British
multi-billionaire, Richard Branson, is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all
times. He became a millionaire at the age of twenty-one. Presently in Britain
his home country, virtually every person there is touched by his branded virgin
products.
Talk of Virgin FM Radio
(a 1st class FM station), Virgin Megastore, Virgin Airline, Virgin
Cola (Energy Drink), Virgin Finance, Virgin Train, Virgin Hotel, Virgin Brides,
Vie products, etc.
Considering the
pedigree of this British billionaire, one cannot but conclude that he might
have some effective guidelines he follows to run his businesses successfully.
Sure enough, he has! In
an interview on BBC Radio years ago, he was asked what advice he would give to
young people who wanted to start their own businesses.
In response, Branson
explained five rules he had continued to follow since about five decades ago
when he started his first business. But before he revealed these five rules, he
gave an explanation to the effect that the rules are constant. They don’t
change and they work for anyone who followed them.
To buttress his point,
he explained further that since about five decades ago, the world has certainly
changed and still continues to change. He talked about the changing economic,
social and political situation in the world.
He also talked about
marketers’ new ability to bypass traditional channels – TV, radio and
newspapers – and build strong following online for their companies via Twitter,
Google+, Facebook and new applications such as Path and Clout.
Branson went further to
emphasize that ALTHOUGH THE WORLD MAY BE CHANGING QUICKLY, THE STEPS TO
BUILDING A GOOD BUSINESS HAS NOT CHANGED.
At that juncture,
Branson, then, revealed the five simple rules he had been following since about
five decades ago, which remain valid and useful to him till today.
Branson’s Five Rules for Running a Successful Business
Now, let us look at
these five rules and see how we can apply them in our businesses:
1.
If You Don’t Enjoy It, Don’t Do It
A lot of people are
doing jobs or businesses that they don’t enjoy doing. They do these businesses
not because they love it but because of frustration. But super successful
people know that it is the love they have for the job or business they are
doing that makes them successful.
Golf super star, Tiger
Woods, was once asked, “What is your passion?”
He said, “Golf.”
He was asked again,
“What do you enjoy?”
He replied, “Golf.”
He was asked further,
“When are you the happiest?”
He replied, “When I’m
playing golf.”
What a great passion!
No wonder, Myles Munro said, “THE BEAUTY OF SERVING YOUR GIFT IS THAT YOUR
WEALTH IS COMING FROM WHAT YOU ENJOY.”
Dear friend, do you
want to be highly successful? Do you want to reach the pinnacle of your career?
Then, DON’T JUST DO WHAT YOU LOVE; LOVE WHAT YOU DO. Be interested in what you
are doing. Be passionate about it. As Dennis Diderot puts it, “ONLY PASSION,
GREAT PASSION CAN ELEVATE THE HUMAN SOUL TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS.”
If you are not
passionate about the job or business you are doing, please don’t waste all your
life doing it. Look for something you will enjoy and be passionate about, and
go for it. Once you find you are not passionate about your job or business,
simply quit.
If you are a Nigerian,
I believe you might have heard that Richard Branson once came to Nigeria and
purchased Nigerian Airways. And after running it for several months, he quit
the business on the ground that the economic climate in Nigeria was so harsh
that the airline would not thrive. He later sold the airline to Barrister Jimoh
Ibrahim, a Nigerian multi-millionaire-entrepreneur.
Although Branson blamed
the harsh economic climate in Nigeria, the fact is that it was not really the
harsh economic condition in the country that was the problem; it was because he
had lost interest in doing business in Nigeria.
To buttress this fact,
consider the likes of Jimoh Ibrahim and other persons, including foreigners who
are operating their airlines in Nigeria. They are making it. The reason they
are making it is that they love and enjoy what they are doing!
Go and do likewise –
love what you are doing. Be passionate about it, and you will come to enjoy
your job or business.
2.
Be Innovative: Create Something that Will Stand Out
To be innovative is to
be creative. Innovation means introducing new things, ideas or ways of doing
something. Peter Drucker, an authority on entrepreneurship, is of the belief
that what entrepreneurs have in common is not personality traits, but a
commitment to innovation.
Presently, we are
living in a global village. You can reach people everywhere with your
fingertips. Internet has made it so. But you know what? This globalization
calls for greater competition. Many products are competing against each other.
Many service providers are competing against each other. The implication is
that when you live in a world of competition, you will eventually lose to
someone else.
To win or be
victorious, you should not compete; you should innovate. How do you innovate?
Richard Branson gives the answer: “CREATE SOMETHING DIFFERENT
THAT WILL STAND OUT.” From Branson’s answer, to win or stand out in the world
of competition, you must do two things:
a. Create;
and
b. Differentiate.
Let us discuss these
briefly:
a.
Create
Whether you are a product manufacturer or you
are a service provider, the fact is, you are a creator – creator of product or
service. To win or be victorious in this competitive world, you should create and
keep creating. Instead of competing, focus on creating more products.
b.
Differentiate or Be different
Every person is creating products or services,
but it is not every person that is creating a winning product or service. The
secret of creating a winning product or service is to be unique. Uniqueness
makes you indispensable. And an indispensable person has no competition.
To be a market leader
in your niche, don’t imitate. Imitation is suicide. Be original. Think your own
thoughts. Do things your own way. Add value to your product or service.
Think of the value that
you can add to your product or service to make it stand out. Your product or
service must be unique and different from those of others. That is the way to
win in this competitive world!
3.
Your Employees are Your Best Asset; Happy Employees Make for Happy
Customers
The starting point to
running a successful business is to treat your employees as your greatest
assets. You may have the best machinery in the world. You may have
state-of-the-art technological devices. You may have all the resources of the
world. As awesome as all these are, they are not as valuable as the human
beings – employees – that are using those assets for high productivity.
It is therefore
important that you make your employees happy by catering for their welfare.
Don’t under pay your employees. Don’t overwork them. Give them incentives to
encourage them to work harder. And pay their wages as and when due.
When you do these, you
will have happy employees who will be committed to do their jobs and to attract
customers to you.
4.
Lead By Listening; Get Feedback from Your Staff and Customers on a
Regular Basis
Leadership is not all
about staying in the office and dishing out orders to be implemented by the
employees. As a leader, more often than not, you may feel that by virtue of
your knowledge, experience and qualification, it is your decision, opinion or
perspective that is correct. But this is not true. No one is perfect, and so
are you.
As far as products and
services are concerned, to come up with a winning product or service, you must
listen to your employees and customers. You can sample opinion from staffers
and customers. Seek to know what they are saying about your products or
services. This will enable you produce to meet customers’ satisfaction.
Branson is always a
leading entrepreneur because he has cultivated the habit of listening and
capitalizing on sound ideas. In 1984 when Randolph Fields, a 31-year old
barrister sold him the idea of running an airline, it took him less than 48
hours to jump at it!
5.
Be Visible: Market the Company and Its Offers By Putting Yourself or
a Senior Person in front of the Cameras
Marketing is
fundamental to the success of any business. Unless you are running a charity
organization (but even charity organizations are doing a lot of adverts to
attract donors and beneficiaries), you must promote and advertise in order to
create awareness of your products or services.
If you are one of those
who hate selling, then, change your orientation today. If you don’t sell, you
won’t make money. To sell, you must promote and advertise your products or
services offline and online.
To sum it up, let me
reiterate that globalization calls for stiffer competition and to win and be
victorious, you should enjoy what you are doing, be innovative, make your
customers happy, lead by listening and be visible.
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