The story about the history of a self-made hero, told in the first person, cannot fail to interest. Just recently, the book “Losing My Virginity,” published by the Stockholm School of Economics in St. Petersburg, sold out. Its author and at the same time character is Richard Branson. And now the same person appears on the other side.

The publishing house "Krylov" unexpectedly launched the "Business Path" project. Previously, it published mainly male detective stories, and suddenly - a translation of the most popular British business series “Business the Mr. X way." The recipe for the new series of books is extremely simple - first, economic journalists and authors of fictionalized biographies analyze the business practices of a certain Mr. X. Then the authors compare the obtained data with the basics of management in a popular presentation. The result is fascinating books written in easy, accessible language.

Amid murky narratives about global Internet companies like Yahoo! and Amazon, Microsoft and Rupert Murdoch's media empire. The story about the business strategies of Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, stands out. This is perhaps the only book in the series from which the Russian mass reader can derive considerable benefit.

In fact, what is the use of knowing that the core of Murdoch’s strategy is brutal autocracy in the company’s domestic policy and massive buying up of competitors in foreign policy? After all, if an entrepreneur already has the financial resources to implement such plans, he most likely somehow earned or attracted them using his previous strategy, not disclosed in the book.

Jeff Bezos, who invented Amazon, is the author of a strategy called “Getting big fast.” Undoubtedly, these ideas of his are wonderful and deserve attention, but in order to quickly achieve success in our market, and even in the Internet business, you need either huge funds or a developed securities market.

For Microsoft, everything was even simpler: to begin with, one big success, and then a thoughtful and systematic expansion. But it takes time and money to turn your product into a de facto standard. Among Russian entrepreneurs, only Boris and Sergey Nuralievs from 1C have successfully applied such a strategy.

This leaves the cheerful, charming Richard Branson with his ability to win small areas of the market from large companies that consider them theirs. He spent less on advertising than others. However, for almost a quarter of a century, a huge number of correspondents have been working for Branson. And completely disinterestedly - and this is not in the Soviet Union with its habit of free labor, but in pragmatic Britain. There are no blank spots in the history of Branson's company - he rose almost from scratch, slipping and starting to rise again. He is a master negotiator, willingly sharing his secrets with anyone who is interested in them. Coming from a family with a rich history and very good income, Branson became the idol of free-thinking English youth.

Two things are particularly noteworthy about this book. Firstly, Richard Branson is presented here from many different sides. For example, the author cites cases of using “unpopular measures” such as doubling the salaries of the entire staff of an ineffective department. Secondly, all his tricks are thoroughly analyzed. The wonderful thing about Branson's methods is that they require almost nothing other than mental energy. Therefore, they are quite suitable for any entrepreneur, including in Russia.

The book is suitable for managers as a gift to their boss: maybe he will become more liberal. It is recommended for owners to enjoy reading and to quickly put into practice.

Business path: Richard Branson. 10 Secrets of the World's Best Brand Builder
Dearlove D.
St. Petersburg: “Krylov”, 2003
Region/Per. from English / 192 p.T

Dmitry Morozov

In the footsteps of Richard Branson