Adapt or Get Left Behind: Why Change Is the Only Option | Episode Twenty Two

Something is changing at Paragon. Rob isn't ready to say exactly what yet — it's still too fresh, too raw — but this episode is his way of processing it out loud. A reminder to himself, and to anyone listening, that staying still is its own kind of risk.

Change Is Coming — Details To Follow Rob is candid from the off: there are decisions being made in the business right now, some already done, some in progress. He's not ready to spell them out. But he knows they're overdue. Eight and a half years in, the core of what Paragon does and how it does it has stayed largely the same. And while that's not failure, it's starting to look a lot like stagnation.

The Kilner Family Warning The story that brought it into focus came from Clarkson's Farm. It turns out Jeremy Clarkson is related to the Kilner family — the famous glass jar makers who once dominated their market. Their mistake wasn't bad products. It was failing to embrace technology while competitors did. They went from market leaders to irrelevant. A warning Rob takes personally.

Paragon Sales Solutions has been a market leader in telemarketing and lead generation for nearly a decade. But leading in a market that's shifting under your feet isn't enough. The current climate — economically and politically — is making that clearer by the day.

Why Business Owners Resist Change Rob gets honest about the psychology of it. Fear of what clients will think. Fear of what the team will think. Fear of what family will think. But the world is big and your business is small — and if you're so worried about outside perception that you won't evolve, you're already losing.

Nervous, but Excited That's where Rob lands. The change is happening. He's not sure how it'll look from the outside yet, but he knows it's necessary — and there's something energising about that, even when it's scary.

Every business either changes or gets left behind. The Kilner family didn't fail overnight — they just didn't move fast enough. What's the change you've been putting off in yours?

Massive thank you to my partners - make sure you give

them some love:

Paragon Creative Studios - www.paragoncreativestudios.co.uk

monday.com - https://try.monday.com/9fu602qtcgca

Xero - https://referrals.xero.com/i5kqkglg3n3w-nx0cim

Apollo.io - https://get.apollo.io/b3kjbubqrsvl

Please don’t forget to subscribe and/or follow so you never miss an episode!

Massive thank you to my partners - make sure you give them some love:

Paragon Creative Studios - www.paragoncreativestudios.co.uk

monday.com - https://try.monday.com/9fu602qtcgca

Xero - https://referrals.xero.com/i5kqkglg3n3w-nx0cim

Apollo.io - https://get.apollo.io/b3kjbubqrsvl

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Can Rebuild a Business. You Can't Get This Time Back | Episode Twenty One

An unplanned, slightly chaotic episode — recorded at 4pm with the England pre-match build-up on in the background, because Rob left the original recording on the SD card at the studio. Classic. But amid the chaos, a genuinely honest reflection on what being your own boss is actually for.

The Accidental Home Studio Rob forgot the SD card. So he's cobbled together a setup at home — microphone straight into the laptop, sitting by a sunny patio door — and is recording with England kicking off at 5pm. The irony isn't lost on him.

Why He's Working From Home More Often Rob's partner returned to work a couple of months ago doing two days a week in clinic. To avoid paying for childcare until funded hours kick in September, Rob looks after their daughter — now nearly 11 months old — one day a week. His partner's mum covers another day. Between them, they've carved out a solution that saves money and, more importantly, gives Rob time with his daughter that he'd otherwise miss.

When she's awake, the laptop is closed. He's fully present. Work happens in the nap windows. He admits it adds some stress — his output is lower on those days — but the trade-off is obvious to him.

The Real Reason to Own a Business Rob pushes back on the culture of bragging about absence. The business owners who wear it as a badge of honour that they haven't seen their families, missed bedtimes, skipped breakfasts for meetings. His take: that's not success. That's a priority problem.

His daughter won't remember these days — but he will. She'll see the photos and the videos and know he was there. And that, to Rob, is a bigger flex than any business win.

You can rebuild a business. You can restart a career. You won't get the first year back.

What Entrepreneurship Is Actually About Not just money. Not just growth. Time. Flexibility. The ability to solve a childcare problem by showing up. That's the real upside of being your own boss — and it's easy to forget when you're buried in the doing.

Being present isn't a weakness. It's the whole point. If your business can't survive you being a parent for a day, you've got a leadership problem — not a family problem.

Massive thank you to my partners - make sure you give

them some love:

Paragon Creative Studios - www.paragoncreativestudios.co.uk

monday.com - https://try.monday.com/9fu602qtcgca

Xero - https://referrals.xero.com/i5kqkglg3n3w-nx0cim

Apollo.io - https://get.apollo.io/b3kjbubqrsvl

Please don’t forget to subscribe and/or follow so you never miss an episode!

Massive thank you to my partners - make sure you give them some love:

Paragon Creative Studios - www.paragoncreativestudios.co.uk

monday.com - https://try.monday.com/9fu602qtcgca

Xero - https://referrals.xero.com/i5kqkglg3n3w-nx0cim

Apollo.io - https://get.apollo.io/b3kjbubqrsvl

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.