INSPIRING HAPPITUDE PEOPLE
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Richard Branson
Benjamin Franklin
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“I was never, ever interested in becoming a businessman or an entrepreneur,” says Richard Branson. At 56, despite his intentions, Branson has become one of the most successful and eccentric billionaires of the 20th century. He is the man behind one of the most recognizable brands in history and is sitting on an estimated fortune of $3.2 billion.
Born in 1950 in Surrey, England, to happily married parents Ted and Eve, Branson recalls a childhood filled with nothing but love and encouragement. Ted was a lawyer who had reluctantly set aside his passion for archaeology at the request of his father to follow in the family footsteps. Eve was an airline hostess who originally pretended to be a man in order to become a pilot instructor. Together, the two ingrained within Branson a sense of hard work and the need to be financially successful.
Branson’s mother was always thinking of ways to make money. With no television in the house, Eve would spend most of her time in the garden shed constructing wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins, which she then sold to shops, including Harrods. Everything being the family affair that it was with the Branson’s, Ted spent his time creating special pressing devices to hold the tissue boxes together while they were being glued. “It became a proper little cottage industry,” Branson recalls.
Branson’s parents took extreme measures to encourage their children’s independence. While driving home one day when Branson was just four years old, his mother made him get out of the car miles before they had reached the house and insisted that he find his own way home. Not surprisingly, Branson got lost. But, it was a lesson he would never forget.
Soon, Branson and his siblings began setting challenges for themselves. One Christmas holiday, Branson bet his Aunt Joyce ten shillings that he would be able to swim by the end of the two weeks. He spent hours in the ocean each day practicing but still could not keep himself afloat. Finally, as the family was leaving on the last day, Branson made his father stop the car so that he could have one last chance at swimming. He ran to the ocean, pulled off all his clothes and despite the huge waves, managed to swim a circle. He had won his ten shillings.
Sent to boarding school until he was 15, Branson found success on the field rather than in the classroom. He excelled in a wide range of athletics, which found him popularity at school, but he struggled with his academics because of his dyslexia, which at the time was a relatively undiagnosed problem. “Since nobody had ever heard of dyslexia, being unable to read, write or spell just meant to the rest of the class and the teachers that you were either stupid or lazy,” he recalls. “And at prep school you were beaten for both.”
Sent to a different school, Branson was initially expelled for his nocturnal visits with the headmaster’s daughter. But, after writing a fake suicide note, Branson got the expulsion overturned. Back in school, Branson set up Student Magazine at the age of 16 and opened the Student Advisory Centre a year later, which was a charity to help young people. After his first issue of Student, the headmaster of Branson’s school wrote a note saying, “Congratulations, Branson. I predict you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.”
In the next forty years, Branson would go on to prove his headmaster right on both counts.
Richard Branson Biography
Much like the public has come to expect the unexpected from this unpredictable British entrepreneur, so too is the Richard Branson biography a story of ups and downs, antics and wild behaviour, and both successes and failures. To learn about this Virgin Knight is to understand more about a man who has refused to follow convention, who has pursued and achieved his dreams his way, and who seems to have had more fun than most along the way.
This is a story that begins on July 18, 1950 in Shamley Green, Surrey, England. Growing up in a traditional family, Branson struggled throughout school due to an as of yet undiagnosed problem of dyslexia. He excelled in sports, serving as the captain of both his school’s football and cricket teams, but it was in business that he found his true calling. Despite failing in two early ventures – growing Christmas trees and raising Australian parrots – he was determined to create his own successful business.
When he was 16 years old, he dropped out of school to move to London and launch Student Magazine, which did see relatively more success. But, it was in founding the Virgin mail order record company three years later that his life would become something of real significance. His success in selling mail order records led to the opening of a record shop on Oxford Street in London, and soon after, Branson’s very own record label, Virgin Records.
The success of Virgin Records allowed Branson to buy an estate in the country, on which he built a recording studio and leased time out to struggling artists. On May 25, 1973, the Richard Branson biography took on a whole new dimension with the release of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells – the first release for Virgin Records, which quickly became a best-seller throughout England. In a relatively short period, what Branson started as a mail order company had become one of the more significant record labels in the U.K. From thereon out, Virgin Records would continue to know much mainstream success.
