to be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running
The first thing that has to be recognized is that one cannot train someone to be passionate–it’s either in their DNA or it’s not.
A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.
Good brands reflect the histories of the time and the group of people that made them. They can not be copied. They can not be recycled.
There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.
Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.
If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!
Steve did not have a death wish. He had the exact opposite. His appetite for life was so strong, it outweighed all fear. So what if his choices shortened his life? His choices filled his life, and enriched the lives of those around him.
It is only by being bold that you get anywhere. If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside.
A passionate belief in your business and personal objectives can make all the difference between success and failure. If you aren’t proud of what you’re doing, why should anybody else be?
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
From my very first day as an entrepreneur, I’ve felt the only mission worth pursuing in business is to make people’s lives better.
All you have in business is your reputation – so it’s very important that you keep your word.
Starting your own business isn’t just a job – it’s a way of life.
To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.
One thing is certain in business. You and everyone around you will make mistakes.
Overcoming fear is the first step to success for entrepreneurs. The winners all exemplify that, and the hard work and commitment they have shown underlines what is needed to set up a business.
Well, I think that there’s a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you’re likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.
My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.
My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, ‘Oh God, I’ve got to do this today.’
We’re one of the only animals in the world that don’t really think of ourselves as animals, but we are animals, and we must respect our fellow animals.
If you are a small company taking on a big company, you need to have a sense of humor.
I’m a lad of the ’60s. I started a magazine to try and end the Vietnam war, but it was a number of years before I had the profile, the financial resources and the time to do more.
Treat failure as a lesson on how not to approach achieving a goal, and then use that learning to improve your chances of success when you try again. Failure is only the end if you decide to stop.
We have teams of people working on electric cars. So you never know – you may find Virgin competing with the Tesla in the car business as we do in the space business.
My early business ventures included growing Christmas trees and breeding birds.
The balloons only have one life and the only way of finding out whether they work is to attempt to fly around the world.
The music industry is a strange combination of having real and intangible assets: pop bands are brand names in themselves, and at a given stage in their careers their name alone can practically gaurantee hit records.
When I was four, my mother insisted I get out of the car and find my own way home. Although I got lost, I did find my way home. It taught me the value of independence at an early age.
You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
Fun is one of the most important – and underrated – ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.
Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader you have to listen to the people who are on the front line.
A complaint is a chance to turn a customer into a lifelong friend. I say that seriously, not as some press release baloney.
When exploring London, you will come across lots of excitement by chance, so try to take everything in rather than just rushing around to all of the major tourist haunts.
The funny thing is people won’t let me pay for things. I’ll be in a restaurant and the manager will say, ‘Oh no, it’s on the house.’
The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.
Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are.
My mother was determined to make us independent. When I was four years old, she stopped the car a few miles from our house and made me find my own way home across the fields. I got hopelessly lost.
I love Africa, and Ulusaba, our home in South Africa, is pretty special. It’s on a rocky hill overlooking the bush, and from your room, you can see lions stalking zebras by the waterhole.