Explore Quotes by Richard Branson

Customers shouldn't just think of your business as a place to buy a product or use a service - it should be a fun place to be.

"I think the most important thing is that in the last seven days we've just had the greatest adventure of our lifetimes."_x000D__x000D_"I'm inquisitive ... and I love a new challenge... and if I feel that we can do it better than it's been done by other people, we'll have a go."

Screw it, just do it!

Everyone needs something to aim for. You can call it a challenge, or you can call it a goal. It is what makes us human. It was challenges that took us from being cavemen to reaching for the stars.

In a sense, when we started Virgin Atlantic, I was trying to create an airline for myself. If you try to build the perfect airline for yourself, it will be appreciated by others.

In the '80's my gut feeling was that airlines were crap. I hated spending time on planes. I thought we could create the kind of airline I'd like. So we got a secondhand 747 and gave it a go.

I decided there must be room for another airline when I spent two days trying to get through to People Express.

Loyal employees in any company create loyal customers, who in turn create happy shareholders.

Half the art of ballooning is to make your crashes so gentle that you can fool yourself into calling them landings.

If people aren't calling you crazy, you aren't thinking big enough.

I suspect in most companies, the public relations person is down at No. 20 in the pecking order. But here, he is fighting incredibly important battles. If a negative story starts running away with itself in the press and is not dealt with fast, it can badly damage the brand, and so we put enormous weight on our PR people.

We will be producing supersonic planes which will go far, far faster than Concordes. New York to Tokyo could be less than an hour. You could be traveling at 19,000 miles an hour orbitally.

The balloons only have one life and the only way of finding out whether they work is to attempt to fly around the world.

Companies need to have a lot more flexibility with their people... . If somebody wants to golf around the world for two months, okay, well, maybe on an unpaid basis, let them do it. That sort of flexibility I think is incredibly important because most of our time, we spend at work.

Most of our businesses do succeed, but if something completely fails, then as long as we bow out gracefully and pay off all our debts, and nobody gets hurt, then I don't think people disrespect Virgin for trying. The public appreciates someone having a go; it appreciates the attempt. Who's been a success in life who hasn't failed?

Listen. Take the best. Leave the rest.

Nothing else even comes close.

When you're first thinking through an idea, it's important not to get bogged down in complexity. Thinking simply and clearly is hard to do.

I think entrepreneurship is our natural state--a big adult word that probably boils down to something much more obvious like playfulness.

Your brand name is only as good as your reputation

Making the extra effort to say thanks in a genuine, personal manner goes a long way. It is pleasurable to do, and it encourages more of the same good behavior.