On the road to success, this life story would also be filled with much controversy. From signing notorious bands such as the Sex Pistols to purchasing the gay nightclub Heaven and entering the struggling airline industries with Virgin Atlantic, Branson has not shied away from challenging pursuits. Indeed, it seems to be the very challenge that he has been after.
Despite selling the Virgin record label to EMI in 1992, the entrepreneur continues to make headlines: he was in the news after launching Virgin Galactic, a new space tourism company, in 2004; he established a school for entrepreneurship in South Africa; and, more recently, he committed to investing $3 billion of Virgin’s profits over the next ten years to help in the fight against global warming.
The Richard Branson biography is not your typical story of business success. Branson has used eccentric means and traveled unconventional roads to get to where he is today, but sitting atop a fortune of almost $8 billion, few can question his entrepreneurial savvy.
The Business Virgin: Branson Enters The Game
With his magazine failing him, Branson turned to the idea of setting up a record mail order business in 1970. At just 20 years old, Branson began placing record ads in Student and soon began to realize the high demand. He dropped out of high school and began focusing on his new business, which was now making a profit. This modest success allowed him to rent an empty shop on Oxford Street in London in order to set up a music store. His magazine staff was transferred to the discount record store and the operation began to take off. At a loss for a name, one of the girls suggested ‘Virgin’ since they were “complete virgins at business”. With that, the Virgin Empire was born.
Two years after his record store first opened its doors, Branson decided to team up with staff member Nik Powell to create a record label, which they dubbed Virgin Records. The company’s first release was Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, an instrumental recording that went on to become an international hit and first made the world aware of Virgin Records. The company gained further attention in 1977, when Branson signed the infamous and controversial band the Sex Pistols despite being warned not to do so. The Pistols did not last long, but Virgin Records would continue to make a name for itself as the world’s largest independent record label, responsible for such artists as the Rolling Stones and Peter Gabriel.
By 1983, Branson had expanded his brand to include over 50 companies, including everything from hotels, filmmaking and air conditioning cleaning. Sales totaled over $17 million but Branson was not satisfied. In 1984, he entered the airline industry, creating Virgin Atlantic Airways. Struggling to compete with the leading British Airways, Branson was embarking on one of the riskiest endeavours of his career.
The 1990s would prove to be too difficult for Branson to handle. The price of airline fuel was rising, the threat of terrorism was scaring people away from flying, and British Airways was secretly trying to put Branson out of business. By 1992, Branson had no choice but to sell his beloved Virgin Records to Thorn-EMI for $1 billion. With this, he was able to purchase Virgin Atlantic outright from the banks and has since turned it into the second largest British international airline. But, the sale of his beloved Virgin Records was a devastating blow to Branson.
From then on out, Branson embarked on an approach he called ‘branded venture capital,’ whereby he would begin licensing his powerful Virgin name and gaining controlling interests in other businesses. Branson now has his hands in over 250 companies and plans to create a shuttle service into space because, “It’s virgin territory.”
Branson is also known for his adrenaline-filled pursuits to break numerous world records, including crossing the Atlantic Ocean both by boat and hot air balloon. In 1998, his attempt to round the globe by balloon failed due to bad weather.
Whether a business or a personal challenge, Branson has attacked it with equal passion and determination, making himself not only one of the most profitable businessman in today’s world but also one of the most talked about.
Lesson #1: Be A Good Leader
“Having a personality of caring about people is important,” says Branson. “You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”
Branson is often criticized for his management style – or lack thereof. He holds no regular board meetings, has no business headquarters, and has no idea how to operate a computer. But, with his brand name licensed to over 250 companies, Branson has had to develop the necessary leadership skills to ensure his survival.
His overall leadership principle rests on the need to treat other people with respect but the nuts and bolts of it are much harder to pin down. Branson stresses the importance of time management skills, saying he spends roughly one third of his time on trouble shooting, one third on new projects – both business related and charitable – and one third on promoting and marketing his businesses. In between, he also makes time for his family and vacations.
“I’ve had to create companies that I believe in 100%. These are companies I feel will make a genuine difference,” says Branson. “Then I have to be willing to find the time myself to talk about them, promote them and market them. I don’t want to spend my life doing something that I’m not proud of.”
