Communicate your passion clearly, concisely and with genuine conviction.

About 40 percent of my time is spent on social issues and building new organizations, more for the benefit of the climate or health issues.

When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn't set out to build a business empire ... For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that's going to make a real difference to other people's lives.

Most skills can be learned, but it is difficult to train people on their personality.

Ideally, since 80 percent of your life is spent working, you should start your business around something that is a passion of yours

My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running all the Virgin businesses-so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.

Exploration is a wonderful way to open our eyes to the world, & to truly see that impossible is just a word.