Discuss about the Entrepreneurship Business Accepting Management.
Entrepreneurship is the act of running a business and accepting all the risks and the rewards associated with running that business. In order to be successful in the entrepreneurship ventures, a person needs hard work, drive, determination and strong belief in the idea. In addition to it, the luck is also considered to have an important role in the success of the entrepreneurial ventures. Luck is considered to have an important role in creation of circumstances where the entrepreneur can showcase their talent. However, in order to get lucky, the entrepreneurs should have the willingness and the determination, planning and a great idea. In this regard, in this paper the entrepreneurial journey of Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is investigated. Richard Branson has been selected for this paper as he is one of the most popular business magnate and founder of the Virgin Group which controls over 400 companies (Forbes Profile, 2017). He is a self-made millionaire and founded a number of companies in different industrial sectors. He is considered as one of the most popular figure in the British Culture due to his preference for adventure and philanthropic work. Virgin Atlantic is the seventh largest airline in the Europe. The paper explores the history of the entrepreneurial ventures, personal life and the role model of Richard Branson and shed light on his risk attitude and entrepreneurship style.
Branson was born in London and was keen in business from early childhood. In school, he showed poor academic performance and suffered from dyslexia. Later in his school years, Branson started a record business. During this time, he interviewed several prominent personalities of that time. At that time, he was also running a magazine, named student. All the popular records of the company were advertised in the magazine which added to the popularity of the record. Later in 1971, Branson started a record shop in Oxford Street in London. In 1972, he launched a record label Virgin Records by establishng a residential recording studio in the North of England, The Manor Studio. The first album from this label, Tubular Bells became instantly popular. In the upcoming years, the company became the largest record label in the world. In 1992, Branson sold the record business to support Airlines business (Ankeny, 2012).
In 1984, Branson launched Virgin Atlantic Airways. Virgin Acquired European short-haul airline Euro-Belgian Airlines in 1996 and changed its name to Virgin Express. Later, it merged with the SN Brussels Airlines and renamed it as Brussels Airlines. Later, it launched national Airline in Nigeria, Virgin Nigeria. It launched Virgin America which operates of San Francisco. In 2004, the company launched a new space tourism agency. The Virgin Galactic is another company launched by Virgin Group which will focus on the Space Tourism. The next venture of the company is Virgin Fuels which will offer cheap and renewable fuel for the automobiles. The Virgin Media and the Virgin Mobile is another company launched by the Virgin Group. It is a Media Company and manufactures smartphones at a low cost (Biography, 2017).
It could be examined that the success of the Virgin Group was due to the sheer hard work and dedication of the Group’s chairman. There were a lot of initial struggles in the establishment of the Group and associated companies, but with persistence and hard work, the company was able to achieve its imminent success. It could be posited that luck has contributed in a limited manner in the success of the company. The support of the parents, success of the earlier ventures and the identification of the right opportunity are considered can be considered as luck in the life of the Richard Branson.
Sir Richard Branson is considered as an idol in the business world. He had passion for the entrepreneurial ventures from the childhood and entered into different business ventures. After the initial success, the Virgin record company made significant losses. However, Branson did not lose his determination for the entrepreneurship and made persistence for the entrepreneurial efforts. Later, it resulted in his success. In 1998, Branson published his autobiography, named, ‘Losing My Virginity’. In his autobiography, he mentioned that in his entrepreneur success, luck played a significant role. In his personal life, he is an experienced kite surfer, holding several world records in the sport. He loves adventures and participates in several adventure sports. He is dedicated to his work; however, gives preference to comfort and free lifestyle. Branson is known to implement informal dress code in his organizations so that the employees can work freely. In various interviews, Branson stated that he is an avid reader of the autobiographies of the famous people. In his interview, he frequently mentions ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, the autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Thompson, 2017). He has also participated in various humanitarian and philanthropic activities, and read books on the climatic and ecological issues such as An Inconvenient Truth and The Revenge of Gaia. Branson has donated in various groups which address the global conflict situation. Branson was the founding member of International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) which searches the issue of the missing children and stop the exploitation of the young children. He has also invested in finding sustainable energy fuel for industrial sectors such as shipping, energy efficiency and the aviation. He has also launched an enterprise for the startups in the UK (Virgin, 2017). It is dedicated to support the promising startups in the UK. It focuses on providing financial as well as advisory support to the startup organization. Branson has also founding member of Global Zero campaign, an initiative to eliminate all the nuclear weapons across the globe. He also opposes the death penalty and considers it as inhumane and barbaric (Clarkson, 2016).
Richard Branson is one of the most successful business men in the present times. He has become successful at a very large scale due to his ability to identify scope in diversified industrial sectors and risk-taking ability. Branson is credited with creation of 100 brands and about 400 companies in the Virgin Group; however, Branson admit it himself that taking risks has assisted him in getting at this stage in his life. His risk-taking ability can also be detected by his preference for the adventure sports. He never shied away from different experiences. When he lost bet with his close friend Tony Fernandes, he worked as a cabin crew in Air Asia; however showed a positive attitude towards the deal and stated that nothing was really lost and he was able to raise money for the sick children. Branson also stated that even when taking risks, the person should also plan for the worst-case scenario. The company should plan for the worst case scenario and determine whether the organization should be able to sustain through extreme situations. Throughout the entrepreneurial journey, Branson is known to take chances and risks, which has contributed to his immense success. In his interviews, Branson has stated that the art of delegation, risk-taking and surrounding with great team has contributed in the high success of the organization (Nedeljnik, 2016).