Branson hires bright people, gives them a stake in his ventures so that they are motivated to be even more successful and then delegates. While his staff often takes care of the daily operations of a company, Branson focuses his time more on the end user experience, doing publicity and promoting his products.
Part of being a good leader, according to Branson, is also the ability to know when to back away from a task. “As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation,” he says. “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.”
But, for Branson, the most important factor of good leadership is relating to other people. “If you’re good with people…and you really care, genuinely care about people then I’m sure we could find a job for you at Virgin,” he says. “The companies that look after their people are the companies that do really well. I’m sure we’d like a few other attributes, but that would be the most important one.”
Treating his employees as important team players is crucial to the success of Branson’s Virgin Empires, putting employees first, customers second, and shareholders third. “A company is people…employees want to know…am I being listened to or am I a cog in the wheel? People really need to feel wanted.”
With one of the most licensed brands in the world, Branson has demonstrated perhaps better than any other entrepreneur of the 20th century how good leadership skills can make the difference between success and failure.
Lesson #2: Build A Powerful Brand
In 2005, Branson said his goal was to turn Virgin into “the most respected brand in the world.” Branson is not far off from achieving his goal. Virgin was recently found to be one of the UK’s top three favourite and most respected brand names and both the brand and the man behind it are known throughout the world.
“In the beginning it was just about the business – now it’s about the brand,” says Branson. “Back then we would create a company based on frustration at other people’s service and suddenly realized we had one of the most respected brands in the world.”
Branson has managed to expand his brand so effectively by diversifying his portfolio; he doesn’t strive to be the biggest in the industry but rather the best. He doesn’t strive to take over large markets, but rather to make profits in small pieces of larger markets. In his own words, diversifying “enables you to have a contingency plan when the economy is going through a rough patch.” Once he grew his brand name and got his feet wet in numerous industries, he was able to attract investors and further develop his Virgin Group.
“If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognize you,” says Branson. “Many people know the Virgin brand better than the names of the individual companies within the group.” Indeed, few could identify all of the over 250 companies in which Branson has a stake, but there are few who do not know the Virgin name. “Branding is everything,” he says. “A young girl once came up to me and told me I could be famous because I looked just like Richard Branson!”
Branson and his Virgin Group have often been criticized for selling out and weakening their brand power by branching out to the extent that they have. But, this is something Branson has been very aware of since day one. “Clearly in the eyes of the consumer the brand has not been diluted, but we must guard against that happening at all costs,” he says. “Our model is to develop each business separately with its own shareholder and management – this way we can concentrate on the job in hand, rather than be part of some enormous and faceless conglomerate.”
As the influence of the Virgin brand continues to expand, Branson says he is beginning to take the company in a new direction. Instead of licensing out the name to an increasing number of products, Branson is choosing rather to focus on improving the ones that already exist so as to prevent its image from deteriorating. “We don’t actually plan to launch new businesses over the next few years, but we are planning to take the ones we have into new territories,” he says.
In the meantime, Branson has not stopped looking towards the future. He has registered the name ‘Virgin Interplanetary’ in case space travel becomes one day commercially viable. Even outer space will then no longer be Virgin territory.
Lesson #3: Keep Flying High
“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming,” says Branson.
Branson is no stranger to failure. Known for his often wild and dramatic ideas, Branson always knew that he would encounter letdowns along the way. But, the secret to his success has been his ability to make a strong recovery. More than perhaps any other entrepreneur in the 20th century, Branson has been able to successfully move from one venture to the next even after experiencing bitter disappointment.
Branson’s determination to succeed despite the obstacles stems from his childhood. The first major challenge that he had to overcome was his dyslexia. At the age of eight, Branson still could not read. “My dyslexia was a problem throughout my school life,” he recalls. After suffering regular beatings at the hands of his headmasters for his below average academic performance, Branson vowed to fight his handicap. “Although my spelling is still sometimes poor, I have managed to overcome the worst of my difficulties through training myself to concentrate,” he says.
