De regula, din momentul in care afacerea se extinde si CEO-ul (ori antreprenorul) ajunge sa isi mute biroul la ultimul etaj al cladirii, mai devreme sau mai tarziu incepe sa piarda contactul cu angajatii si clientii. 

In scoala de afaceri vi se spune sa intrati in businessul pe care-l cunoasteti cel mai bine si ca din cele 20 de branduri aflate in topul mondial, 19 activeaza intr-un singur domeniu.

I am incredibly lucky to be able to live in the British Virgin Islands, one of the most beautiful spots on the planet. My family’s home is on Necker Island, which is both our home and a luxury resort. Here, I’m much more likely to do my thinking in an office hammock rather than an office chair. This often sets my mind wandering as I contemplate the business of entrepreneurship.

For a long time, the terrible Space Shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986 appeared to have ended our dream of space flight’s ever expanding beyond the preserve of government-funded missions and a few highly trained explorers. 

I visit Africa often, and it is apparent that a “yes, we can” attitude is spreading across the continent, as awareness of its business and investment opportunities reaches around the globe.

Restructuring is a difficult process, right? It can be. Even if you’ve done everything right, sometimes you have to take your company in a new direction because circumstances and opportunities have changed. Companies aren’t future-proof – no company lasts forever.

Q: At every company where I have worked, sooner or later there are always discussions about the value of customer service: What is the return on investment? Do we spend too much money responding to complaints? How do we measure whether our investments in service affect our business?

Recognizing failure and recovering from mistakes are essential skills for any entrepreneur. When I recently received several excellent questions from readers of Entrepreneur magazine and American Express Open Forum, it prompted me to reflect on how I’ve dealt with missteps in my own career.

Q: In Australia there is often an overt bias against employing older workers. In a recent business magazine article, a recruitment consultant stated he doesn’t look at anybody over 35.

Every entrepreneur and business leader I meet is trying to uncover the same secret: What will help them grow their customer base and keep those clients loyal? At Virgin, we have had our fair share of success stories over the years, but also a few failures. I always look for patterns in both our achievements and our missteps, and try to learn from them.

Q: What do you do if you have a 50-50 business partnership with a friend, but after 10 years, it no longer works?

Of all the grammatical slips that really bother me, few compare to an improperly used “they.”

I’m old enough not to take a major recession lightly; on the other hand, I’ve seen them before, and I’m getting a feel for the market’s cyclical upturns and downturns. Each generation of politicians and economists tries to flatten the cycle of boom and bust, and every generation fails. I think it’s time for a new approach: Keep in mind that the economy has its ups and downs, and by investing wisely, reduce the damage a downturn can do to your business or career.

Q: If you were to list your top five rules for achieving success in business, what would they be and where would the “people factor” come in?

Nicki McKenzie, Malaga, Western Australia

Q: I’d like to ask a philosophical question: I have been trying to get my business off the ground, and I often feel that I have to get very aggressive with suppliers and service providers. I hate being aggressive, but I hate it more when my success (and survival) is hampered by others who don’t perform as they should.

I have always liked Sam Cooke’s old hit song, “Chain Gang.” It really comes in handy when I’m talking about customer service.

Entrepreneurs are innately curious people, which must be why I receive mail from readers around the world asking all manner of questions about my career and my personal life, and not just looking for advice on starting up new businesses and managing mature ones. With my focus on fun at work, the boundary between work and life does tend to blur a little! So just recently, an interviewer asked me a great many short questions about both; many of our most interesting exchanges follow.

My mother used to urge me to put on clean socks and underwear every day, reminding me, “You never know if you’re going to get hit by a bus.”

My recent column on the importance of establishing an ethos of strong customer service that extends all the way from the CEO’s office to the front lines touched a nerve for some readers. These two questions are typical of many of the responses I received: 

One of my favorite sayings is, “Ninety percent of life is just showing up,” because finding the courage to pursue your vision and start a new business often hinges on just that first step.