Richard Branson is a prominent entrepreneur who started with the school newspaper, moved to the record business, and ended up as the creator and CEO of Virgin Airplanes company, which is still number one on the US market (“Richard Branson,” 2021). When Richard Branson started his first business venture, the Virgin Records, he did not face any risks, except for the chance of not succeeding, since he had nothing to lose. Branson was a young man when he started the record business.
He was not a meloman, but he enjoyed communicating with people and being in the world of music bands. They suggested to the bands’ something they were demanding – a hippie-friendly, chip, and potentially successful record label, that will spread the music to the eager customers (Easlea, 2016). Branson easily made acquaintances and knew how to choose people, who helped him run the business, so his stores and record studios quickly gained popularity.
Richard Branson had particular personal characteristics that made him a good entrepreneur and a worthy role model for early-stage business people. First, he had a talent and a desire to sell things and make the demand meet the supply, which, according to some experts, is one of the defining characteristics of entrepreneurs (Nelson, 2013). More than that, he possessed qualities like extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness, which lead to success, and did not possess the traits of agreeableness and neuroticism, which are initiative-killers (Winfrey, 2014). Scientists emphasize that the early-stage entrepreneurs’ success can usually be predicted based on the type of passion for the business they possess – harmonious or obsessive since harmonious passion reduces the fear of failure, and obsessive passion increases it (Stroe, 2018). Definitely, Richard Branson is the proud owner of a harmonious passion for entrepreneurship that made him such an outstanding figure.
References
Easlea, D. (2016). “A brief history of Virgin Records.” PROG. Web.
Nelson, B. (2013). “The real definition of entrepreneur – and why it matters.” Forbes. Web.
Richard Branson – chairman of the Virgin Group. (2021). Web.
Stroe, S., Shepherd, D., & Wincent, J. (2018). Fear of failure and negative affect in early-stage entrepreneurs: Regulation through passion. Academy of Management Proceedings, 1(1), 1-4.
Winfrey, G. (2014). “What great entrepreneurs have in common (infographic).” Inc. Web.