Branson did not let dyslexia stand in his way. Having overcome a major life obstacle, Branson was now armed with a new confidence that he could take on the business world. Despite his overwhelming success with Virgin, his professional pursuits did not always end as Branson envisioned. For every successful Virgin enterprise or music group there also seems to be a failure. From Virgin Cola to Virgin Vodka to Virgin Cosmetics, Branson has experienced his share of business duds.
Virgin Vodka, launched in 1994, did not find commercial success, largely because it lacked brand added value. Whereas Virgin Atlantic had such unique features as on-board massages and free ice cream going for it, Virgin Vodka could not stand up to its competition. Similarly, despite being priced 20% below Coke, Virgin Cola only achieved a 3% market share in the UK. These companies have since virtually disappeared off the market. Branson was also forced to sell Virgin Cinemas and Virgin Cars, two ventures that he could just not make profitable.
“If you are trying to do something for the first time, it’s always an enormous challenge, and there is no guarantee of success,” says Branson. “You never know with these things when you’re trying something new what can happen. This is all experimental.”
But, that is precisely the Branson philosophy – try new things, branch out, and when you can’t find success with one venture, you simply move on to the next. He understood that an integral part of being an entrepreneur meant being willing to not only accept failure but to also be able to rise up and start again. After launching Virgin Vines in 2005, a hip new wine brand, Branson said, “We’ve got an engaging, edgy, vibrant, fun product. It may or may not work, but we’re going to give it our best shot.”
Branson was not afraid to take risks. Some paid off while others didn’t, but in never giving up, Branson demonstrated the rewards that are possible when entrepreneurs are not afraid to keep on going.
Lesson #4: Break Records
“We’re going where no one has gone before,” says Branson, referring to Virgin Galactic’s partnership with the estate of New Mexico to build the world’s first commercial spaceport. “There’s no model to follow, nothing to copy. That is what makes this so exciting.”
Branson has made a career out of taking risks and daring to enter uncharted airways. From entering the struggling airline industry against already behemoth competitors to attempting to circle the world in a hot air balloon, Branson thrives on the adrenaline he gets from taking chances. Whether or not they pay off, he sets his goals high and doesn’t rest until he has left his mark.
The key to Branson’s fearlessness comes from how he views himself. He is not an entrepreneur; he is not a businessman; he is simply someone who likes to set exciting challenges for himself and rise to the occasion. “If I was a businessman, or saw myself as a businessman, I would have never gone into the airline business,” he says. “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”
This is what led Branson to attempt to break a number of world records in the past ten years. In 1986, Branson’s boat, Virgin Atlantic Challenge II, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in record time. The next year, Branson crossed the same ocean for the first time ever by hot-air balloon. The list goes on: he shattered all the world records when crossing the Pacific Ocean in 1991 as well as when he flew from Morocco to Hawaii in 1998. These pursuits were not only for Branson’s personal satisfaction, but they also served to increase Virgin’s presence worldwide and heighten its reputation for being innovative and exciting.
“Records are made to be broken,” says Branson. “It is in man's nature to continue to strive to do just that.” For Branson, it is essential that he not only be the best at whatever he is doing, but that he does it in a unique way. That is why, for instance, when he launched Virgin Cola in 1994, he drove a tank up to the Coke sign in Times Square and fired at it to signify the challenge that he was starting. Branson didn’t want to just find success, but he wanted to do it in a flamboyant and original way.
“To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen,” says Branson. “But you certainly can't guarantee it just by following someone else's formula.”
By following his own path and refusing to accept the standards that had been set before him, Branson carved out a unique career and an impressive success for himself. He set his sights on the impossible and made it possible, and he had a little fun doing it along the way too.
Lesson #5: Have Fun
“I’m still maybe Peter Pan – doesn’t want to grow up,” says Branson.
He rarely wears the conventional suit and tie, he organizes outlandish media events where he performs risky stunts and he isn’t afraid of having a little fun at the expense of others. Branson’s remarkable success has come about largely as a result of his own colorful and enthusiastic personality. The most important driving factor behind all of Branson’s business pursuits has been his desire to enjoy himself. “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts,” he says.
Despite now being worth over $3 billion, Branson’s prime motivation was never the money. “I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money,” he says. “If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.”
