Entrepreneurial journey of Richard Branson

Table of Contents
Entrepreneur.......................................................................................................................................................2
Achievements of Richard Branson......................................................................................................................2
Entrepreneurial journey of Richard Branson.......................................................................................................3
Burn’s Model.......................................................................................................................................................4
 Personal attributes and traits..................................................................................................................4
 Antecedent influences.............................................................................................................................4
 Culture and Society.................................................................................................................................5
 Situational Influences..............................................................................................................................5
Bibliography........................................................................................................................................................7

1
 ENTREPRENEUR

Entrepreneurship is a procedure by which an individual who happens to be an entrepreneur is able to

transform a specific concept into a viable product that has certain worth linked to it and is being
rewarded in the form of profits that they earn from the business. These profits are the rewards for the
risk which the entrepreneur is taking for foregoing his leisure or comfort zone in order to undertake
risk. These profits are the rewards for the risk which the entrepreneur is bearing for leaving his stable
profession and making the use of their business concepts for converting them into profitable means.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF RICHARD BRANSON

Richard Branson was born on 18th July, 1950, in Surrey, England. It is from his early life that he had
to face lot of struggle in school days and he had to be a drop out of school at an age of sixteen years.
This was one of the major decisions that finally led to the developing of “Virgin Records”. His
entrepreneurial journey initiated from the music industry and diversified afterwards to the other prime
sectors such as Airlines, etc. that made him a billionaire.

2
 ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY OF RICHARD BRANSON

Richard Branson was a son of a barrister named “Edward James Branson”. His mother’s name was
Eve Branson who was a flight attendant. Richard Branson was a patient of Dyslexia due to which he
had to face a tough time during his education period. He failed during his school which was
“Scaitcliffe”. He went to this school till the age of thirteen years and later he got transferred to Stowe
school which was a boarding school located at Buckinghamshire, England. But, his problem
continued and at a young age of sixteen years he had to again leave the school and start a youth
culture magazine named “Student”. It was a publication which was being operated by the students
and was targeted at the students and it was able to initially sell eight thousand worth of advertising in
the initial edition. This was started in 1966 and its initial run of fifty thousand copies were distributed
for free and later Branson was able to cover up the cost through advertising[ CITATION Ric15 \l 1033 ].

It was in 1969, that he was living in London at a place where he was surrounded by the British music
and drug scene. During this time he was able to develop a concept of starting order record company
named “Virgin”. This was started to assist in funding his magazine business. In the beginning the
business had a modest start but subsequently he was able to diversify his business venture by starting
a record shop in Oxford Street, London. The success of the record shop made it possible for creating
a recording studio in 1972 in Oxfordshire, England.

His second major phase in his entrepreneurial journey was when he started in 1980 a travel company
named “Voyager Group”. It was in 1984, that his airline named Virgin Atlantic was started with the

3
series of “Virgin Megastores”. It was by 1992, that he had to face financial struggles and he had to
sell of his company to THORN EMI for one billion.

Even after facing so many losses and reportedly was depressed after the contract was signed but he
was still determined to stay in his music business. By 1993, he started the station named “Virgin
Radio” and after many years he started his second record company named “V2” during 1996.

BURN’S MODEL

4
 Personal attributes and traits
Richard Branson has been an ostentatious personality who is one of the famous entrepreneurs of
the world. Richard Branson was a patient of Dyslexia due to which he had to face a tough time
during his education period. In Scaitcliffe School he was unsuccessful. He went to this school till
the age of 13 years and later he changed his school to “Stowe school” which was a boarding
school which was located at Buckinghamshire, England. However, his problem sustained and at a
young age of 16 years he had to again leave the school and then he started “Student” which was a
youth culture magazine.

Antecedent influences
Richard Branson was born on 18th July, 1950, in Surrey, England. It is from his early life that he
had to face lot of tussle in school days and he had to be a drop out of school at an age of sixteen
years. Richard Branson was a son of a barrister named “Edward James Branson”. His mother’s
name was Eve Branson who was a flight attendant. He is married to his second wife Joan
Templeman with whom he is having two children named Holly and Sam. The guidance of his
parents helped him to develop entrepreneurial skills from a young age of sixteen years which he
used for starting his own business.

