In partnership with Rathbones

What If?

24th September | 10.00am – 2.00pm
Hosted by Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses, Preston

Every successful family business has had to evolve. Markets change, customers change, technology moves forward and new competitors emerge. Occasionally, events completely outside our control force us to rethink what we do and how we do it. But innovation isn’t always about inventing the next big thing. Sometimes it is simply about looking at what you already have differently, re-imagining a product, challenging a process, finding a new way to serve your customers or spotting an opportunity others may have overlooked.

So, what if we did things differently?

Join us at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses for a highly interactive FamBiz Insight event exploring creativity, innovation and the power of thinking differently about your business.

The Theme: What If?

Some of the best ideas start with curiosity. What if we changed something, stopped doing something altogether or approached a familiar challenge from a completely different direction? What could we learn from businesses outside our own industry, and is the way we’ve always done something necessarily the way we should continue to do it tomorrow?

You don’t need to be an inventor to innovate. Creativity in business comes from being curious, challenging assumptions, observing what’s happening around you and being prepared to experiment. This event is about creating the time and space away from the everyday pressures of running a business to do exactly that.

The Butlers Story: Evolution, Adversity & Reinvention

Our hosts, the Butlers family, will share the story behind their business, from its origins and evolution through to the many challenges and periods of adversity they have faced along the way. We’ll hear how the business has adapted, responded and continued to move forward, as well as where the family sees the next chapter taking them.

It will be an open and honest family business story about resilience, creativity and the constant need to evolve while remaining true to what makes the business special.

From Light-Bulb Moments to Real Ideas

The second part of the event turns the attention to your business. Through a facilitated working session, we’ll create the space to step away from the day-to-day and look differently at your products, services, customers and processes.

We’ll challenge some of the assumptions that naturally build up over time. What could you do differently? What might your customers want next? What are you doing simply because you’ve always done it that way, and what opportunities might you be missing?

This isn’t about innovation for innovation’s sake. It’s about opening up new thinking and identifying ideas that could make a real difference. The aim isn’t to leave with pages of notes; it’s to leave with an idea worth exploring, testing or doing differently when you get back into the business.

Who Should Attend?

This event is designed for family business owners, directors and next-generation leaders who recognise that standing still isn’t an option. You might already have a strong and successful business but be questioning what comes next. You may want to refresh an established product or service, find new markets, improve the way your business operates or simply encourage more creativity within your team.

You don’t need to arrive with the answers. Just bring your experience, your curiosity and an open mind.

What Will You Take Away?

You’ll hear first-hand from another family business that has experienced evolution, adversity and change. You’ll explore practical approaches to creativity and innovation, exchange ideas with other family business owners and then apply that thinking directly to your own organisation.

Most importantly, we’ll create something that can be difficult to find in the day-to-day running of a business: time to stop, time to think and permission to think differently.

Secure Your Place

Join us at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in Preston for a different kind of family business event – part story, part inspiration and part creative working session. Come prepared to share, challenge your thinking and perhaps discover your own light-bulb moment.

Because the next great idea for your business might begin with two very simple words:

What If?