Instead, Branson thinks business should be about having a good time. “Some 80% of your life is spent working,” he says. “You want to have fun at home; why shouldn’t you have fun at work?” To this end, Branson takes great effort to ensure his employees are enjoying themselves at Virgin. He regularly writes his staff letters to tell them what is going on and he encourages them to send him their own ideas. He also insists on having time to enjoy with his staff outside of work. “If a chairman of a company visits Seattle, that chairman should take all the staff out in the evening and have a few drinks together, talk together and party together and not be embarrassed about the staff seeing the weaker side of you,” he says.
Part of Branson’s ability to just have fun with his businesses lies in the fact that he relies on as few accountants and consultants as possible. He claims to have no knowledge of computers and little understanding of balance sheets or assets and liabilities, preferring instead to trust his instincts on business matters. “I never get the accountants in before I start up a business,” he says. “It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.” The relaxed nature with which Branson approaches his business adds to the fun he is able to have with it.
“Business is giving people in their lifetime what they need and what they want,” he says. “And you know, I've had great fun turning quite a lot of different industries on their head and making sure those industries will never be the same again, because Virgin went in and took them on.”
Indeed, nothing Branson ever touched was quite the same again. The youthful enthusiasm and exuberance with which he runs his company has made him one of the most entertaining entrepreneurs in recent times. Branson consistently manages to keep not only himself but also the rest of the world on its toes in anticipation of his next move.
“I don't think of work as work and play as play,” says Branson. “It's all living.”
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He was the fifteenth of seventeen children and his father didn’t have enough money to send him to school, but that didn’t stop Benjamin Franklin from becoming one of the most prominent figures in early American history. As one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S., Franklin was also an entrepreneur, inventor and writer whose legacy would leave a lasting impact the world over.
Born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin was the son of Josiah Franklin, a candle and soap maker who hailed from England, and Abiah Folger, Josiah’s second wife. The family was not a wealthy one; Franklin was allowed to attend grammar school for just two years until he was 10 because it was too expensive. Although he was given some private writing and math lessons and continued to read voraciously on his own, Franklin never graduated from school.
At the age of 13, Franklin’s father sent him to apprentice for his older brother James, who was a printer and who had, at the age of 15, created the first independent newspaper in the colonies, called the New England Courant. Here, Franklin helped to compose pamphlets, set up type, sell the paper on the streets and perform other printer-related duties. Franklin also began writing columns under the pseudonym ‘Mrs. Silence Dogood’, who he fabricated to be a middle-aged widow. Dogood was an immediate hit with her writings about the problems and social conditions of women, but when James found out it was actually his younger brother writing her column, he was furious. As a result of James’ ensuing harassment and beatings, Franklin became a fugitive and ran away from his family in 1723.
Franklin tried his luck as a printer both in New York and New Jersey, but to no avail. He then moved to Philadelphia, where he did manage to find a job with a printer. But, Franklin was unsatisfied with his prospects there. After a brief stint at a printer’s shop in London, England, Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726. Four years and much borrowed money later, he had finally set up his own printing house. He began to publish a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette, in which he would regularly give himself space to comment on the most pressing social issues of the time. He cultivated an image of himself as an intellectual and a productive young man and his writings were the beginning of what would earn Franklin significant social respect.
The Pennsylvania Gazette would become an extremely successful newspaper and would shoot Franklin into the public eye. Despite going on to become a prominent politician, scientist and philosopher, Franklin always felt his roots were in the printing industry. Even in his final days, Franklin continued to sign his correspondence with ‘B. Franklin, Printer’. But, in fact, Franklin’s printing days would prove to be just the catalyst to a long and fruitful career that would make Franklin one of the most respected and listened to men during the nation’s early and crucially significant years.
Inventing the Future: Franklin’s Career Sparks
Franklin was an ideas man; he lived and breathed education and the free-flow of knowledge. It was to this end that Franklin created Junto in 1727, a group focused on stimulating a dialogue on the scientific and political ideas of the time, later becoming the American Philosophical Society. He also created the nation’s first public library in 1731, which would later come to be known as the Philadelphia Library.
In 1733, again under a pen name, Franklin started publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac, the now-famous publication, which in addition to containing regular almanac information, also held many of the proverbs that have since entered the country’s regular vocabulary and for which Franklin became legendary. It was an extremely successful venture, selling over 10,000 copies for each of the 25 years over which it was produced.
