The Business Virgin: Branson Enters The Game

Article Overview: With his magazine failing him, Branson turned to the idea of setting up a record mail order business in 1970. At just 20 years old, Branson began placing record ads in Student and soon began to realize the high demand. He dropped out of high school and began focusing on his new business, which was now making a profit. This modest success allowed him to rent an empty shop on Oxford Street in London in order to set up a music store. His magazine staff was transferred to the discount record store and the operation began to take off. At a loss for a name, one of the girls suggested ‘Virgin’ since they were “complete virgins at business”. With that, the Virgin Empire was born.

The Business Virgin: Branson Enters The Game

With his magazine failing him, Branson turned to the idea of setting up a record mail order business in 1970. At just 20 years old, Branson began placing record ads in Student and soon began to realize the high demand. He dropped out of high school and began focusing on his new business, which was now making a profit. This modest success allowed him to rent an empty shop on Oxford Street in London in order to set up a music store. His magazine staff was transferred to the discount record store and the operation began to take off. At a loss for a name, one of the girls suggested ‘Virgin’ since they were “complete virgins at business”. With that, the Virgin Empire was born.

Two years after his record store first opened its doors, Branson decided to team up with staff member Nik Powell to create a record label, which they dubbed Virgin Records. The company’s first release was Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, an instrumental recording that went on to become an international hit and first made the world aware of Virgin Records. The company gained further attention in 1977, when Branson signed the infamous and controversial band the Sex Pistols despite being warned not to do so. The Pistols did not last long, but Virgin Records would continue to make a name for itself as the world’s largest independent record label, responsible for such artists as the Rolling Stones and Peter Gabriel.

By 1983, Branson had expanded his brand to include over 50 companies, including everything from hotels, filmmaking and air conditioning cleaning. Sales totaled over $17 million but Branson was not satisfied. In 1984, he entered the airline industry, creating Virgin Atlantic Airways. Struggling to compete with the leading British Airways, Branson was embarking on one of the riskiest endeavours of his career.

The 1990s would prove to be too difficult for Branson to handle. The price of airline fuel was rising, the threat of terrorism was scaring people away from flying, and British Airways was secretly trying to put Branson out of business. By 1992, Branson had no choice but to sell his beloved Virgin Records to Thorn-EMI for $1 billion. With this, he was able to purchase Virgin Atlantic outright from the banks and has since turned it into the second largest British international airline. But, the sale of his beloved Virgin Records was a devastating blow to Branson.

From then on out, Branson embarked on an approach he called ‘branded venture capital,’ whereby he would begin licensing his powerful Virgin name and gaining controlling interests in other businesses. Branson now has his hands in over 250 companies and plans to create a shuttle service into space because, “It’s virgin territory.”

Branson is also known for his adrenaline-filled pursuits to break numerous world records, including crossing the Atlantic Ocean both by boat and hot air balloon. In 1998, his attempt to round the globe by balloon failed due to bad weather.

Whether a business or a personal challenge, Branson has attacked it with equal passion and determination, making himself not only one of the most profitable businessman in today’s world but also one of the most talked about.

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Article Tags: airline industry, british airways, controversial band, endeavours, independent record label, magazine staff, mail order business, oldfields, one of the girls, oxford street, peter gabriel, record mail, sex pistols, tubular bells, virgin atlantic, virgin atlantic airways, virgin branson, virgin empire, virgin records, virgins



Related Forum Posts
Re: Business 2012 in London - [quote="bjsteele":wu04qnmy]I don't know Richard Branson. Could you introduce him simply? What is he speaking about?[/quote:wu04qnmy] You were asking who Richard Branson is, well after a few false starts his first successful business venture was producing a magazine called ‘student’ which he launched in 1968. He then started selling records by mail order in 1970 before opening his own record shop in Oxford Street in 1971. He then opened the Virgin recording studio in 1972 followed by his own Virgin Records label in 1973 and the rest is history. He is the founder and inspiration for all things Virgin now such as Virgin Telecoms, Virgin Atlantic Airline, Virgin Records, Virgin Racing, Virgin Bank and Building Society amongst many others here and abroad and I would like to get to London to meet him and listen to what he has to say. Sir Richard Branson as he is now has been drafted in as one of several ambassadors to bolster Britain's image abroad. The initiative will be launched across 17 key cities, including LA, Tokyo, Beijing and Sydney, with events including a show in Rio during which images of Britain will be beamed onto Sugarloaf Mountain. regards, Mal.
Business 2012 in London - Anyone going to Business 2012 in London? Richard Branson is speaking and also holding cocktail reception for photos and book signings
The Game Inventor's Guidebook - by Brian Tinsman, 2002 I checked this out of my local library today and its pretty interesting... didn't address what I wanted to know, which was how to actually design an online gaming system (indeed this doesn't cover online games at all), but for board games etc. it's pretty good. Here's the TOC: 1. How they diid it: Trivial Pursuit Magic, the Gathering Dungeons & Dragons Pokemon Trading Card Game Interview with an inventor Interview with a publisher 2. How the industry works 1. What's in it for you 2. How new games happen 3. Anatomy of a publisher 4. Markets for games 3. Games and companies you should know 1. Mass market games you should know 2. Mass market companies you should know 3. Hobby games you should know 4. Hobby companies you should know 5. American specialty games and companies you should know 6. European specialty games and companies you should know 4. Self publishing 1. What am I getting into 2. Before you print 3. After you print 5. Selling a game step by step 1. How to invent a game 2. Game design 3. Game development 4. Targeting publishers 5. Before you submit 6. Eight submission strategies 7. Contacting publishers 8. Protecting your property 9. What to do if they don't say yes 10. What to do if they do say yes! 11. The game industry's dirty little secret 6. Resources and examples Publishers and mnufacturers Distributors Brokers Game conventions and trade shows Industry publications Sample query letter Sample record of disclosure Sample licensing agreement Sample option agreement
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: Would you hang this poster on your wall? - I can't believe how large how your site has gotten since I last saw you. I was recently watching Property Virgin show with the Canadian lady host on HGTV and they go to Tronto a lot so I thought I need to visit you here.


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