Finding the right balance in business

Aspiring entrepreneurs and business people who are struggling with the responsibilities of a demanding career and family often ask how to juggle both, or if I think you can.

Here are just three of the questions that have come up repeatedly over the years. Please write in if you disagree or have other advice.

Can you be a successful entrepreneur and still devote time to your family?

You can and must make time for both family and business. It is important to build a strong family life: It helps to give you a better perspective and balance in business.

Moreover, a key responsibility for each generation is to bring up the next generation – and you need to be present to do this.

Since I have almost always worked from home, it’s been relatively easy for me to spend time with my family.

Once, my “office” was a small houseboat in Little Venice, near London; I remember the kids crawling around the floor while I had my meetings.

Even when we moved to a house in London’s Holland Park, I used it as an office and moved out only when my wife Joan complained about all the meetings at home. Mind you, I moved the office two doors down the road!

How do you balance family life with the time required to set up and build a business?

Spending a lot of time with the family also made me adapt the way I work. This has been one of the keys to Virgin’s success.

I always made sure we had proper family holidays – time spent away from work and the office. Spending time away taught me the art and importance of delegating from an early age.

I quickly learned what I was good at and made sure I brought in people to help with those areas where I was weaker.

As Virgin got bigger and we set up more businesses, they had to be run from actual offices in various buildings.

I minimised the time I spent inside those buildings. This helped me keep the bigger picture in perspective, remaining alert to new opportunities.

I could focus on the important decisions without getting bogged down with too many daily details. Taking yourself outside the hurly-burly of everyday business allows you to make clearer and longer-term decisions.