Virgin's recipe for business success
- Jan 07, 2009
I'm Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Executive Chairman of the Virgin Money group of companies, and would like to jump in here following Richard's last post on what Virgin does.
There are many ingredients that go into Virgin's recipe for business success. In fact Richard's new book, Business Stripped Bare, discusses some of these key factors - people, brand, delivery, social responsibility and innovation to name but a few.
Within the book, innovation is described as a driver for business. It allows us to do something fresh, keep the brand relevant, and push the boundaries of what's possible.
One of the reasons I believe Virgin has been successful in so many diverse market places is because we think about innovation through product design, distribution, partnerships, marketing, pricing and service – as well as at industry level. Importantly, innovation the Virgin way is always about delivering customer benefit. We look at where consumers are being underserved then build businesses around them.
It is easy to think of innovation as technology or design led, but at Virgin we think about innovation in its broadest sense, tackling the status quo and shaking up cosy conventions.
Einstein said 'it is impossible to solve a problem by using the same thinking that created it' and that's spot on. Innovation, both large and small, is imperative for sustainable value creation.
Years ago I remember Richard saying, 'sometimes you just have to make potentially irrational business decisions in order to protect the brand.' He was talking about the decision to reduce the price of airline tickets in Australia by 50%. At the time that struck me as an 'interesting' approach to business but I quickly realised this was just another form of innovation and disruption in a market place that needed a shake-up. The results speak for themselves.
One of the key things I have learnt from Richard over the past 15 years or so is always challenge. Challenge your business to innovate by asking the unaskable, challenge industry norms and always ask, why? And then more importantly, why not?
