Richard Branson: Support founders to build the next Virgin in Britain
We must give every founder the best chance to flourish, so the future Virgins, Microsofts and Googles of the world are also built by British entrepreneurs, says Sir Richard Branson
I was very flattered by Philip Salter’s suggestion that Britain needs another Richard Branson. But beyond the headline, we need to do more to champion anyone willing to have a go at starting a business.
Hardly anyone spoke about being an “entrepreneur” when I started out more than 50 years ago because there were really only two of us in Britain. Anita Roddick who started The Body Shop and myself. Today, although there are many more of us, people still fundamentally misunderstand what an entrepreneur is.
Simply put, entrepreneurs are creative people who come up with ideas to make people’s lives better. It’s my view that if they do this, they normally succeed. If they don’t, they normally fail. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work they hope that more money comes in than goes out, and then they’re on their way to turning that bold idea into a successful business.
But by its very nature, entrepreneurship involves risk and not every idea will survive. It’s really tough trying to build a business from scratch, and there are many growing pains for all entrepreneurs. I’ve been there many times myself. Maybe that’s why it’s so important to create an economic environment where innovators with imagination can be helped to survive and thrive.
London is brimming with possibility
London has always been a city brimming with possibility, fuelled by its diversity, creativity and willingness to embrace new ideas. That’s the spirit that inspired us to open our first Virgin record shop on Oxford Street in the 70s and it is still one of the city’s greatest strengths. But it cannot be taken for granted.
New research from our philanthropic organisation, Virgin StartUp, which supports thousands of UK founders to get started, found that a majority are worried their projects may not survive the next 12 months. An even bigger majority do not believe Westminster listens to their concerns.
This cannot be ignored. Entrepreneurs need as much support as possible to turn bold ideas into great businesses that hopefully end up employing lots of people. The gap between those who fail and those who succeed must be widened so the majority of people starting businesses are successful.
Societies benefit when entrepreneurs succeed
Thousands of students will be collecting their exam results this week and will be thinking about their future. When Virgin StartUp asked 1,000 British parents about their hopes for their childrens’ future, encouragingly, 85 per cent said that they’d support their child in starting a business and a majority of them are already fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in their children at home. That’s really encouraging to hear. I can certainly credit my own entrepreneurial mindset to my parents who always encouraged my curiosity and supported my outlandish dreams from a young age, whether it was selling Christmas trees, aged nine, breeding budgies, aged 10, or starting a national student magazine to campaign against the Vietnam War, aged 15.
Societies benefit when entrepreneurs succeed. We must give every founder the best chance to flourish, so the future Virgins, Microsofts and Googles of the world are also built by British entrepreneurs. That means fostering an environment that makes it easier to build and develop a business.
Richard Branson is an entrepreneur