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David Goldsmith - challenge finalist

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 David Goldsmith

Media partner:

NorthumberlandGazette
Name:
David Goldsmith
Business:
Summerfield Photography
Web site:
www.summerfieldphotography.co.uk
Years in business:
0.5
Number of businesses:
1

Challenge Entrant

I went from living on Incapacity Benefit to becoming an entrepreneur by turning a lifelong passion into my livelihood.

I was medically...

view David Goldsmith's full story

my background>

" I was a DJ for over 12 years which I enjoyed, however I was getting too old for it! It didn’t fit my lifestyle anymore as the hours were unsociable and I now had family commitments. Following on from this, I became a light goods vehicle driver and continued this for over two years. I really didn’t enjoy this work and had only done it really as a stop gap. After that I became a post man for the Royal Mail covering Northumberland, which I did really enjoy. I worked my way up to special deliveries dispatch then I was accepted into the Royal Mail management training. Then I had my accident which changed everything as it put me out of work for two and a half years. I had thought about running my own business in the past as I believed it would be better to work for myself than someone else. If it goes wrong you have to deal with it but you get the glory too. My father ran his own business as a publican and hotelier so it has run in the family. "

why i want to win>

" It would be superb to win and has been absolutely fantastic to be a part of this competition. It has been amazing to come this far, and to win would just be out of this world. It’s on a personal level really – it would be an incredible achievement for me and my family who have supported me throughout, to be recognized as an entrepreneur .Being out of work was an enormous struggle, especially to a newly married man. Emotionally and financially it has been draining; however throughout I have focused on making a future from my hobby. I would love to be able to share my knowledge and experiences of starting up my own business. To share my passion and dreams with others, would be great and I wish to continue that on a broader scale. "

why i'm sure i'll suceed>

" Summerfield photography is using a slightly different approach to our photographic projects. Instead of telling customers what they are going to get we give them what they want, so it reflects their personality. Every job we do we are generating more business by word of mouth. The reputation is building up slowly but surely. We’re also doing charity work to put something back into the community. ‘Come as a stranger and leave as a friend’ , is our motto. We have now moved into premises in Morpeth and in the future I hope to expand into selling photographic equipment, using a different approach again by focusing on customer service and the product range. I’m sure I will succeed, because of our can do approach, and high customer standards. I believe building on these foundations and ensuring that all our customers are satisfied, Summerfield photography will thrive. I hope to have a shop in two to three years and in five years I hope to have a couple of studios with people working for us. Our goals are mapped out for us and by aiming for them we will succeed. "

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