Richard Branson, the international powerhouse entrepreneur, is an opportunist with an uncanny knack of sniffing out great deals where others hesitate or fear to tread. Branson is the ultimate brand builder and never before has a single brand been so successfully deployed across such a diverse range of goods and services. So how does he do it?

The Unauthorized Guide to Doing Business the Richard Branson Way draws out the universal lessons from Richard Branson's remarkable success and identifies 10 strategies that can be applied to any business or career:

1. Pick on someone bigger than you
2. Do the hippy, hippy shake
3. Haggle: everything's negotiable
4. Make work fun
5. Do right by your brand
6. Smile for the cameras
7. Don't lead sheep, herd cats
8. Move faster than a speeding bullet
9. Size does matter
10. Never lose the common touch

Want to be the best? The secrets of phenomenal success are in your hands.

Check out the other Unauthorized Guides in this series: Jamie Oliver; Duncan Bannatyne; Alan Sugar; Bill Gates; and Philip Green.