Franklin was now beginning to take a more active interest in public affairs. In 1736, he created the Union Fire Company, the first volunteer fire-fighting company in the U.S. Seven years later, he founded The Academy and College of Philadelphia, later to become the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, to which he was appointed President. In 1951, Franklin established Pennsylvania Hospital, the first of its kind in the new nation. He would also later donate money towards the establishment of Franklin College, today’s Franklin and Marshall College.
In 1748, Franklin officially retired from the printing business, although he continued writing literature and satirical essays throughout the rest of his life. He now began to take a more formal role in public life, becoming councilman, Justice of the Peace in Pennsylvania and elected member of the Assembly. Five years later, he was appointed Joint Deputy Postmaster-General of North America. He served in England as Colonial Representative of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts from 1757-1775 and as an ambassador to France on numerous occasions. He also became an abolitionist and president of The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage.
In perhaps his most well known feat, Franklin began working towards independence as part of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. In 1787, after he had retired from public office, he attended a series of meetings that would result in the United States Constitution. He became the only Founding Father to sign all three of the country’s major founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris and the U.S. Constitution.
In addition to public office, Franklin began to carry out research that would occupy his energy and interest for the rest of his life. A gifted scientist, Franklin spent much time experimenting with his scientific inquiries. Even without any formal education, Franklin had one of the most advanced minds of the time. Among his many inventions were the lightning rod, bifocal classes, the catheter, swimming fins, the glass harmonica and the Franklin stove. He also refused to patent his work, encouraging the free use of any information obtained from his research.
On April 17, 1790, Franklin died. He was 84 years old – another significant feat for his time. His legacy continues to live on through the likes of scholarships, monuments and the $100 U.S. bill on which Franklin’s face lies. A leader of both the American Revolution and the Enlightenment, Franklin gained the respect of his peers both then and now, 300 years later.
Lesson #1: Learn For Life
“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him,” said Franklin. “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
Despite having no formal education, Franklin understood the importance and set out to satisfy his insatiable appetite for knowledge on his own. While his father couldn’t afford to send him to school, he nonetheless took the young Franklin on walks to various tradesmen, teaching him about their tools and techniques. “It has been useful to me, having learnt so much by it as to be able to do little jobs myself,” recalled Franklin. His father also exposed him to politics and current affairs, having himself been an active member of his community.
By the age of 11, Franklin had taught himself English, French, and Italian and doggedly chased down any literature he could. “From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books,” he said. He had only been in grammar school for two years, but was reading the likes of Socrates before he should have even been in junior high school.
His quest to educate himself continued while working as an apprentice at his brother’s printing house. Franklin set out to improve his writing skills by studying the works of other authors, trying to emulate them and rewriting them in an attempt to improve them. He also used this time to read as much as he could and even became a vegetarian in order to avoid paying the high cost of meat and save more money for books.
“Genius without education is like silver in the mine,” said Franklin. Without the proper training, an individual’s talent would, accordingly, never be realized to its fullest potential. This is why throughout his entire life Franklin dedicated himself to self-improvement. He knew that there would never be a time when he would stop learning because there would always be something to learn. “The doors to wisdom are never shut,” he said. “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
Books were not the only source of knowledge for Franklin. It was his desire to continually be learning new things that led to his founding of the Junto in 1727. A forum for intellectuals to discuss and explore their ideas, Junto members were committed to improving their minds, and to a larger degree, the world. He also used his newspapers to stimulate open debate and encourage discussions on the current issues of the time.
Franklin’s endless curiosity helped fuel his business pursuits and his scientific inquiries and propelled him to the forefront of America’s intellectual community. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning,” said Franklin, believing that he who was wise was the man who learned from every one and every opportunity he could. “Not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own.”
Lesson #2: Build Strategic Partnerships
“Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none,” said Franklin.
If there was one thing that Franklin was good at it was understanding the importance and value of networking. He was cautious about those he let into his inner circle, both in his business life and in his life in public office, saying, “He that lieth down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” But, he knew that success was not a one-man job.
