{"id":38421,"date":"2023-10-20T14:56:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/richard-bransons-three-key-lessons-from-his-own-startup-failures-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:56:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:23","slug":"richard-bransons-three-key-lessons-from-his-own-startup-failures-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/richard-bransons-three-key-lessons-from-his-own-startup-failures-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Branson\u2019s three key lessons from his own startup failures – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Despite being one of the most successful and well-known entrepreneurs in the world, Richard Branson says the most important things he has learned have come from his own failings.<\/p>\n

In a revealing blog post,<\/a> Branson details three keys things that he took away from failed attempt and how they can apply to your startup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to shine a light on how embracing failure is crucial for driving a business forward,\u201d Branson writes.<\/p>\n

Never underestimate the competition<\/h3>\n

Branson recalls when he first expanded the Virgin brand from the music industry to the airline world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did so with a dream to disrupt the market and offer travellers a better product and service than what was currently on offer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But things didn\u2019t go entirely to plan, with the team underestimating the level of competition from other airlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite our enthusiasm and desire to make a real difference, we realised very quickly that we were total novices, facing very large and established competitors,\u201d Branson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe faced so many dark days that it would have been easier to quit than to go on. We didn\u2019t quit \u2013 instead we held our head high, took on new and innovative approaches to marketing and doing business and learned to never, ever, underestimate the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: What today’s entrepreneurs can learn from Richard Branson<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

You have to give something meaningful<\/h3>\n

In the early 1990s Branson launched Virgin Cola to take on the likes of Coca-Cola, but now he says it failed because it wasn\u2019t offering anything different or meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main reason Virgin Cola failed was we didn\u2019t follow our own rules: at Virgin, we only enter industries when we think we can offer consumers something strikingly different, but there wasn\u2019t really an opportunity to do that in the soft drinks sector,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

But his airlines venture was able to capitalise on this opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgin Atlantic was able to preserve and flourish, despite immense competition, because the airline filled a gap in the market by providing customers with something of great use that made a real different to their lives,\u201d Branson says.<\/p>\n

You have to have a well-defined purpose for your startup<\/h3>\n

Branson also tried to take on the cars industry but misjudged the future trends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe neglected to realise that the biggest potential for disruption in the automotive industry had nothing to do with the process of selling cars, but rather with how cars were powered,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not see that the future would be about sustainability \u2013 and that the best opportunities would be found in the development of electric cars and clean fuels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the modern world, there can be no profit without a well-defined purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read the full blog post by Branson here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow <\/i>StartupSmart <\/i>on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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