Biography
Branson was born on 18 -07-1950 in UK, he is acknowledged globally due to the accomplishment of the Virgin trademark, which he established by himself. It currently encompasses more than 360 companies (virgin.com, 2010). He is currently in nuptial with Joan Templeman. His preceding nuptials to Kristen Tomassi gave him two children thus Holly and Branson.
He was born into in a fine family, being the initial child of his four siblings. He had dyslexia, a circumstance that disallowed him from getting decent grades. He excelled in sports instruction, most notably swimming (virgin.com, 2010). All in all, he rose from modest beginnings, often an object of scorn and changed himself into a thriving capitalist and entrepreneur.
He possesses the Virgin brand that was registered in 1989 and listed in UK as an asset corporation. The name came from one of his commerce acquaintances when they were establishing a music allotment house.
They chose to adopt it due to their relative rawness in the ventures they were undertaking. It should be noted that most corporations operating under the Virgin name are individual entities, although he owns either mainstream or marginal stake in some of them (virgin.com, 2010). He has leased patents of his trademark to some of these companies after they procure divisions from him.
Career
His prowess in commerce was manifested early on after he recognized a publication for students when he was only 16. He received four pounds from his mum, which he used to cover telephone and postal expenses.
It was an inter instruct periodical which paid attention to students, which sold promotion space to probable employing companies, politicians, scholarly persons and many other celebrities. It was successful, making them sizeable amounts in the process. His desires for a fresh confront and the predisposition of setting flamboyant dreams for himself saw him branch out his business widely.
He envisioned another commerce opening when the administration abolished initial agreement on retail prices (virgin.com, 2010). None of the obtainable retail outlets presented discounts on LPs; hence he decided to venture into it. He received many tasks and decided to wind down publication of the Student.
Music and Entertainment
He went full throttle into commerce in 1970 by establishing a mail order corporation that procured and re-distributed cut-out records. He achieved this by buying them in large quantities, then travelling to transaction outlets in London consequently selling them.
The workers of Student publication were recruited to administer this novel venture. He made as much as necessary money and bought a shop to house his allotment business, which was run from the boot of his automobile (Dearlove, 110).
Two years afterward, Branson used money from his record store to set up a soundtrack studio in London, which had Mike Oldfield as the initial performer. Tubular Bells was the initial song to be recorded in the studio. The studio was later transformed into a completely fledged music allotment amass and was renamed Virgin Records.
The year 1987 saw him make forays into the American marketplace through his foremost brand virgin Records. He had watched the documentation corporation grow tremendously in Britain, a move which inspired his decision to diversify his marketplace base (Dearlove, 112). It was beneficial as the corporation remained cost-effective and funded some of his newer associations.
In 1979, he acquired a night-club specializing in amusing males only, another departure from the norms expected by culture. This club was sold in 2008 to MAMA assembly of entities.
To ensure the continued existence of his airline venture, Virgin Records was later dispatched off to EMI records. This deal earned him over $500 million, some of which he used to institute the V2 music tag during his re-entry into the music production.
In 1981, he came up with Virgin Games. This undertaking was later called Virgin Interactive in 1994. It is noteworthy that the corporation published video games in the UK. It became a large corporation after acquiring Mastertonic, which was a dispenser of low-cost processor software and capture games.
Mastertonic had concluded a succession of mergers and was faced with pecuniary difficulties (Dearlove, 115). Since it had outsold all of its contestants, Branson bought a considerable entitlement of the firm through his Virgin trademark. They went on to develop into sole dispensers of SEGA commodities in the United Kingdom (UK). The group was merged with Virgin Games after Branson amplified his existence in the firm. The corporation was later allotted as distributors in other divisions of Europe.
Hospitality and Travel Agencies
It is noteworthy that in 1984, Branson formed the Airline Company. It is remarkable how he has overseen the stable growth of this company into the successive principal carrier in UK. Branson’s virgin groups possess a 51% stake in the firm with 49% held by Singapore Airlines (Shepler, 2010).
Its operational center is based in place known as Crawley, which is situated close to Gatwick airport. Another ancillary, Virgin Cargo was launched in the same year. It operates flights within the UK and to overseas locations, like US, Africa and other diverse regions. It is noteworthy that the venture has process centers in Gatwick and Heathrow. He encountered a multitude of challenges, due to turbulent market conditions and from British Airways.
In a bid to rescue his airline flagship from collapse, the UK government increased Virgin’s quota in Heathrow. This move increased their competitiveness by opening up more international destinations to them. It also placed them in direct competition with British Airways, the state carrier, which doubled up as market principal at the time (Shepler, 2010).
A series of mud-slinging operations followed, sparking a competition that was manifested on all fronts. Branson sued the state carrier for unfair practices, after their strategy to fasten prices was realized. They opted for an out of court declaration and the recompense received was divided similarly among employees of Virgin Airlines.
In the mid 90s, Virgin opted to capitalize on a government’s resolution to privatize railway services. They hold a 51% in the service while Stagecoach services holds 49%. The service covers operates from London to the Midlands. They also travel to the neighboring Wales and Scotland (virgin.com, 2010).
This service operates nine trains every hour and has incorporated in-house catering as for those who travel first class. The enterprise has replaced all stock they inherited with high-speed coaches, a move that was aided by the decision to upgrade existing railway infrastructure.
The greatest challenge they faced was poor punctuality. Major changes that included operating radio controlled watches helped them to improve on this aspect. They also operate centers, which exclusively pick up or drop clients, a move which was instrumental in distinguishing long-distance customers from the short distance ones.
Media
In 1985, Virgin group acquired Music Box, a satellite-based music center that operated on a 24-hour basis. It broadcast across numerous EU nations, mostly those which used cable TV. The corporation was later set up as a self-governing production house that majored in assembly of music programs. It ceased being an affiliate of the Virgin group in 1990.
