About
I’m a business coach and mentor based in Birmingham, UK. I own and invest in businesses, I’ve coached owners since 2012, and I research what makes owners succeed, in money and in life.
5.0· 15 Google reviewsLike a business coach, but… I ACTUALLY own businesses.
The short version
Dr Lewis Haydon is a business coach and mentor based in Birmingham, UK, who owns and invests in businesses in medical technology, manufacturing, care and supported living, marketing and sales, and accounting and finance. He mentors owners of established businesses from about £250k turnover, scaling to £1m and on to £20m, in person at their office anywhere in the UK, or on Zoom anywhere. Not start-ups.
He has coached owners since 2012, across 100+ businesses, holds a Doctor of Business Administration from Aston Business School (Work and Organisational Psychology) on what makes owners succeed, is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Association of MBAs, hosts the Mentor Business Podcast (100+ episodes) and founded MentorBusiness.com. His prices are published: business mentoring from £800 a month plus VAT, a planning day at £2,000 plus VAT. The first step is a 30-minute virtual coffee.
What’s different: he is building businesses today, not living off a success story from years ago; the focus is the owner’s payoff (dividends, time back, a business that runs without them); and he gives SME owners a voice, with evidence and data over opinion and one-size-fits-all systems, from his doctorate, the podcast and the businesses he runs.
Why I work the way I do
I own and run businesses myself. I’ve had to build the management structure, hand over the day-to-day, hold people to account, get the cash flow and profit right, and grow without everything depending on me. That’s the work, and I’ll challenge you to do it, and hold you to it.
I’ll tell you what I think, I’ll ask you next month whether you did what you said you would, and between sessions you get wrap-around support on Teams, WhatsApp and by phone. I own businesses too, so I know the things that keep you up at night.
Everyone sells the plan. Almost nobody looks at whether the business can run it: who does what, how the team performs, what gets done and what quietly doesn’t. That’s the part I work on with you.
Sectors
I’ve coached and mentored owners across care and supported living, recruitment, construction and civil engineering, fire safety and risk management, manufacturing, IT, telecoms and AI, distribution and warehousing, property development, accountancy, marketing and lead generation, management consulting, arboriculture, security, mobility and healthcare equipment, and medical technology — and I own and invest in businesses in several of those myself. Chances are I’ve already sat at the table of an owner in your sector. But that isn’t what makes the difference. What does is that I own and run businesses myself, so I’m not advising from a textbook.
Why the “Dr”?
Years into working with businesses, I kept seeing the same thing: two companies, same market, same advice. One growing fast, one stuck. I wanted to know why.
My doctorate studied what keeps people who work for themselves going, and what that does to their results. I carry that on with owners through the Mentor Business Podcast and SME Owners Say, my research series on what owners are really seeing in their businesses.
The research
Owner · investor · coaching owners since 2012
Everything I ask an owner to do, I’ve done with my own team first.
Recognition
Industry awards judged on client results and client ratings, not on marketing.
And the businesses I own win too: one of them was named Manufacturer of the Year at the British Healthcare Trades Association Industry Awards 2025.
Press and speaking
What I’ve built
Businesses
I own and invest in medical technology, manufacturing, care and supported living, marketing and sales, and accounting and finance businesses. Everything I ask an owner to do, I’ve had to do in my own businesses first. One of them was named Manufacturer of the Year at the British Healthcare Trades Association Industry Awards 2025.
Podcast
100+ episodes of conversations with owners about what their business really pays off for them: the money, the time and the legacy.
Platform
MentorBusiness.comThe mentoring platform I founded: 100+ hours of mentoring from people who run businesses, on demand on the web and in the app.
App
PocketCoach.ai Business MentorMy mentoring on your phone: a weekly coaching check-in, tailored next steps and a cashflow calculator. Rated 5.0 on the App Store.
“Lewis Haydon is an integral person to the success of my business and to my own personal growth as a business owner.”
Next step
Bring your biggest question about scaling the business to a 30-minute virtual coffee, and leave with a straight answer.
Book a virtual coffee
