Richard Branson Quotes

I suspect in most companies, the public relations person is down at No. 20 in the pecking order. But here, he is fighting incredibly important battles. If a negative story starts running away with itself in the press and is not dealt with fast, it can badly damage the brand, and so we put enormous weight on our PR people.

All good leaders listen to their people and empower them to go away and turn any innovative ideas they have into a reality.

When I was young, every time I criticized someone, my mother would stand me in front of the mirror and say: 'The flaws you see in others are actually a reflection of yourself.' That taught me to pay close attention when I looked at others.

Values cannot be speedily forgotten if it is inconvenient or commercially expedient. Values have to have meaning and longevity; otherwise they are valueless. You cannot embrace innovation up to a point or only sometimes. Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking cords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.

I've had to create companies that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference. Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I don't want to spend my life doing something that I'm not proud of.

Dream big by setting yourself seemingly impossible challenges. You then have to catch up with them.

It can be a challenge not to let failure, or negativity from others, prevent you from going after what you believe in and what in your gut you know can work. However it is important to face these challenges head on and give them a go and importantly don't beat yourself up if you fail - just pick yourself up, learn as much as you can from the experience and get on with the next challenge.

I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.

Customers shouldn't just think of your business as a place to buy a product or use a service - it should be a fun place to be.

Avoid litigations. They are expensive and consume loads of time but if you have got a good case and a better chance of winning; then fight it out.

I cannot remember a moment in my life when I have not felt the love of my family. We were a family that would have killed for each other - and we still are.

I have always believed that business should be a force for good.

Every aspect of life is magnificent and wonderful. It's so important to keep fit and healthy.

At the end, entrepreneurship is not about wearing expensive suits and earning a lot of money. It is all about being true to yourself, to your values in life. Your dreams.

Doing good is good for business.

Seek out strategic alliances; they are essential to growth and provide resistance to bigger competition.

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

Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life's greatest pleasures!

I never went into business just to make money - but I found that if I have fun, the money will come. I often ask myself, is my work fun and does it make me happy? I believe that the answer to that is more important than fame or fortune. If it stops being fun, I ask why? If I can't fix it, I stop doing it.

If you don't succeed at first, there's no need for the F word (Failure). Pick yourself up and try, try again.

If you are glass half empty type of person, maybe you just haven’t been holding the right glass

Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I've just had the most incredible dream. I've just dreamt my life

I've had many challenges - every entrepreneur does - it's the nature of the beast.

I'm not superstitious. I don't really believe in star signs, sorry, or superstitions.

I just love every minute of my life. I love the variety. Every minute of every day I'm meeting fascinating new people, learning and working with wonderful teams of people creating wonderful things.

Don't wait till you are big before you begin building your brand. Build a brand from scratch alongside your business.

Focus on your business strengths and keep its weaknesses away from the competition or public.

If you love what you do and if you believe in what you do, others will share your enthusiasm. Passionate people find their way to the Virgin Group, and when they do, we snap them up and try to keep them within the family.

I think in life the key thing is just to fight really hard to make sure something survives. If it looks like you've done everything you can to avoid failure, just move forward, move on and learn from it.

When I was 15, I left school to start a magazine, and it became a success because I wouldn't take no for an answer. I remember banging on James Baldwin's door to ask for an interview when he came to England. Then I got Jean-Paul Sartre's home phone number and asked him to contribute. If I'd been 30, he might have said no, but I was a 15-year-old with passion and he was charmed. Making money was always just a side product of having a good time and creating things nobody'd seen before.

If you can run one company, you can run another. Running companies are about inspiring and driving the best out of people.

A business is simply an idea to make other people's lives better.

The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me

Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no

As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end, you have to take calculated risks; otherwise you're going to sit in mothballs all day and do nothing.

However small a company, its founders should try to expand people's opportunities and choices.

You only live once, and I just don’t want to waste a minute of my life.

We all are now very aware of what a connected world we live in - connected to each other and to the earth that gives us everything we have. We need all countries and companies to step up and play their part - setting strong goals, having clear plans, and openly demonstrating progress.

A business can be started with very little money.

I just kind of dive in if I think I can create something that will make a difference and then try to get the numbers to stack up after the event. So most of the things I've done I would not have done if I'd have asked the accountants to look at them before.

My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had - everyday I'm learning something new.

There have been times when I could have succumbed to some form of bribe, or could have had my way by offering one. But ever since that night in Dover prison I have never been tempted to break my vow.. My Parents always drummed into me that all you have life is your reputation: you may be very rich, but if you lose your good name you'll never be happy.

Learning and leadership go together. Too much credit goes to me for what we have achieved at Virgin but the successes happen from working and learning with some of the world's most inspiring and inspired people.

To be a great leader, you must be a great listener

The entrepreneurs who succeed usually want to make a difference to people’s lives, not just their own bank balances.

Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change.

Drive, determination, passion and hard work are all free and more valuable than a pot of cash.

I love eating meat, but I love our planet even more. So I will join this campaign and stop eating meat at least one day a week.