“For everything to stay the same, everything must change!” So wrote Giuseppe Lampedusa in The Leopard. Recent global events have demonstrated this in a profound way as businesses all over the world have been forced to adapt, evolve, re-evaluate and in all manner of ways…change. It’s been a reminder of just how dangerous it is to take any kind of ‘norm’ for granted. To stay relevant, change must become the norm.
Anyone who has started a business will know that how things turned out was usually a far cry from the original business plan. Chamber member Peter Radford and his business Beyond This has been changing recently and his story shows how networking can play such a pivotal role in business growth.
Until three years ago, Peter was a secondary school Assistant Headteacher who had never heard of business networking. After suffering a breakdown and recognising the significance of looking after your mental health Peter started down a new path. Now he is a Motivational Speaker, runs three small businesses and has authored his first book. Peter began his business, Beyond This, in January 2017 offering educational workshops to schools. At the same time, he began looking into holiday letting as a secondary income source, letting out a garage conversion next to his house. After joining Dorset Chamber and engaging in networking Peter has been speaking in the corporate sector on leadership, emotional wellbeing and boosting staff engagement. This has led to today’s launch of his new business brand: Peter Radford Speaker www.peterradfordspeaker.com
Peter’s schools business: Beyond This has just launched his new book: Love Teaching, Keep Teaching. The Essential Guide to Improving Wellbeing at all Levels in Schools published by Crown House & available for pre-sale on Amazon now. This also came about through networking. And his holiday let business has just invested in its third holiday let: a luxury shepherd’s hut in North Dorset. “It’s always tempting to ease back and retreat when times are hard,” says Peter, “But I think those hard times are actually the times to knuckle down, dig deep, re-think and then push forward. The people I have met and the opportunities that have opened up through the Chamber have inspired me to do just that.”