When Life Takes Everything Twice: The Story of Phil Bamford
Most people fold after one knockout blow.
Phil Bamford got hit twice, harder than most could ever imagine, and still found a way to get back up.
We’re talking about a man with over 350 stitches in his body. A man who lost a thriving business, his house, his marriage, and nearly his life. Twice. Diagnosed with kidney failure. Told he was unemployable.
And yet, he refused to quit.
This is not just another entrepreneur’s story. This is a masterclass in grit, resilience, and the raw reality of building again when you’ve lost it all.
Losing It All the First Time
Phil was a top squash player and business manager. By his thirties, he’d taken a rundown aquatic center from $320,000 a year to $2.5 million with smart marketing and sharp operations.
Then the council pulled the rug out. They took back the lease, stripped him of assets worth $2 million, and left him with $300,000 in debt. At the same time, Phil was diagnosed with kidney failure.
He lost his business. He lost his house. His marriage crumbled.
By 40, he was broke, sick, and living in a garage. His wife’s parting shot cut deep: “Who’s going to hire a 40-year-old with no qualifications and kidney failure?”
Most people would have stopped there. Phil didn’t.
Building From Nothing
Her words lit a fire. With no funding and no coding skills, Phil built Online WHS, a workplace safety software system, from scratch.
How? By designing the entire thing on 385 Excel spreadsheets. Every page. Every form. Every flow.
That stubborn determination paid off. Online WHS went on to serve major corporations, councils, and even the Western Australian Government. Against all odds, Phil turned nothing into a nationally recognized system.
Losing It All Again
But success doesn’t mean you’re safe.
Partnership breakdowns, investors, and circumstances outside his control pushed Phil out of Online WHS. After years of sacrifice, he was forced to walk away from the company he’d built.
Twice in one lifetime, Phil lost everything he had built.
And twice, he started again.
The Birth of Referrals Network
At 61, most people are slowing down. Phil doubled down. Alongside his long-time collaborator Justin Herald, he built Referrals Network, a groundbreaking platform to formalize and reward word-of-mouth referrals.
The idea was simple: businesses grow best when happy clients recommend them. Referrals Network makes it easy, trackable, and rewarding. No apps, no complexity. Just a clean mobile-first system where referrals can be sent, tracked, and rewarded instantly.
And it’s already working. One client in New Zealand paid just $375 for the system, generated 61 referrals, and closed over $100,000 in new business.
That is the power of making referrals part of the marketing mix.
Life on Dialysis
Here’s what most people don’t see: Phil built these businesses while living with kidney failure, hooked up to dialysis five times a day.
Airports, hotel rooms, even the back seat of cars—wherever he was, Phil found a way to keep going. He turned what could have been an excuse into a routine.
He even gave talks to new dialysis patients, showing them that their condition didn’t have to end their careers.
In 2012, he received the gift of life through a kidney transplant. But even now, he knows the same hereditary disease could one day put him back on dialysis. His answer? Accept it, adapt, and keep moving.
The Lesson
Phil’s story is not about business alone. It’s about refusing to accept that setbacks define you.
He says it best:
“Most entrepreneurs fail multiple times. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is simple: they get up one more time.”
Phil Bamford’s life is proof that no matter how many times you’re knocked down, you can rise stronger.
Final Word
If attention really is the currency, Phil’s advice is clear: stop wasting it on excuses. Start investing it in your dream.
Because at the end of the day, the only thing standing between you and your next breakthrough is the decision to get back up.
You can learn more about what Phil is building today at Referrals Network.