Young entrepreneurs should celebrate both failures and successes, Sir Richard Branson said in an exclusive interview with Vision, a Dubai-based publication.

Branson, who is regarded as the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, started his first business at the age of 16, launching Student magazine in 1966.

Since then, he has created more than 400 companies across disparate industries including music, stem cell banking, nightclubs and trains.

He has overcome dyslexia and crippling shyness to become one of the world’s most vaunted writers and speakers, said the report.

His fortune worth is estimated to be $4.6 billion and at the age of 63, is still launching new projects, it said.

However, he is using entrepreneurial nous to solve complex socioeconomic problems, rather than just running businesses.

"I have always wanted the opportunity to make a difference and I believe that a successful entrepreneur's mission should be about making people's lives better," he explained.

“I believe that entrepreneurs can focus their problem-solving minds on larger social issues and come up with workable solutions that utilise their business skills."

The causes he supports include political and environmental issues, while he also offers people radical alternative to the products or services they have been used to.

The urge to challenge outdated models has been in him since he was a child, he pointed out.

"When I was a young boy, I wanted to change the world. I left school at 15 to start a magazine to campaign to stop the Vietnamese war, so looking back I think I was definitely born with a bit of ambition and entrepreneurial spirit."

"Young entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to be brave and to not be afraid or ashamed of failure," he said.

"Ask successful business men or women today and they will have all experienced failure at some point. They will tell you it made them the business person they are today,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service