Richard Branson Quotes

One of the best bits of advice I can give is, early on, when you're building a new business, try to find somebody to run it on a day-to-day basis to free yourself up to look at the bigger picture.

My expertise is running businesses.

The key to being a good manager or a good entrepreneur is to pick the right people. Pick the right people, and they'll make you look good.

An entrepreneur need not know everything but he or she should lead a team of persons who are thorough in different aspects.

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.

Find somebody else to run your business on a day-to-day basis.

As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation.

I made so many mistakes in running the company so far, basically any mistake you can think of I probably made. I think, if anything, the Facebook story is a great example of how if you're building a product that people love you can make a lot of mistakes

Early on in your career, find someone better than yourself to run the business on a day-to-day basis. Remove yourself, maybe even from the building, and from the nitty-gritty. That way, you're going to be able to see the bigger picture and think of new areas to go into.

I built a phenomenal company; if we could run America the way I ran my company, we'd be proud of it.

One of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs don't succeed is because they have too many chiefs. You've got to bring in the right people to make the right decisions.

I had read everything Peter Drucker ever wrote.

As an entrepreneur, it's easy to feel ownership over every aspect of your business because you're putting your reputation, your money, and other people's money on the line. Oh, and you're sleeping, breathing, and eating your passion project - that, too. But if you try to do it all yourself, you're almost certain to fail.

When I was a label head, I didn't think I was greedy. I've always run my own race.

Your job, as a head coach and general manager, is to listen and not bypass any opportunity to help your team improve.

It's stressful when you run a company.

I know how to do science. I know how to make things. I don't know how to run a company. Now that's a really tough job.

When I pick my subcommittee chairmen, I look for people that understand what it's like to run successful businesses, who know what it's like to sign the front of the check instead of the back of the check: somebody that gets it.

Honestly, if I could be anything, I'd love to be a small-business authority type of person.

It's extremely instructive to realize that you cannot do everything. You need to delegate, to find experts, to consult with them. A big part of the job of directing is knowing when to take something on and when you shouldn't.

It was Labor Day weekend in 1983, and Dad hired me to run Mick's Lounge, a bar he co-owned, for $200 a week. The business was nearly bankrupt. But I said, 'Dad, I can fix it.' It was the most natural thing I'd ever done. It just made sense to me.

Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.

You can be someone running...who is just a soaring leader of people. But if you don't have the finances down, you're going to have a problem.

Running a business is not the same as being president of the United States.