Exciting and motivational story of Sir Richard Branson by Mukesh Bhavsar

1. VIRGIN GROUP
Presentation: Mukesh Bhavsar

2. Early days
 Richard Branson was born on 18 July 1950 in South London, the son of
barrister Edward James Branson and Eve Branson.
 Branson had poor academic records which contrasted with excellent
performance in sports, especially swimming.
 “Sent to a different school, Branson was initially expelled for his
nocturnal visits with the headmaster’s daughter. But, after writing a
fake suicide note, Branson got the expulsion overturned. Back in school,
Branson set up Student Magazine at the age of 16 and opened the
Student Advisory Centre a year later, which was a charity to help young
people. After his first issue of Student, the headmaster of Branson’s
school wrote a note saying, “Congratulations, Branson. I predict you will
either go to prison or become a millionaire.”
In the next forty years, Branson would go on to prove his headmaster
right on both counts.

3. Richard Branson
 Not good in education, Dyslexic
 Quit school at the age of 16
 Fastest to cross the Atlantic ocean in a boat called
Atlantic Challenger
 Opened studio to let artists work at night
 Virgin Atlantic- 1st plane crash
 Came from a hot air balloon for marriage
 Galactic- Travel in space, on moon
 Owns an island

4. CAREER
 His business career began at the age of 15 when he
published the magazine called "Student“
 Student advisory centre for charity to help youngsters
 He went on to set up a mail-order business in 1970 in
the vinyl record business which, in 1972, became a
chain of record stores called Virgin Records, later
known as Virgin Megastores

5. 1968
This is where it all
began. Richard's
first venture
'Student' magazine
went into print

6. 1971
The first Virgin
Record Shop opens
in Oxford Street,
London

7. 1973
The Virgin record
label is launched
and the Virgin
Music Publishing
operation is
established in the
UK. Mike Oldfield
releases Tubular
Bells, one of the
biggest selling
albums of the
decade and the
soundtrack to 'The
Exorcist'..

8. 1984
Virgin Atlantic
takes off
Boat & Balloon
tour

9. 1987
Virgin Records
America is
founded

10. 1988
Virgin Megastores
opens new stores
in Glasgow and
Paris, followed by
numerous other
British, European,
American and
Pacific Basin
cities..

11. 1990
Virgin MG comes
in Japan

12. 1993
Virgin Radio hits
the airwaves as the
UK's first national,
commercial rock
music station.
1994
Virgin Retail
becomes the UK's
largest music
retaile

13. 1996
Virgin Express
airline takes off
Virgin Net
launches as an
internet service
provider...
Virgin Brides
opens its doors

14. 1997
Virgin Trains wins
the 15 year
franchise for the
Intercity West
Coast line

15. 2000
Nine new companies are
launched:
Virginmoney.com (a
financial services
supermarket); Virgin
Travelstore (travel agency);
Virgin Student (a student
community website and
marketing agency); Virgin
Energy (gas and electricity
sales) V.Shop (a new retail
concept replacing the Price
brand); Virgin Cars; Virgin
Wines; Virgin Mobile
Australia; Virgin Blue (low
cost airline in Australia
which goes on to be the
fastest-growing company
in Virgin's history

16. And some more things…
 1993- Doctor of Technology from Loughborough
University
 2004- Space tourism company, Virgin Galactic
 Became Sir Richard Branson when he was knighted by
the Queen in 1999 for "services to entrepreneurship“

17. Virgin Group
 More than 300 companies
 Businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephony to
transportation, travel, financial services, media, music and
fitness
 50, 000 employees
 Existence in 30 countries
 Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun
and a sense of competitive challenge
 Richard Branson was listed in the Forbes' 2008 list of
billionaires with a net worth of approximately $7.9 billion
USD

18. While starting a new venture…
 hard research and analysis
 Go in customer's shoes
 an opportunity for restructuring a market and creating
competitive advantage?
 What are the competitors doing?
 How can we add value?
 Is there an appropriate trade-off between risk and
reward?
 reate partnerships with others to combine industry
specific skills, knowledge, and operational expertise

19. The Rise Of Virgin Group
 Virgin, a leading branded venture capital organization, is one of the
world's most recognized and respected brands.
 Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a
sense of competitive challenge.
 The Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s. He was known for
running close to the edge in terms of his financing model and
risked everything with Virgin Records to set up Virgin Atlantic
Airways. due to the capital requirements his bankers forced him to
sell Virgin Records to hold onto Virgin Atlantic Airways but he then
went on to build the Virgin brand into diverse areas such as bridal
gear and railways.

20. Key points to success
 hard research and analysis
 Questions:-
Restructuring a market and creating competitive
advantage? What are the competitors doing? Is the
customer confused or badly served? Is this an
opportunity for building the Virgin brand? Can we add
value? Will it interact with our other businesses? Is
there an appropriate trade-off between risk and
reward?
 Intelligent people are more important than money

21. LESSONS LEARNT FROM BRANSON
 Be A Good Leader
 Build A Powerful Brand
 Keep Flying High
 Break Records
 Have Fun

22. LINKS and REFERENCE
 Virgin.Com
 Speaker on Virgin Values
 Richard Branson's Virgin Success
 Branson, Sir Richard. Losing my virginity — The
autobiography, 2005, ISBN 0-7535-1020-0
 Bower, Tom. Branson, 2001
 Branson, Sir Richard. Screw it, let's do it, 2006
 Guardian Newspaper Interview
 Askmen.com feature on Richard Branson
 Virgin Corporate Website

23. THANK YOU