Culture and Society

Richard Branson was born and brought up in a culture which was not of a business family, but,
even after this he was able to get good knowledge of the practical world from his parents. It was
only when he was sixteen years of age that he started his business venture for reaching out to the
students and subsequently to other businesses such as the music recording, travel business and
radio station, etc.

Situational Influences
The entire entrepreneurial journey of Richard Branson highlights the kind of struggle and
difficulties that he had to face in order to fulfill his dreams. All though he was a patient of
Dyslexia, but, this did not let this become his weakness and even after facing failures in his
educational pursuit he was able to start his initial business by taking out a magazine for students.
His love for music made it to start his music recording business and subsequently to start his
travel business and later a radio station that is popular in England.

It is based on the Burn’s Model analysis of Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial journey, it is found that
it can be used for understanding his valuable contribution to the business world. He is one of the
highest profile billionaires of Britain who is popular not only in his own country but even in the
world. In 2014, his Budget airline “Virgin America” went public and several other losses like he had
5
to sell “Virgin Records” for about one billion in 1992. Even after facing so many challenges he did
not give up his dream to reach great heights and help his business to diversify globally.

I personally feel that for a person to achieve success in his or her entrepreneurial journey it is
important that they are having certain dreams or goals to achieve in their life. It is only by having a
passionate approach that an individual is able to strive hard for accomplishing one’s own dreams. It
would require sacrificing a substantial part of their leisure and a stable life to undertake risks and
work on their business concepts. It is with passion that they are able to work in making it a practical
and profitable business for them.

An entrepreneur is able to focus intensely on the market opportunity which they are able to see in a
market. It is generally the early movers who are able to take the advantage of being the first movers.
Even though there is a risk involved in it but a person is able to use one’s own strength and
weaknesses in such a way that they are able to make a profitable business using a unique concept or
to differentiate their business from the other businesses that are in the market.

It is hard work that is making an individual to achieve success. This success is not achieved in an
overnight but requires a person to work hard and sweat so that they are able to face the challenges in
a determined manner. All the successful entrepreneurs are able to depend more on their efforts and
less on the mere luck. By having an open minded approach and flexibility in adjusting to the changed
circumstances that an individual is able to achieve success. I feel that a person needs to find the
possible solution to the problem that they are facing such as Richard Branson was able to find
solution to the different problems that he was facing in his entrepreneurial journey.

Thus, I feel that for creating any successful new venture, it is required that an individual should be
possessing certain personal traits that are helping them in starting a successful business. People who
were able to use innovative ideas are the ones who are able to earn profits and get the advantage of
outperforming their rivals. The entrepreneurial literature and the analysis of Richard Branson’s
entrepreneurial life shows that besides the factors asserted in the Burn’s model there are several other
aspects that are contributing in the success of a business or an entrepreneur. For instance, it is the
unique strategy or the effectual reasoning or process of an entrepreneur by which they are able to
become great entrepreneurs.

6
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burns, P. (2011). Entrepreneurship and small businesses. Palgrave Macmillan.

Edward, & Lazear. (2005). Entrepreneurship. Journal of Labor Economics, pp. 649-680.

George Heberton Evans, J. (1942). A Theory of Entrepreneurship. The Journal of Economic History, pp.142-
146.

Leary, M. M., & DeVaughn, M. L. (2009). Entrepreneurial team characteristics that influence the successful
launch of a new venture. Management Research News, 6.

Mary, C. (2003). Entrepreneurship in Action. Pearson Education.

Richard Branson. (2015, March 5). Retrieved from www.virgin.com/richard-branson

Sarasvathy, & S.D. (2008). Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise. Edward Elgar.

Stevenson, H. H., & Jarillo, J. C. (1990). A Paradigm of Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial Management

Strategic Management Journal, 17-27.

Taslim, M. (1995). Entrepreneurship, Default, and the Problem of Development Finance. The Canadian
Journal of Economics / Revue canadienne d'Economique, 961-72.

Thompson, & Bolton. (2001). Entrepreneurs: Talent temperament and technique. Butterworth Heinmann.