Branson use the same entrepreneurial skills in the earlier times of the entrepreneurship ventures. Branson delegated his new ventures with the people who also believed in the project. He also emphasized on the marketing, networking and the strategy development of the new ventures. According to Branson, in the earlier stage of the business, it is important to take risks to establish a name for the brand and the organization (Giang, 2013). According to Branson, the biggest risk that an entrepreneur can take is to invest in a business with zero on minimal knowledge. Accordingly, Branson has also got involved in the business with connection to the previous business or the core business they have started. For instance, Virgin Records began its journey as an online retailer, then ventured into record stores, then ventured into record production, moved into signing acts and finally established a music publishing company. This process is also known as the vertical integration of the business and considered as one of the safest model of the business growth.
However, while taking risks, it is important that the business man completely dedicate himself towards the new tasks. It is important that an entrepreneur proactively participate in the new ventures to make it successful. In order to completely emerge oneself in a new business, it is important that an entrepreneur create a strong team which can handle the previous ventures easily. Moreover, the new business venture requires very large efforts from the part of the business man. It is important that the entrepreneur gets completely immersed in the venture. In the risk taking approach, it is also important for the entrepreneurs to be prepared to fail and avoid emotional commitment to the ventures. It is important for the organization to enter into new ventures in phases so that any losses can be mitigated. It is also important for the entrepreneurs to identify when the venture is going to fail and kill the idea if it is not transforming into a new business venture (Feloni, 2015).
There are several theories which try to explain the entrepreneurship behavior and define the major characteristics of the entrepreneurship behavior. Joseph Schumpeter’s innovation theory states that an entrepreneur should have one of the three major characteristics, namely, innovation, foresight and creativity. According to this theory, the entrepreneurship takes place when an entrepreneur create a new product, introduce a new product, discovers a new product for the market, find new source for the raw material or making things for the organization. The Schumpeter’s innovation theory states that the entrepreneurship skills and innovation are highly correlated with each other. It states that an entrepreneur is developed when he identifies a need and makes efforts to address it with a new product or service. However, this theory neglects the risk-taking ability and the organization skills of the entrepreneurs and emphasizes only on the innovation skills (Nayab, 2011).
On the other hand, the Risk Bearing Theory proposed by Frank Knight states that risk-taking ability is the central characteristic of the entrepreneurship. It states that the uncertainty is a major factor in the entrepreneurial venture and the business person strategize in anticipation of the future events. The entrepreneur earns benefit for taking these risks. The entrepreneurship skills of Richard Branson can be characterized by the risk taking ability and the innovation skills. He has always identified new opportunities and business area. As per the above discussion, Richard Branson has been pioneer in the risk-taking activities. He has taken risks in several entrepreneurial ventures. He has never avoided risks and new management and operational approaches. He has also emphasized on wearing comfortable and easy clothes rather than wearing ties on formal occasions (Vizard, 2016).
Conclusion
Richard Branson is one of the pioneer business people of the contemporary times. He has established over 400 companies under his Virgin Group. He is also popular for his taste for adventure and the philanthropic work. Sir Richard Branson has developed his empire with his persistence, positive attitude and risk-taking skills. Along with it, development of several circumstances has also assisted Branson in the development of his business ventures. It could be posited that luck plays a significant role in the entrepreneurship venture. However, with the luck, the dedication, persistence and the hard work of the entrepreneur also plays a crucial role in the success of the business venture. It could be examined that his leadership style relates to the risk bearing theory and the innovation theory.
References
Nayab, N. 2011. What is Entrepreneurship? A Look at Theory. Bright Hub. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/78364.aspx
Nedeljnik. 2016. Richard Branson: You’ve got to take risks if you are going to succeed. Original. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.nedeljnik.rs/original/portalnews/richard-branson-you%E2%80%99ve-got-to-take-risks-if-you-are-going-to-succeed/
Giang, V. 2013. Richard Branson: Success Comes From Delegating, Risk-Taking, And Having A Good Team. Business Insider. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.businessinsider.com/Richard-Branson-Success-Comes-From-Delegating-Risk-Taking-And-Having-A-Good-Team/articleshow/24310586.cms
Vizard, S. 2016. Sir Richard Branson on why marketers make good entrepreneurs and the need to take risks. Marketing Week. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/06/20/sir-richard-branson-talks/
Forbes Profile. 2017. Richard Branson. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.forbes.com/profile/richard-branson/
Biography. 2017. Richard Branson Biography. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.biography.com/people/richard-branson-9224520
THompson, M. 2017. 4 Secrets to Success Richard Branson Learned From Nelson Mandela. Inc. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.inc.com/mark-thompson/don-t-get-mad-here-s-how-to-get-even-amp-win.html
Clarkson, N. 2016. What keeps Richard Branson motivated. Virgin. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/what-keeps-richard-branson-motivated
Feloni, R. 2015. Here’s a breakdown of the philosophy Richard Branson used to start over 400 companies in the Virgin Group. Business Insider. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.businessinsider.com/Heres-a-breakdown-of-the-philosophy-Richard-Branson-used-to-start-over-400-companies-in-the-Virgin-Group/articleshow/46206548.cms
Ankeny, J. 2012. Richard Branson on Building an Empire. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223639
Virgin. 2017. Richard Branson: My four tips for growing a business. Retrieved 25 March 2017 from https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/richard-branson-my-four-tips-for-growing-a-business
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