Naked Business by Richard Branson (in citations)

When a book about business is written by another guru, consultant or trainer with dubious experience and achievements, it is difficult to decide how to relate to it. Another thing is to read the thoughts of a man in one generation who became a billionaire, who founded Virgin at 18 (now it includes more than 200 companies in 30 countries of the world).

This is the second book of Richard Branson, which fell into my hands. The first was “To hell with everything, take it and do it”, it left an indelible mark. So there was no doubt in reading the second.

The book “Naked Business” is 5 times thicker, contains many specific details and was more difficult to read. But, at the same time, it is written in the same spirit of optimism, faith in the strengths of everyone. It energizes, confidence and contains many valuable thoughts, experiences and recommendations of a person who seems to know what he is talking about.

Recently, I’ve been reading with a marker, highlighting for myself the main, most interesting thoughts. I offer them to you as quotes by the author:

The essence of the business is not compliance with formalities, seeking profit, bottom line, making a profit, striving to sell, a commercial game, or anything else. First of all, business is something that you care about.
In an ideal workforce, everyone should have at least the slightest idea of how his colleagues live.
There are many ways to manage a successful company, but one that worked well once is unlikely to be effective a second time. And what you are warned against can bring success. The rules do not exist.
To change the order in the company, it is necessary to make superhuman efforts.
Now we have more than 100 people, so we will split the company in two, and when each of these companies grows back to 100 people, I will invite you here again and we will divide them again.
You should know one more thing about the collective - it cannot exist forever.
On Virgin Blue Airlines, once every 3 months all company executives depart to carry their luggage. They go to work at exactly four in the morning and work the whole shift as loaders. This gives them the opportunity to understand the complexity and difficulty of this work.
At Virgin Corporation, we are doing everything possible to make employees feel that they are working for themselves; this is even more important for people than getting a high salary.
In no case can not be accountable to those who tried their best but made a mistake.
How will people believe in the company if all they see every day is a pair of dried flowers and a fire extinguisher?
Formalities are good only when they simplify life, when with their help people better understand what they need to do.
If you want your job to not only be handled, but also to succeed in it, you need people you can trust.
We can only recruit suitable people and give them the opportunity to solve problems themselves.
If you are able to solve your problems better than customers could expect, they will be dedicated to you all their lives.
The meaning of the word "entrepreneurship" can be reduced to another word - "game".
The more often you allow people to be responsible for their actions, the greater the return. It’s not worth it to take everything on yourself alone.
95% of our 5 million customers recommend us to their friends.
Make friends with your enemies - this is a good rule for both business and life.
A good PR story is a million times more effective than a full-page ad.
$ 120 million was spent on the launch of the American low-cost airline JetBlue. The budget for launching our airline amounted to 10 million, and we coped with our task.
From the announcement of employment: “If you are still able to smile at the end of the day, we invite you to work.”
While Ansett transported 10 million passengers, having 16 thousand employees in the state, we transported 15 million with the forces of 4 thousand people.
There are 4,200 people working in this business, and Brett, the president of the company, personally speaks at each introductory course to newcomers.
Restructuring corporate culture is not possible. If people burned out at work, if their enthusiasm and desire to work is killed, then having made a reshuffle in the office or adding a couple of dollars to your salary, you will not be able to change the culture that has already developed here.
Striving to become the largest brand is pointless. It is much more important to become the most respected brand.
Straightforward people are also useful in business.
Do not promise that you cannot fulfill and fulfill what you promised.
In the early years of Virgin Atlantic, I regularly wrote letters to all our employees to tell them about what's new in our business.
Attention to detail to a large extent determines the successful implementation of business ideas.
Keep a diary in which to write down all the things that are worth doing.
The main reason that staff becomes uninitiated is that employees are constantly faced with the same problems that no one can solve once and for all.
I think the owners and top managers of companies should be distracted from their usual activities as often as possible and check the quality of their own products.
If you take a small step every day to solve the problem, while seeing the whole picture, you will move in the right direction and be able to avoid any misfortune.
At night, I came up with the interior decoration of the Virgin Atlantic aircraft, selected materials and even discussed the menu and the wine list.
A specialist who complicates everything is working incorrectly. A professional should be able to make things simple.
IBM estimated that the system would cost us £ 7 million, we didn’t have that much money, so one of Jane’s colleagues, along with his computer friend, created the first system for Virgin Direct in his attic in Norwich. All this cost us 17 thousand pounds.
The desire to complicate things is your enemy. Everyone can create something complicated. But it’s hard to do something simple.
If you have a conflict with someone in business, call this person in a year and invite him to dinner. Make friends with your competitors.
We are looking for people with interesting, “lively” rather than impeccable resumes.
The goal of innovation is not always superiority and leadership in their field, the main thing is to be the best.
Our passengers have repeatedly told their friends how fun it was to fly and how funny the video was about safety rules on board an airplane.
Basically, marketing consultations are like a random number generator. Of course, you should turn to them for advice, but do not neglect your own vision and opinion.
Good luck loves the strong. Champion Harry Player often said that the more he trained, the more he was lucky in the game.
Sign the invoices during the month every six months in person, and you will think: “Lord, why do we need this?”
In order to trust people and honestly judge their merits and defeats, strengths and weaknesses, you yourself must have the nobility of the soul.
It takes a lot of courage to bring bad news to people.
Wealth makes us lazy, smug, and inactive.
Do not come to me with your problems - offer me a solution.
It’s better to promise yourself not to do anything that you would regret if it were printed in the press.
It is more important to do what you believe and consider right, even if it is contrary to the interests of the business. Business must not be allowed to go beyond morality.
Whatever peaks you reach, there will always be something you are not very strong at and there will always be more than what you do well. Therefore, do not let your weaknesses reduce your self-esteem. Forget about them and develop your strengths.
Success for me is to create something that you can truly be proud of.

All quotes are from Richard Branson's Naked Business.