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Entrepreneurs are GREAT - Part 1

Richard meets Richard - Branson, that is! - and gets business advice from one of Britain's greatest entrepreneurs.

Transcript

Great Britain is a country full of bright business ideas, and the people behind these ideas are great entrepreneurs.

Through hard work, risk and dedication, they've become some of the most successful people in the world and I’m off to meet a few of them.

Oxford is home to one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, Sir Richard Branson. He’s one of the best-known faces of business in Britain and Britain's fourth richest citizen. Wonder where I am on that list...

Richard Branson's success started when he opened his first record shop in Oxford Street, London, in 1971, and he never looked back. His success rocketed from launching his own record label, Virgin Records, to creating the hugely successful Virgin Atlantic Airways, and he's now worth an estimated 4.2 billion dollars. I've been lucky enough to be invited to Richard Branson's home and I'm really excited about it. I'm hoping to find out the secret of his success.

Richard: Sir Richard, you are one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, not just in Britain. How have you achieved this?

Sir Richard: Well, by having a blast, having a lot of fun, trying to create ventures that really make a difference to other people's lives, not being afraid to give it a go, sometimes falling flat on my face, sometimes succeeding.

Richard: So in your eyes, what makes a good entrepreneur?

Sir Richard: An entrepreneur is somebody who sees a gap in the market and feels that people are not being treated well, and gets in there and fills that gap. An entrepreneur is somebody who, you know, believes in what they're doing 100%, who acts with integrity, who realises their reputation is all they've got in life and sets about to create a great brand. 

Richard’s entrepreneurial spirit has led to Virgin’s success and he's not alone. Britain is a great place to do business.

Richard: Any advice for me?

Sir Richard: Don't try to do everything yourself. You know, try to find people who are better than you. Learn the art of delegation early on. Make sure that all the people who are working for you have fun in what they're doing because 90% of your life seems to be spent at work, so make sure it's enjoyable, and screw it, just do it. Just get on with it.

Task 1

Which is the best title for this video?

Exercise

Task 2

Select all the things that Richard Branson says about good entrepreneurs.

Exercise

Task 3

Reorder these words to make sentences from the video.

Exercise

Task 4

Match the words and phrases to make expressions from the video.

Exercise

Discussion

What qualities make entrepreneurs successful? Have you ever had or wanted your own business? Do you think we should admire business people?

 

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Submitted by khattab badr on Thu, 19/01/2023 - 10:11

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This article is just great, I love this part it's like a piece of art.: ("Don't try to do everything yourself, try to find people who are better than you". Just wondering what the meaning of (screw it) at the end of the sentence.

Khattab Badr

Hi Khattab Badr,

This is an idiom. It means something like "never mind any consequences" or "forget about any consequences". Here, Richard means just do your business and don't be afraid.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by DariaK on Thu, 23/01/2020 - 09:41

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I think that an entreprenuer needs to be ambitious, hard-working and be able to think outside the box, and, of course, he should be a risk taker. Because of that I don't want to have my own bussiness, it will take a lot of my free time, it will be very stressful and like most women I can't make right decisions under pressure. And we shouldn't admire business people, because other professions are great too (doctors, teachers, engineers, etc.).

Submitted by Sammojan on Mon, 14/10/2019 - 22:20

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I think it is about creativity, leadership and respectful to the others. Don't be ego as Richard said don't try to do everything by yourself. I never want to have my own business because I think I am not the kind of person who can control every risk situation. For businessman, I think there are a lot of things that we can learn from them or their experience, although I am not interested to be entrepreneur, I think we can adapt what we learn from them to our life.

Submitted by Clément Pellet on Wed, 04/09/2019 - 17:53

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In my opinion, the most important quality that makes an entrepreneur successful is to be fearless. Thanks’ to this quality, he will be able to take all the opportunities he will see. I had my own business before, I wrote articles for website and I don't think business people should be admire or not more than others jobs because this is exactly the same thing. Some people are good in working in finance, communication...Some others are good at develop business.

Submitted by Paola Vazquez on Wed, 04/09/2019 - 16:56

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Do you think we should admire business people? Yes. In fact, that's what I do because you can learn many things from them, they have the experience and knowledge and if you want to do your own business you have to search and ask about it so as not to make the same mistakes.

Submitted by Paola Vazquez on Wed, 04/09/2019 - 16:52

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Have you ever had or wanted your own business? I have had some ideas about it but right now, I am focusing in the university and in get professional experience before make my own bussines or even think about it.

Submitted by Paola Vazquez on Wed, 04/09/2019 - 16:48

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I think that a good entrepeneur needs to be capable to you see a need in the market or in the society and with that, seek a solution and accept advices from other persons to improve your idea. It is important believe in what you do and enjoy it.

Submitted by Elisabettacapua15 on Thu, 07/03/2019 - 21:19

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A successful entrepreneur is someone who has excellent communication skills for selling the products to customers and motivating the employees. I think that communication is the first quality of a successful entrepreneur, but without passion, determination, creativity, an open mind, discipline and confidence, there is no success. I would like to start a business in the UK because i love the way people think, i like the english culture.
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Submitted by Hoàng Nhung on Wed, 23/01/2019 - 09:06

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I love to read this article. I mean the sentence: "Don't try to do everything yourself ,,, try to find people who are better than you". Thank you Richard, hihi, both of them have the same name. Thank you Sir Richard too