Five Lessons You Can Learn from Billionaire Richard Branson

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This gig gives me the opportunity to meet many of my idols.

Top of my pops is Sir Richard Branson, who, depending on the biography you read, is either a dashing, daredevil entrepreneur (his memoir), or a ruthless, money-hungry tyrant (various critics). The truth is probably somewhere in between.

I’ve spent years watching the king of spin and learning from him. I’ve come to understand that he has certain character traits that have served him well and can radically transform the life of aspiring entrepreneurs and young professionals in a matter of months.

Understand these are not the same rules from his ghost-written, self-help puff piece “Screw It Let’s Do It”. That’s just sugar-coated Virgin PR material for the masses.

Instead, let’s take a look at what has made the “teeth and beard” one of the most celebrated entrepreneurs of our time.

Lesson 1: Leapfrog

Many people have heard that Branson famously dropped out of school at age 16, but few realise he suffers from dyslexia, which inhibits the learning process (this explains why he has been quoted as saying he can’t read financial statements).

Maybe then it was his dashing personality that allowed him to rise to the top?

This still amazes me. He may have carefully crafted his image in the media as the charismatic, swashbuckling front man, but in reality he is quite shy. This is plain to see when he, er, um, gee-gosh, answers an interviewer’s question despite decades of daily practice.

In his early years he was just another middle-class floppy-haired Brit competing with people who had smoother sales skills, sharper mathematical ability and bigger bank accounts.

The difference was in his grasp on life – what he believed he could achieve.

While still at school he launched Student Magazine and wrote dozens of letters to celebrities appealing for interviews (and networking opportunities). From a young age he decided to start punching far above his weight and by the look of it he’s never stopped.

One of my favourite authors, Robert Ringer, calls this style of operation “the leapfrog theory”. Leapfrogging occurs when you make a conscious decision to jump the queue of those who wait patiently in line to claim their prize.

The only reason we sit patiently in that queue is because we’ve come to accept the myths perpetuated by insecure gatekeepers: that until you reach a certain age, level of experience, education, standing or wealth, you can’t possibly jump to a higher level. Just who do you think you are?

Gatekeepers are everywhere but, like Sir Richard, that doesn’t mean you should listen to them.

Lesson 2: Keep pushing

Recent press reports suggest that the Virgin empire appears to be on the ropes (again). An over-exposure to rising oil prices and the credit crunch has hit the Virgin group hard.

Analysts expect Virgin Blue to post a 60 per cent drop in net profit this year. Virgin Money has had mounting million-dollar losses since it began a few years ago and has recently stopped lending money and started sacking staff. Many of Branson’s foreign-based companies are in a similar position.

Not that this is anything new.

Once you strip away the PR stunts, you start to see that the Virgin Group is an umbrella of some 200 mostly unrelated companies from trains and planes to Virgin stem cell research.

Despite Branson’s bold claims of success, many of these businesses struggle. Some get sold, while others simply fold.

The story of Virgin is one of many failures: some small (Virgin Condoms), some big (Virgin Cola), marked by the occasional big wins – Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic – that more than make up for the many duds.

It takes guts to keep tap-dancing away at the edges, and not only has Branson been doing it for decades, but he still appears to be having a hell of a time – win, lose or draw.

Successful people deal daily with failure. It’s the price of admission.

Lesson 3: Play the underdog

Everyone roots for the underdog. That’s why the 236th richest man on the planet (with a net worth of $7.9 billion), goes out of his way to position himself as the consumer’s champion, battling against the (other) greedy billion-dollar corporations.

Perception is everything.

Lesson 4: Be a shameless self-promoter

Branson has suggested that he spends up to 25 per cent of his time getting the attention of the media. At the start of his career the cheeky publicity stunts were a way of levelling the playing field against competitors with big bucks to spend on advertising.

It worked so well that four decades later (and nearing 60), he still appears with busty babes, parties in nightclubs and dresses up as a woman for the cameras. By all means, blow your own trumpet.

Lesson 5: Compress the time from thought to action

Branson is a dynamo of decision-making, believing “if you can run one business well, you can run any business well”.

That’s why he operates 200 separate companies – have enough fingers in enough pies, and you stack the odds in your favour.

Having watched many Virgin launches, the modus operandi seems to be as follows:

• MOVE into a market with high profit margins.
• ENSURE your offering is a little cheaper than competitors but still enough for a healthy profit.
• MAKE bold claims about your soon-to-be-had success.
• DEMONISE the market leader. This brings your brand into prominence (even when it’s a pimple on a billion-dollar company’s backside).
• GENERATE buzz, usually via a publicity stunt.
• MOVE on to the next launch.

Compressing the time it takes you to get from thought to action is the ultimate secret of success.

Sir Richard made this very point some six years ago as a guest on my small community radio show that I nicknamed the Barefoot Investor.

At the time I wasn’t having much luck finding people to interview. Most small-time stockbrokers, financial planners and accountants went out of their way to explain why I wouldn’t succeed. Some of these same people now call and email wanting to discuss how we can do business together.

While the gatekeepers have finally let me in, the ultimate lesson I’ve learned from the Virgin King is that life is much more fun when you play by your own rules.

Tread your own path!

Photo: flickr.com/photos/tambako/3149860119/

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