses that make world a better place (Butt, 2016). Branson believes that organizations need to work with the social sector in order to resolve the top issues of the world. Social justice is good for any organization (Butt, 2016). Not only this, Branson has also undertaken initiatives to resolve one of the key issues that the world is facing these days i.e. global warming. Similar to Elon Musk’s solar roof initiative as a socially responsible behaviour, Branson has also co-founded The Carbon War Room, which is an anti-carbon non-profit body that builds solutions for climate change (Avery, 2017). He has also committed to donate $3 billion of his profits from travel companies to the reduction of global warming in the next three years (Peloza et al., 2016).
Branson is a socially responsible entrepreneur who believes that it is not the government that is only responsible for society’s development; instead big and small companies should also undertake initiatives to improve the social living (Marinova, 2016). Branson has donated money to educational charities in Africa; has started his first charity “Student Valley Centre” at the age of 17; is a Patron of the International Rescue Camp; fought with the government and organized to fly 40000 blankets to refugees fleeing to Jordan from Kuwait after Saddam Husain invasion; and encouraged his global workforce to tackle challenging social issues (Butt, 2016). Such initiatives show that Richard Branson, as an entrepreneur, believes in social development and environmental protection.
Conclusion
This report concludes various entrepreneurial characteristics that Richard Branson has shown without even having any specific education background. Starting his profession by solving a problem of being stranded on Virgin Islands, he took the risk to establish Virgin Airlines. Slowly, the company diversified into different industries where he listens to everyone surrounding him but was able to take innovative and risk-worthy decisions. This shows that the entrepreneur is a successful entrepreneur when he demonstrates qualities like individuality, decision-maker, innovation, creative thinking, risk-taker, patience and diversity. While I am effective at listening to others and patience, but I intend to improve my risk taking abilities, creative thinking skills and being a good decision maker. Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial qualities and his business empire has not only generated increased revenues for the organization itself but also helped the society live a quality life and protect the environment from climate changes.
25.11.2018