The last post in our Lessons From Richard Branson is about creating a brand. Branson might have started with only one business but he has built one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands by partnering with other individuals to build out over 250 businesses that now carry the Virgin brand.

“In the beginning it was just about the business – now it’s about the brand. Many people know the Virgin brand better than the names of the individual companies within the group.

If you get your face and your name out there enough, people will start to recognize you. Branding is everything.

A young girl once came up to me and told me I could be famous because I looked just like Richard Branson!”

One of the most powerful tools you can use to grow your business is leverage. The concept of leverage is to put the assets you have to work for you in the most effective way possible. It is commonly used in financing where you borrow money against your house, for example, to be able to invest in a higher return asset such as the stock market. If the market returns 10% a year and you are paying 6% interest then you have earned 4% on your money without having done any real extra work.

Richard Branson applies this same philosophy to his businesses. He has spent a lot of time and effort building up his Virgin brand. It is recognized as a leader internationally and Branson has been leveraging his brand by partnering with like minded individuals to enter into new markets. He does not have to do much work in the companies he helps build - what he brings to the table is the credibility that goes along with the Virgin name while his partner does the work of operating the business.

Think about how you might be able to better leverage your business and your brand. Partner with individuals who share your same passion and will represent your brand effectively. Give them the opportunity to work under your banner and split the profits - you end up doing very little actual work but can bring in significant new money because your partner is working hard and is benefiting from using your name (they are also leveraging your name to build their business faster than they could without you).

You do not need to be the size of Virgin to benefit from brand extensions - just find someone who is smaller than you and is eager to start / expand.

Evan Carmichael

Evan Carmichael
YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager

Did you enjoy this article? If so, then subscribe to our RSS Feed.