It was to this end that Franklin involved himself in such ventures as the founding of Junto in 1727, the Philadelphia-based discussion group that looked at and debated the current state of affairs. Everything from politics to morals to philosophy to business matters was discussed. And beyond the discussions, Franklin had created the group for the purpose of mutual improvement; sharing ideas, advice and business would not only help the participants themselves, but would be a collective effort for social improvement on a wider scale.
When Franklin was 30 years old and his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, was the most popular newspaper in the colonies, he launched a campaign to become clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He wasn’t quite ready to become one of the public faces just yet, but he knew he would need the contacts to get there. The job proved to be so boring hat Franklin passed his time making up mathematical puzzles, but he succeeded in making the connections that he wanted. Not only did they help him in bidding for government printing work but he also used them to his advantage when he would later run for public office. Franklin’s uncanny ability to set people at ease and gain their trust was one of the key factors that allowed him to develop the wide networks that he did.
Franklin was also one of the first businessmen to set up the basic concept of a franchise. Once an apprentice working at his printing house reached the age of majority – typically 21 – they became ‘journeyman printers’, who were allowed to leave Franklin and start their own company if they could find sufficient capital. But, in realizing the risk of this arrangement, Franklin created one of his own, whereby he gave the journeymen the equipment they needed to get set up. But, instead of acting independently, they would become Franklin’s partners and would pay him back with one-third of their annual profits for their first six years. Once again, Franklin had realized the importance of business networking.
In order to establish such working relationships, Franklin felt he had to cultivate an image and a reputation for himself that would allow for them. This, he knew, was no easy task. “Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended,” he said. But, from his early days working on The Pennsylvania Gazette, he had already begun building himself up into a reputable intellectual and an industrious, contributing member of society.
Franklin compared the art of succeeding to a game of Chess, “in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it.” By playing this game, Franklin believed one would learn foresight and caution, both in terms of the rules of the game and the other players. In order to win at this game and move forward with his goals Franklin had to be wary about the consequences of partnerships, being wary of whom he trusted and always taking into account the bigger picture. It was in doing so that he was able to achieve success.
Lesson #3: Experiment and Innovate
“I am in the prime of senility,” Franklin once said. Known for his often seemingly eccentric musings and scientific experiments, Franklin was never one to shelve his ideas or shun his research in the face of public ridicule. He was one of the most forward thinkers of his time and made a name for himself by not only embracing change, but also by directing the change itself.
“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions,” said Franklin. He believed in seizing the moment and taking risks. Fear never entered into the equation for Franklin; if something hadn’t been done before, then that was even more reason to try it. If an experiment failed, as Franklin knew it so often would, he looked upon it as being just one step closer to finding the truth. “I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong,” he said.
Key to being able to take the risk that comes hand in hand with innovation, according to Franklin, was a necessary combination of courage and optimism. “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight,” he said. “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” If he had the patience to continue conducting his experiments even in the face of disappointment, Franklin knew that in the end, it would eventually pay off. And, even if it didn’t, it was a price Franklin was willing to pay. “The man who achieves makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all – doing nothing,” he said.
In 1752, Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment, attempting to extract electrical sparks from a cloud in order to prove that lightning is actually electricity. Franklin knew that in carrying out this experiment, he was embarking upon a life or death mission. He had written about the dangers of proving his own theory, but thought he had found an alternative, safer way of doing it. In the end, Franklin proved his theory correct and lived to tell about it. Franklin was eager to confirm his hypothesis and blaze the path. A Russian scientist attempting the same experiment months later would not be so fortunate.
Franklin’s kite experiment and his willingness to go to extreme measures for research should not, however, be taken to mean that Franklin did not have a firm grasp on the reality of what he was doing. Yes, he was passionate about his work, but he never let his enthusiasm get the better of him. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins,” he famously said. “To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly…when in doubt, don’t.” Franklin put in much preparation and thought to everything he did, making his gambles more calculated than risky.
In the business world, Franklin applied a similar philosophy of trying new, creative ideas. As Postmaster General, Franklin pioneered the mail order catalogue. And, when his competitors stuck to printing reliable material such as newspapers, and almanacs, Franklin took the riskier route of publishing what would go on to become profitable best-selling novels. This willingness to take risks and leap into new directions characterized everything that Franklin did, from his printing business to his inventions to his life in public office and was one of the key factors behind his success.
