65 Classic Richard Branson Quotes on how he did it so maybe you can too
CEO and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson began his career of personal achievement in school by proving to himself that anything is possible, in challenging his own dyslexia by setting himself out to win an essay-contest – which he did. Richard followed this bold path of challenging himself by founding his first real business venture: The Student Magazine, while still in school. With that said, school was not Branson’s forte and he left the educational system at the age of fifteen, only to become one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs on the planet.
If you consider running several global businesses while living life to the fullest an art, Richard Branson is Da Vinci. And with a net worth of $4.9 billion (Forbes) and business ventures ranging from record stores to space travel, Richard Branson is a true inspiration – and a living proof that personal shortcomings need not spell the end of one’s dreams.
These Richard Branson quotes provide a window into his winning mindset, and explain why he finds having fun to be the most important thing of all.
“I didn’t set out to be rich. The fun and the challenge in life is what I wanted – and still do”
– Richard Branson
“I set my goals and stick to them. Success is more than just luck. You have to believe in yourself and make it happen”
– Richard Branson
“Chase your dreams
but live in the real world”
– Richard Branson
“I was trained to think for myself
and get things done”
– Richard Branson
“Always believe you can do it”
– Richard Branson
“I have no secret. There are no rules in business. I just work hard and, as I have always done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun”
– Richard Branson
“Have fun and the money will come”
– Richard Branson
“As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy”
– Richard Branson
“Fun is the core of the way I do business. It has been the key to it all from the start. I see no reason to change it”
– Richard Branson
“Be bold, but don’t gamble”
– Richard Branson
“I won’t let silly rules stop me. I will find a legal way around them”
– Richard Branson
“Whatever your goal is you will never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly”
– Richard Branson
“I can make up my mind about people on 60 seconds. I rely more on gut instinct than thick reports”
– Richard Branson
“Some you win and some you lose. Be glad when you win. Don’t have regrets when you lose”
– Richard Branson
“For me, there are two types of challenge. One is to do the best I can at work. The other is to seek adventure. I try to do both. I try to stretch myself to the limit”
– Richard Branson
“If you want swashbuckling action in your life, become an entrepreneur and give it a go”
– Richard Branson
“Building a successful business takes drive, determination, belief in what you’re creating, bulls**t and charm”
– Richard Branson
“Entrepreneurship isn’t about selling things – it’s about finding innovative ways to improve peoples’ lives”
– Richard Branson
“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”
– Richard Branson
“I genuinely believe that if you care passionately enough you can take just about any facet of the human experience and improve upon it”
– Richard Branson
”If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small”
– Richard Branson
“If you don’t make bold moves, the world doesn’t move forward”
– Richard Branson
“A person who has multiple degrees in your field isn’t always better than someone who has broad experience and a great personality”
– Richard Branson
“You don’t train attitudes, you hire them”
– Richard Branson
“Those people and businesses that are generally considered fortunate or luckier than others are usually also the ones that are prepared to take the greatest risks”
– Richard Branson
“Not knowing enough about the ‘correct way to do things’ and doing them anyway can open up the most amazing doorways”
– Richard Branson
“Red tape will often get in your way. It’s one of the reasons I often carry scissors!”
– Richard Branson
“A lot of supposedly new ideas are actually recycled old ones. The best ideas always win out”
– Richard Branson
“Being dyslexic at school meant that I always liked to sit behind someone who wrote big”
– Richard Branson
“Don’t take employees for granted. If you don’t value your team, they won’t value your customers”
– Richard Branson
“It’s better to say nothing than spend 1000 words or an hour speech saying nothing. Get to the point – fast”
– Richard Branson
“Great leaders are great listeners, who know their best asset is the people they work with”
– Richard Branson
“Strike the right balance between respecting your rivals and focusing on how to beat them, and you’ll have a winning formula”
– Richard Branson
“Embrace chance encounters and dream up outlandish plans – make connections wherever you go”
– Richard Branson
“If you want to stand out from the crowd, give people a reason not to forget you”
– Richard Branson
“There is no substitute for innovation. Original revolutionary ideas will always rise to the top”
– Richard Branson
“Give people the confidence and freedom to jump into the unknown – then watch them fly”
– Richard Branson
“You have one life. Spend it with the people you love, doing what you love”
– Richard Branson
“I run all my homes like businesses, and all my businesses like homes”
– Richard Branson
“An entrepreneur is an innovator, a job creator, a game- changer, a business leader, a disruptor, an adventurer”
– Richard Branson
“Whether you’re in a hammock or a hotel, an office or an igloo, work and play from anywhere”
– Richard Branson
“I see life like one long university education that I never had – everyday I’m learning something new”
– Richard Branson
“Find the right people to work with you and you won’t go wrong”
– Richard Branson
“Innovation happens when people are given the freedom to ask questions and the resources to find the answers”
– Richard Branson
“Communicate your passion clearly, concisely and with genuine conviction”
– Richard Branson
“Try to keep bureaucracy to a minimum, and remind your teams that business, as well as life, should be fun”
– Richard Branson
“Hiring the right people takes time, the right questions and a healthy dose of curiosity”
– Richard Branson
“Launching a business is essentially an adventure in problem-solving”
– Richard Branson
“It’s easy to give up when things are hard but I believe we have to keep chasing our dreams and our goals”
– Richard Branson
“If it wasn’t for those first failures, the future successes would never have happened”
– Richard Branson
“Entrepreneurs must come prepared. Don’t practice your elevator pitch, practice your anywhere pitch”
– Richard Branson
“One thing is certain in business: you will make mistakes. When you are pushing the boundaries mistakes are inevitable – how you react is important”
– Richard Branson
“Create the kind of workplace and company culture that attract great talent. If you hire brilliant people, they will make work feel more like play”
– Richard Branson
“Happiness is the secret ingredient for successful businesses. If you have a happy company it will be invincible”
– Richard Branson
“Your company should act as a springboard for ambitious employees, not a set of shackles”
– Richard Branson
“The best advice I could give anyone is to spend your time working on whatever you are passionate about in life”
– Richard Branson
“Learn from failure. If your are an entrepreneur and your first venture wasn’t a success, welcome to the club”
– Richard Branson
“If you spot an opportunity and are really excited by it, throw yourself into it with everything you’ve got”
– Richard Branson
“When you’re first thinking through an idea, it’s important to not get bogged down in complexity. Thinking simply and clearly, is hard to do”
– Richard Branson
“If you’re hurt, lick your wounds and get up again. If you’ve given it your absolute best, it’s time to move forward”
– Richard Branson
“Don’t think ‘what’s the cheapest way to do it or what’s the fastest way to do it’, think ‘what’s the most amazing way to do it’”
– Richard Branson
“The best way of learning about anything is by doing”
– Richard Branson
“Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital, so you can do more of it and move forward with it”
– Richard Branson
“I think we are all searching for paradise. Our little Garden of Eden”
– Richard Branson
“I believe in myself. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think and in the arts that love”
– Richard Branson