When was the last time you deliberately put yourself in a completely new business environment, just to see what might happen?
It’s surprisingly easy for our working lives to become well curated.
We follow the same people, go to the same kinds of events, have conversations with people who already understand what we do, and let LinkedIn serve up increasingly accurate versions of the things we already know we’re interested in.
That can be useful, but every so often it helps to change the room and give your timeline a chance to change with it.
This is especially true if you’re a B2B service provider.
New opportunities often begin with relationships long before there’s a brief, a budget or a buying decision.
You meet someone inside a larger organisation who’s trying to do things differently, an SME owner who wants to broaden the circle of people they work with, or somebody whose work sparks an idea you hadn’t considered before.
Sometimes the person you meet has absolutely nothing for you personally, yet turns out to be exactly the person someone else in your network needs to know.
The same thing happens in reverse. Relationships have a funny way of travelling sideways before they travel forwards.
That’s part of the reason Inspiration Space is a promotional partner for The Business Show London, which takes place at ExCeL London on 11–12 November 2026 and is free to attend.
The organisers are bringing together thousands of SMEs and startups, alongside 500 exhibitors and 200 speakers, which creates plenty of chances for unexpected conversations.
Here are just a few people I already know I want to hear from:
James Hurst, VP & Global Executive Creative Director at HelloFresh; Andrew Xeni, founder of Nobody’s Child; and Valeria Winkworth, Director, People Consulting at EY.
Between them, there’s plenty to explore about creativity, building a brand and the people side of organisational change.
I’m also deliberately leaving room for things I wouldn’t normally do.
Top of that list is speed networking.
I’ve never tried it, which is precisely why I’m curious.
You don’t have to build every useful room yourself
Sometimes somebody else has already gathered a fascinating mix of people, ideas and businesses in one place, and your job is simply to show up curious enough to notice what’s there.
If you’re going, choose one talk that’s relevant to your work, try one activity you wouldn’t normally pick, and leave some time for conversations.
And if London isn’t an option, you can take the same approach to an event closer to home.
For me, that’s the interesting opportunity here: a day away from the usual algorithm, a few conversations I can plan for, plenty I can’t, and a little more surface area for luck.
When did you last change the room just to see what it might change for you?
