About 40 years ago, the young Richard Branson and his fiancée were waiting at Puerto Rico airport.
They needed to get to the Virgin Islands.
In fact there were a lot of people that day who needed to get to the same place.
Then the flight was cancelled and a massive groan went up.
Everyone rushed to the airlines representative: pleading, yelling, threatening.
As if any of that could make any difference.
They were yelling about how badly they needed to get to The Virgin Islands, they were yelling about compensation, they wanted to know when the airline would be arranging replacement flights, where they were supposed to stay while they waited.
While they were doing this, Branson started to make some calls.
He phoned around to see how much it would cost to hire a plane to fly to The Virgin Islands.
Eventually, he found one available at short notice, but it was a fifty-seat plane.
They were willing to do the trip for $1,800.
So they young Branson did some quick maths and decided to book the plane.
Then he got a big board and wrote on it in chalk: “SEATS AVAILABLE: PUERTO RICO TO VIRGIN ISLANDS – $39”
And he stood in front of all the disgruntled passengers.
Suddenly everyone wanted to get on the plane.
The young Branson sold all the tickets immediately.
This was the seed of Virgin Atlantic.
The first time Branson saw how easy it was to make money by running an airline.
The interesting thing for me was his reaction to the situation when the flight was cancelled.
His attitude wasn’t “Oh on, the flight’s been cancelled, that’s terrible.”
Because he didn’t see the flight as the end in itself.
The flight was just a means to the end.
The end was Virgin Islands.
If this particular means isn’t working out, let’s investigate others.
This is just a speed-bump.
So first he investigates the possibilities.
He finds out whether there are any other flights and what they cost.
Now most people wouldn’t do this because they’d see hiring a plane as too expensive.
But Branson thinks “Let’s handle one problem at a time. First let’s find out if there is a plane.”
And he finds there is a plane, but not a small affordable two-seater.
Only a large expensive fifty-seat plane.
So now the problem has changed.
Now the problem is, how can we afford to hire a fifty-seat plane?
Well there is a market for exactly that, waiting at the airport.
Many people who badly want to get to the Virgin Islands.
For them, a chance to buy a ticket would be a distress purchase.
Therefore an easy sell.
Branson let’s one problem solve the other problem.
Because he had a longer term goal in view.
So the cancelled flight was a road bump not a brick wall.
He got upstream of the problem.
He changed it from a problem he couldn’t solve into one he could.
He changed it from “There are no flights to the Virgin Islands” to “How to sell plane tickets to the Virgin Islands”.
Which is exactly how Richard Branson built an empire of 400 companies worth $2.4 billion.
Predatory thinking at its finest.
Same principle applies for collective bargaining. Managed to do that with a gym membership once that I couldn’t afford. Clock everybody in reception then tap them up. Simples.
john p woods - 21 January 2013 8:53 am
As my father says
“Always turn a negative into a positive”
James Bickerton - 21 January 2013 9:01 am
NOT to detract from Branson or you, Dave – post-911, this would’ve been much harder to take off?
Robin. - 21 January 2013 9:30 am
Dave,
Your header suggests either Jackie Collins or M de Sade came 2 u in a dream last nite…
Grilla Login - 21 January 2013 10:43 am
Exellent and inspiring Dave,
and the good news is it’s infectious.
I had a friend Paul, over at the weekend
fitting new cables under my wooden floor.
He needed the kitchen door off as it was in the way.
One of the doorhinge screwheads was broken
another bodge job by my predecessor.
I couldn’t get it out.
It just would not budge.
Paul got the screw out without a screwdriver or pliers.
He got his electric drill.
Enclosed the chuck over the screw
and placed it on slow reverse
and “Bob’s your uncle”.
Easy when you know how.
I like that.
Inspired by his ingenuity I set about putting back
a Crystal Chandelier I had brought back from Moscow.
It gave me back ache taking it apart as I had to
hold the full weight of the chandelier
whilst dismantling the crystals from it.
It weighed about 12kg which does not seem heavy
but do that for 5 hours and patience can wear a little thin.
It was in about 140 pieces all marked-up with
a diagram I’d made before leaving Moscow.
If it didn’t fit back together at the other end
I’d be in big trouble.
Using Paul’s principle of making something do the work for you
I decided to find something to hang the Chandelier frame from.
I suspended the chandelier frame by its cable
from a discarded steel running bar from a disused sliding door.
I then hung the crossbar with dangling chandelier
across two top arms of a metal kitchen table frame
to take the weight of the chandelier and secured it.
This time, putting all the crystals back in place
should have taken longer than dismantling it
but I was able to swing the frame around at ease
and fit all the crystals with minimum effort.
My friend noticing what I was doing said:-
“That’s a clever idea, I’d never have thought of that!”
I said:- “You just did. You just showed me how.”
Sir Richard Branson not only solved the problem for a few passengers
He also got there Scott Free!
$39×50=$1950-1800=$150
So there must have been 3.8 in the family at the time.
Clever man.
I wonder if he’s ever had trouble getting screws out of doors.
Kev - 21 January 2013 2:20 pm
Proof it’s not just a tall story:
/Users/kevingordon/Desktop/DSC03913.jpg
Kev - 21 January 2013 2:44 pm
Your math is good Kev.
I left it out of the story that Branson and his fiancee got their flights for free.
Dave Trott - 21 January 2013 3:11 pm
You stole that from the Kremlin Kev, didn’t you?
steakandcheese - 21 January 2013 3:12 pm