Editing Richard Branson (section)

== Early business career ==
After failed attempts to grow and sell both [[Christmas tree]]s and [[budgerigar]]s, Branson launched a magazine named ''Student'' in 1966 with [[Nik Powell]]. The first issue of ''Student'' appeared in January 1968, and a year later, Branson's net worth was estimated at £50,000. The office for the venture was situated in the crypt of St. John's Church, off [[Bayswater Road]], in London.<ref>{{cite web|title=How an Anglican Church Bootstrapped Virgin Records|url=https://www.garlandpollard.com/how-the-anglican-church-bootstrapped-virgin-records/|access-date=13 August 2021|website=www.garlandpollard.com}}</ref> Though not initially as successful as he hoped, the magazine later became a vital component of the mail-order record business Branson started from the same church he used for ''Student''. Branson used the magazine to advertise popular albums, driving his record sales.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-fails-virgin-companies-that-went-bust-2012-4?op=1|title=Richard Branson's Fails: 14 Virgin Companies That Went Bust|first=Mallory|last=Russell|date=21 April 2012|website=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913202138/http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-fails-virgin-companies-that-went-bust-2012-4?op=1|archive-date=13 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> He interviewed several prominent personalities of the late 1960s for the magazine including [[Mick Jagger]] and [[R. D. Laing]].<ref name="Branson2011">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWxnDythozIC|title=Losing My Virginity|first=Richard|last=Branson|year=2011|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-1446483343}}</ref> Branson took over full direction of ''Student'' after successfully lying to Powell that the workers at the magazine opposed Powell's plans to turn the magazine into a cooperative.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/01/how-billionaires-see-themselves|title= How Billionaires See Themselves |year=2021|first=Robinson |last=Nathan |publisher= Current Affairs|quote=He had left a draft of a memo, which he was writing to the staff. It was a plan to get rid of me as publisher and editor, to take editorial and financial control of Student, and to turn it into a cooperative. I would become just part of the team, and everyone would share equally in the editorial direction of the magazine. I was shocked. I felt that Nik, my closest friend, was betraying me... I decided to bluff my way through the crisis... [If the staff were] undecided, then I could drive a wedge between Nik and the rest of them and cut Nik out.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=26 November 2019|title=Remembering Nik Powell, Virgin Records co-founder and film producer|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nik-powell-death-businessman-film-producer-virgin-records-richard-branson-a9202766.html|access-date=13 August 2021|website=The Independent}}</ref>

His business sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain [[WHSmith]]. Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-interview-hurricane-irma-failure-mums-2017-11|title=Richard Branson: Your business will fail unless you know your customers and 'experience their pain'|first=Kieron|last=Johnson|website=Business Insider}}</ref> At the time, many products were sold under restrictive marketing agreements that limited discounting, despite efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to limit [[retail price maintenance]].<ref group=note>Another example was the [[Net Book Agreement]], which limited the ability of book outlets, including discount book clubs, to offer deep discounts.</ref>

Branson eventually started a record shop in [[Oxford Street]] in [[London]]. In 1971, he was questioned in connection with the selling of records declared export stock. The matter was never brought before a court because Branson agreed to repay any unpaid [[purchase tax]] of 33% and a £70,000 fine. His parents re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.<ref name="Branson2011" />