Treat failure as a lesson on how not to approach achieving a goal, and then use that learning to improve your chances of success when you try again. Failure is only the end if you decide to stop.
Richard BransonRead
I may be a businessman in that I set up and run companies for profit, but when I try to plan ahead and dream up new products and new companies, I'm an idealist.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the duality of being a practical businessman while also embracing the visionary role of an idealist.
Richard Branson expresses the balance between the practical aspects of running a business and the creative, forward-thinking vision required to innovate and develop new products and companies. While he identifies as a businessman focused on profit, he also values the importance of dreaming and ideation, suggesting that true entrepreneurship involves both grounded practicality and aspirational idealism.
Themes
BusinessIdealistInnovationProfitEntrepreneurship
In practice
Example use cases
In a business seminar discussing the balance of vision and practicality.
More from Richard Branson
All quotes →It's a common misconception that money is every entrepreneur's metric for success. It's not, and nor should it be.
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Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn't you have fun at work?
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Values cannot be speedily forgotten if it is inconvenient or commercially expedient. Values have to have meaning and longevity; otherwise they are valueless. You cannot embrace innovation up to a point or only sometimes. Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking cords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.
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Please don’t get hung up on this question of whether you need to have experience in an industry before you launch your startup.
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What's the most critical factor in any business decision you'll ever have to make? Basically, it boils down to this question: If this all crashes, will it bring the whole house tumbling down like a pack of cards? One business matra remains embedded in my brain - protect the downside.
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