Virgin Broadcasting, which was fashioned in 1988, acquired a stake in British Satellite Broadcasting (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). This entity later merged with Sky Television. They mainly offered satellite services to audiences in the UK. The corporation was in rivalry with Sky TV for a short while. They had a colossal investment outlay, a feature which led them to unification with Sky TV, their erstwhile rivals.
Retail Outlets
Many retail outlets operated in London and all over the UK under the Virgin brand on a small scale. Branson opted to shut down most of them, a move which enabled him to combine them into large departmental stores. These stores later re-opened to the pleasure of customers, offering more goods at the same aggressive prices.
After enforcing this move, Virgin was better placed to compete constructively with other retail outlets and supermarket chains, which had similarly rolled out on a large scale (Dearlove, 114). They had a lead on their rivals due to their presence in many EU countries. In subsequent years, Virgin Megastores was initiated in Japan as part of the growth strategy.
Other Investments
He commissioned the production and manipulation of bridal garments under his trademark (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). The suggestion belonged to a worker who approached him and requested for pecuniary assistance. This project was terminating as a result of the stiff opposition.
The opening of virgin cosmetics served to diversify their market base. They concentrated on individual effects, cosmetics and skin-care goods. Currently, it is a prize winning enterprise, which has established its presence in overseas destinations in the UAE and Africa. Virgin Books is a publishing house he helped to establish, which has released numerous books with some becoming finest sellers.
He leased his patent to mobile operators in Australia and Canada, allowing them to function using the name Virgin Mobile. His most determined scheme so far has been the takeover of Manor Racing (Shepler, 2010). Together with other sponsors, they named it Virgin Racing and took part in the 2009 season. With new guarantors coming on board, the firm has received the obligatory fiscal support to facilitate improvements on the engine.
Social Life
He was knighted in 1999 by the queen for his involvement and services to free enterprise behavior in Britain (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). Thatcher tasked him with the conscientiousness of ensuring Britain’s hygiene. Branson committed profits from different segments of the virgin group to fund study on sustainable power sources.
Part of this funding could be deployed in the necessary sections to spur growth of the sector. It is noteworthy that the company devoted its services to charity by flying compassionate aid to Islamabad for sufferers of the 2005 earthquake (Shepler, 2010).
They are a marketplace leader since they have dedicated some of their jets to testing bio-fuels. His philanthropic tendencies were highlighted when he formed Virgin Unite, an entrepreneurial foundation that is not-for-profit. It is focused on different approaches to societal and ecological issues affecting entrepreneurs.
This is to be achieved by converting business into a force of good, by uniting business leaders and social workers under a common purpose. Establishing an earth test and a green fund serve to underline his obligation to bequeathing the future generation an apt place to exist (virgin.com, 2010).
Management Philosophy
His dyslexic nature prevented his handlers from picking out his ability to bring together citizens and channel their energy for an ordinary rationale (virgin.com, 2010). He had an uncanny ability of connecting with people and drawing them to him. This enabled him to make the most of their full abilities since they trusted in him (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). This gift has been his foremost asset and has seen his business escalate as per revenues over the years.
It should be noted that he entirely advertises his business ventures by engaging in publicity stunts. He holds the record of the express instance taken to cross the Atlantic on boat (Shepler, 2010). He has made attempts crossing oceans on balloon to no avail. He even commissioned a personal TV show on Fox TV that incorporated business-oriented tasks with interesting stunts.
The showing was ended as a result of poor response in the American market regardless of fine endorsement and viewer ratings. In spite of this, the agenda was exported to other regions across EU, Asia, Africa and Australia. In total, nineteen countries televise the concept and reported good ratings. Some TV channels as evident in Fox still air episodes of the same (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).
Whenever a novel brand is launched, he allows proficient employees from other branches of Virgin to manage it with autonomy. This helps them build self self-assurance and develop charisma required to excel in commerce (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).
His companies have review mechanisms, which question all strategies before they are implemented to make certain they meet purchaser satisfaction standards, which are followed to the latter. These guarantees continued manufacture of better-quality quality goods that pledge its continued occurrence in the market (Shepler, 2010).
Branson has been branded as reckless in some quarters, due to his continued investment in diverse commerce ventures. He reckons that he is often misunderstood, since he only spots and exploits the right market at the opportune time. This principle has seen him develop an assorted business empire from modest beginnings.
His administration style is best illustrated by the fact that his companies do not follow a specified hierarchy (Dearlove, 116). They operate as separate entities that are entirely autonomous of each other. In spite of this, they harmonize each other, and often strive to ensure every sister entities remain gainful. Most solutions are generated in-house, at times coming from organizations free from the one in difficulty (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).
Summarily, the Virgin Brand is synonymous with Branson. It embodies his individuality and standing as one of the finest in processes he undertakes. He has established a large unrivalled network of acquaintances and connections that have been instrumental in propelling his brand (Shepler, 2010).
He has instituted an administration agenda that ensures competence is developed and utilized to promote the franchise. Unlike his peers, he has conventional companies that have small executive structures, which reduce official procedures. This ultimately increases competence and the overall presentation of the company.
Works Cited
Dearlove, Des. Business the Richard Branson way: 10 secrets of the world’s greatest brand builder. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. 2007. (3) 110 – 116.
Look To the Stars.org. Richard Branson’s Charity Work, Events and Causes. 2010 Web.
Shepler, John. Richard Branson’s Virgin Success: The Incredible Triumph of an Enigmatic Entrepreneur. 2010. Web.
Virgin.com. Virgin Atlantic.About Virgin. 2010. Web.
Virgin.com. Richard Branson. Virgin Atlantic. 2010. Web.