"Naked Business" by Richard Branson (in quotes)

When a book about a business is written by a regular guru, consultant or trainer with dubious experience and achievements, it is difficult to decide how you feel about it. Another thing is to read the thoughts of a person in one generation of a billionaire who founded Virgin at 18 years old (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, fight and do,” she left an indelible mark. So there was no doubt about reading the second one.

The book “Nude Business” is 5 times thicker, contains many specific details and was more difficult to read. But at the same time, it was written in the same spirit of optimism, faith in the strength of each. It charges with energy, confidence and contains many valuable thoughts, experience and recommendations of a person who seems to know what he is talking about.
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Recently I have been reading with a marker, highlighting for myself the main, most interesting thoughts. I offer them to your attention as the author's quotes:

• The essence of business is not in compliance with the formalities, the search for benefits, the bottom line, profit, the desire to sell, a commercial game or something else. Business is first of all that which you care about.
  
• In an ideal work collective, everyone should have at least the slightest idea of ​​what his colleagues live.
• There are many ways to manage a successful company, but one that worked well once, is unlikely to be effective the second time. And what you are warned against can be a success. There are no rules.
• To change the existing order in the company, you need to make superhuman efforts.
• Now we have more than 100 people, so we will divide the company in two, and when each of these companies grows back to 100 people, I will invite you here again and we will share them again.
• You should know about the team one more thing - it cannot exist forever.
• On Virgin Blue Airlines, once every 3 months, all company executives go to carry baggage. 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, we do our best 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 you blame those who tried their best, but made a mistake.
• How do people believe in a company, if all that they see day after 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 to not only cope with the work, but also succeed in it, you need people you can trust.
• We can only hire the right people and give them the opportunity to solve problems themselves.
• If you were able to solve the problems better than your clients could expect, they will be devoted to you all your life.
• The meaning of the word "entrepreneurship" can be reduced to another word - "game".
• The more often you let people answer for their actions, the more feedback you get. It is not necessary to charge all on one.
• 95% of our 5 million customers recommend us to their friends.
• Making friends with your enemies is a good rule for both business and life.
• A good PR story is a million times more efficient than a full-page ad.
• On the launch of the American budget airline JetBlue was spent $ 120 million. The launch budget of our airline was 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 working day, we invite you to work."
• While Ansett carried 10 million passengers, with 16,000 employees in the state, we carried 15 million by 4,000 people.
• 4200 people are currently working in this business, and Brett, the president of the company, personally speaks at each introductory course in front of newcomers.
• Restructure corporate culture is impossible. If people are burned at work, if their enthusiasm and desire to work is killed, then having made a rearrangement in the office or adding a couple of dollars to your salary, you cannot change the culture that already exists here.
• Striving to become the largest brand is pointless. It is much more important to become the most respected brand.
• Straight people are also useful in business.
• Do not promise what you can’t accomplish and do what you promised.
• In the early years of the existence of Virgin Atlantic, I regularly wrote letters to all our employees to tell them about what is happening in our business.
• Attention to detail largely determines the successful implementation of business ideas.
• Keep a diary in which to write down all the things you should do.
• The main reason for staff becoming unresponsive is that employees constantly face the same problems that no one can solve once and for all.
• I think that the owners and top managers of companies should distract themselves from their usual activities as often as possible and check the quality of their own products.
• If every day you take a small step towards solving a problem, while seeing the whole picture, you will move in the right direction and will be able to avoid any misfortune.
• At night, I invented the Virgin Atlantic cabin decoration, chose materials and even discussed the menu and wine list.
• A specialist who complicates things is not working properly. A professional should be able to make things simple.
• IBM calculated that the system would cost us £ 7 million, we didn’t have that much money, so one of our colleagues, Jane and his friend, a computer technician, 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 that person a year later and invite him to dinner. Make friends with your competitors.
• We are looking for people with interesting, “live” and not immaculate summaries.
• The goal of innovation is not always superiority and leadership in its 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 the aircraft.
• Basically, marketing advice is like a random number generator. Certainly it is worth contacting them for advice, but do not neglect their own vision and opinion.
• Luck loves the strong. Champion Harry Player often said that the more he trained, the more luck he had in the game.
• Sign bills within a month every six months in person, and you will think: "Lord, and this is why do we?".
• To trust people and honestly judge their merits and defeats, strengths and weaknesses, you need to have the nobility of the soul.
• It takes a lot of courage to bring bad news to people.
• Prosperity makes us lazy, complacent and inactive.
• Do not come to me with your problems - offer me their solution.
• It is better to promise yourself not to do anything that you would regret if it is printed in the press.
• It is more important to do what you believe and think is right, even if it contradicts the interests of the business. We can not allow the business to go beyond morality.
• No matter what peaks you reach, there will always be something in which you are not very strong and this 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 to be truly proud of.

All quotes are from Richard Branson’s Naked Business.