Entrepreneurship and innovation are the drivers of economic growth all over the world, and the Philippines must champion the cause of Filipino entrepreneurs to help them shine and grow their businesses, according to a global business magnate.
Richard Branson, speaking at the first ANC Leadership Series Forum held at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on Thursday, said: “I think, for the Philippines to truly shine, you need thousands of entrepreneurs to do business here.”
The founder of the Virgin Group said the country can ensure the growth of Filipino entrepreneurs to benefit from the rising trend of entrepreneurship and innovation that have been happening globally.
He said a successful entrepreneur must be a problem solver, caring for other people, and daring to achieve what nobody has done before. “It is with all these traits that enable one to do more business, which, in turn, will help uplift the economy,” he said.
“An entrepreneur is somebody who creates something that makes a difference in people’s lives. My attitude in life is giving everything I can in solving a problem. And I get enormous satisfaction in trying to achieve something that nobody has done before,” he shared.
To do good business, healthy competition should be present in a country’s business environment, Branson said, adding that he plans to do business in the Philippines someday.
“If the country is dominated by 20 or more big corporations, it will be difficult for foreign companies to do business here. But a little bit more competition from overseas should be good for the country,” he said.
Branson’s Virgin Group consists of more than 400 companies. The group started with a record company, which was named Virgin Records.
Virgin never stopped expanding since it started— entering the airline business, health care, fuel, mobile phone and even trying to start a space tourism industry.
“If we can make sure that space travel is safe and affordable, then I think we have a huge market,” he noted.
During the forum, Branson discussed his Virgin Galactic venture, which started in 2004 and is envisioned to take paying customers to a tour of suborbital space. However, he noted that a test-pilot error set back the business indefinitely. The space tour would have asked one passenger to shell out about $250,000 per trip.
“We started 10 years ago, I thought we would be in space right now, but we encountered a major setback 18 months ago,” he explained.
Branson and his Virgin Galactic team, composed of 600 engineers and the 800 astronauts, are still hopeful to launch the project in the near future, saying “failures are part of business, since they teach one to take risks and learn from them.”
“If you have a good idea and it will create a positive impact on other people’s lives, then do it,” he said.
Branson also explained the reason they get enormous support from those employed by the Virgin group is because they go out of their way to make the workers happy.
He added that the best-run companies are those that have people who genuinely care for others.
“I think the best companies are those that have people who genuinely care about their people’s well-being. We go out of our way to make sure that the people who work for our companies are happy.”
He encouraged people who attended the forum to go and try their hand at entrepreneurship, because it will help in deciphering when an idea is good or not.
“There will always be risks, but one must try first to know if an idea is good. That’s how one can learn,” Branson said.