Lesson #4: Lose No Time
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” Franklin once said. He went on to pose the question, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
In his autobiography, Franklin recalls his early days of owning a printing shop when he was just starting to get set up on his own and he would often stay in the office working well past 11pm. If it meant getting a task accomplished on time, Franklin would even stay overnight to do, or redo it if that was the case. It is this strong work ethic that carried Franklin through to the end of his career, noting that, “Lost time is never found again.”
As one of the most curious and ingenious of America’s earliest thinkers, it was no difficult task for Franklin to find something to occupy his time with. Industrious to the core, Franklin believed strongly in seizing the moment and putting every minute to good use. “Lose no time,” he said. “Be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”
Franklin had no patience for procrastination. If he had something that needed to be done, he would set out to accomplish it right then and there. “Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you will be hindered tomorrow,” he said. “One today is worth two tomorrow’s; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today…you may delay but time will not.”
By failing to take advantage of all your resources – including time – Franklin believed you were setting yourself up for failure. Especially in fiercely competitive industries, you could not afford to sacrifice even the slightest edge to your competitors. “Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all things easy,” said Franklin. “He that rises late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.”
However, working hard was not only a matter of profit and dollar signs to Franklin; it was a question of utilizing what was given to you. “Hide not your talents, they for use were made,” said Franklin. “What’s a sun-dial in the shade?” Hard work was also a matter of making a significant and valuable contribution to the world around you.
Resolution was a key factor of success for Franklin, who said, “Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.” No matter how hard a task might have seemed or how impossible a goal, Franklin believed that with a strong work ethic, it could be achieved. “Energy and persistence conquer all things,” he said. And, after all the hard work, there would indeed be time to enjoy the payoff. “Employ thy time well if thou meanest to get leisure.”
Thus, at the very bottom line of Franklin’s success was the hard work he put into every single goal he decided to see through.
Lesson #5: Do Well by Doing Good
“He is ill clothed that is bare of virtue,” wrote Franklin. “A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” Despite being wealthy enough to retire comfortably by the age of 42, Franklin continued to pursue civic projects and carry out benevolent acts throughout the rest of his life. He staunchly believed that the good life was achievable in direct proportion to one’s contribution to society and thus, from universities to hospitals to firehouses, Franklin dedicated his resources to giving back.
Franklin became one of the wealthiest men of his time, but ironically, it was never the money that he was after. He believed that a person’s net worth, instead of being attached to dollar signs, was actually “determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.” And so, Franklin set out to develop his good habits through the likes of philanthropic offerings.
“Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it,” believed Franklin. “The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.” To this end, Franklin began to use his money for benevolent purposes, including the creation of the Philadelphia Hospital and the Pennsylvania Academy, the country’s first liberal arts college. He believed these institutions would “advance civic public purposes and at the same time support the self-help efforts of individuals.” Much in the same way as how he refused to copyright his inventions, Franklin wanted to encourage the advancement of all mankind rather than just himself; putting forward resources for the common good was something Franklin considered “divine.”
The charitable motivations behind his deeds are reflected in the projects itself. When Franklin was just six years old, he witnessed a major fire in Boston in 1711, which caused the destruction of over 110 families’ homes. When given the forum of the Pennsylvania Gazette in which to voice his views, Franklin began to write about the dangers of fire and the need to create better protection. Already in existence were ‘Fire Clubs’, but these existed solely for the protection of its members. Franklin thought it was important to protect lives and property no matter whose they were. And so, in 1736, Franklin created the Union Fire Company with 30 volunteer firefighters. The idea soon caught on and Franklin had once again proved to be the source of a revolutionary idea.
“Individual endeavor can change the course of history for the better,” said Franklin. And indeed, in his case, it did. Franklin’s legacy comes as much from his business success and scientific inventions as it did from the way he treated both those around him and his community at large. A frugal man, Franklin hated to waste resources, but he made an exception when it came to helping others. “I would rather have it said ‘He lived usefully’, than ‘He died rich’,” said Franklin.
Franklin demonstrated that you could be a successful entrepreneur and still have compassion and care for the world around you. A precursor to today’s movement towards corporate social responsibility, Franklin proved to be once more a pioneer in his field.
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