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Work with me

Work with me: business coaching and mentoring for owners who want to scale.

I mentor owners of established businesses, from about £250k turnover scaling to £1m and on to £20m, who have built something that works because of them, not without them. In person or on Zoom, anywhere in the UK and abroad. From someone who actually owns businesses.

5.0· 15 Google reviewsBook a virtual coffee
Dr Lewis Haydon (left) in a business meeting
Figure 1 · In a business meeting, West Midlands, UK

Your journey

How working with me goes, step by step.

Start with a virtual coffee, plan it properly, then choose how fast you want to scale. The further along you go, the more of the business runs without you.

  1. Start

    Virtual coffee

    30 minutes

    A straight answer to your biggest scaling question, and what to do first.

  2. Optional

    Business gap analysis

    £699 + VAT

    Where profit and your time are leaking, in your own numbers. Refunded if you go monthly.

  3. Step 1

    Planning day

    £2,000 + VAT

    The plan for the business to pay off for you, made in your business.

  4. Step 2

    Monthly mentoring

    £800 a month + VAT

    Someone at your table every month, holding you to it.

  5. Scale up

    Fortnightly mentoring

    £1,600 a month + VAT

    Decisions off your desk faster; problems fixed before they grow.

  6. Scale up

    Weekly mentoring

    £2,500 a month + VAT

    A team that runs the day-to-day, and your week back.

  7. Scale up

    Owner and leadership team coaching

    £3,500 a month + VAT

    A leadership team that thinks and decides like owners.

What you’re left with, as you scale

  • A business that finally pays you
  • Gross profit doubled (client result)
  • Hours halved, income up (client result)
  • A team that runs the day-to-day
  • Faster decisions, made by your people
  • A plan built on evidence, not opinion
  • A mentor who owns businesses, like you
  • Time back with your family
  • A business worth more when you sell

Every monthly rhythm includes wrap-around support between sessions, on Teams, WhatsApp and by phone. Move up or down as the business changes.

Every price, with what to compare it to
Not sure where you are? Take the three-minute scorecard

Your options

Which fits you? Or just start with a coffee and your biggest question.

Business mentoring for owners

From £800 a month plus VAT

You, one to one, monthly, fortnightly or weekly, with support between sessions.

Mentoring options

Owner and leadership team coaching

£3,500 a month plus VAT

You and your senior team, so the people running the business think and decide like owners.

Executive coaching

Non-executive director

Scope and fee agreed in writing

A seat on your board from someone who owns businesses: challenge, governance, investment and exit.

Board seat and fee

In person in Birmingham

Planning day £2,000 plus VAT

A full day in your business, across Birmingham, the Midlands and anywhere in the UK, then sessions in person or on Zoom.

In person in Birmingham

Book a virtual coffee Not sure yet? Bring your biggest scaling question to a virtual coffee and leave with an answer. Or take the free business health check first.

Virtual coffee · 30 minutes on Zoom

You’ll leave clear on your next step, whether you take it yourself or with me.

What we work on

What does a business mentor do? The things owners ask me for.

A commercial mentor who will challenge you

Not sector consultancy. Someone at your table who has run businesses, asks the hard question and expects an answer next time.

Management structure

Who runs what, across every team and site, so decisions stop queuing at your desk.

Delegation and accountability

Handing over the day-to-day properly, and holding people to account when it isn’t done.

Cash flow and profit

Why the turnover has grown but the profit and your pay haven’t, and what to change first.

Leading strategically

Time out of the detail and on the decisions only the owner can make.

Scale or exit, on your terms

Growing it, bringing in a general manager or managing director, or building a business worth selling.

Fig. · What owners can expect

What you’re left with, as the business scales.

  • A management team that runs the day-to-day, so it stops landing on you
  • Your evenings and weekends back
  • Cash flow you can see weeks ahead
  • Decisions made by your people, not queued at your desk
  • Growth that adds profit, not more work for you
  • The option to step back: a managing director or general manager runs it, you own it
  • More profit and dividends paid to you, not just more turnover
  • Time with your family, and a legacy that outlasts you
  • A business worth more when you sell, because it doesn’t depend on you
Dr Lewis Haydon (red shirt) running a team training session with a client team at Joshua Robert
Figure 2 · Team training at Joshua Robert, a client

Between sessions

Wrap-around support, not just a session

Between sessions, you get wrap-around support on Teams, WhatsApp and by phone. I’m a business owner too, so I know the things that keep you up at night. With weekly mentoring and above, training for your team is included.

Fig. · Price in context · Employer costs 2026/27 · Plus VAT

Priced like a hire. Works like an owner at your table.

Weekly mentoring costs about the same as a junior hire. The difference is you get someone who owns businesses, sitting at your table every week.

£2,500 a monthWeekly mentoring

About the same as a junior hire

A £25,000 junior costs about £28,600 a year with employer costs: £2,380 a month, before recruitment, kit and the months it takes them to get up to speed.

Plus VAT, which VAT-registered businesses reclaim. Employer costs are employer National Insurance and the minimum workplace pension, 2026/27. Mentoring runs month to month on 30 days’ notice; a hire doesn’t.

How I compare

Which type of business coach fits you? An honest comparison, including where others are the better choice.

Every type of coach has real strengths. If what you need is a ready-made programme, the lowest price, help with your tax or someone to do the work for you, someone else is the better choice, and the table says so. If you want the business to pay off for you and run without you, that's what I do.

CriterionDr Lewis HaydonOwner-mentorThe independent coachThe franchise business coachThe accountant-turned-coachThe sports coach turned business coachThe ex-corporate coach
Help growing your sales and marketing
Strong

I grow sales and marketing in my own businesses every week, and have in the 100+ I've coached. I show you and your team what works, then hold you to it.

Strong

Has had to win their own clients, so knows marketing; sales experience varies.

Partly

Taught sales by the franchise; relies on the franchise for its marketing.

Weak

Not a marketer; logic-based sales from their practice.

Partly

Some PR or podcast experience; less on building a sales team.

Partly

Worked alongside sales and marketing teams, inside a big brand.

Help with your operations: team, structure and systems
Strong

I run the management structure, people and systems in my own businesses today.

Weak

Tends to have experience only from their role in their career.

Partly

Taught a one-system-fits-all approach to use across all businesses.

Weak

No need to have been operational in their previous role.

Weak

Tends to be motivational and leadership-based rather than robust systems the business can be built on.

Strong

Ran processes and teams at scale.

Help with your cash flow and profit
Strong

I'm not an accountant. Accountants look at the past; I look ahead, at real cash flow and the KPIs that scale a business.

Weak

Coaches have very few overheads and little cost of goods, so they don't need to live and breathe the numbers like a business owner does.

Partly

With such a variety of coaches, the franchise needs a generic model that every coach can deliver.

Strong

They are accountants and the best at reading the accounts; however, they don't always look at future growth, because their previous job was past compliance.

Weak

Often good on KPIs, less on the P&L, tax, cash flow and loans.

Partly

Managed budgets, not an owner's own cash flow.

Help using AI and technology in your business
Partly

I can show you where AI saves time and money, from building my own app and platform. For the set-up, you'd use a specialist.

Partly

Varies by coach.

Weak

Tied to the franchise's own system and tools.

Weak

Tends to prefer a people-only approach to AI and automation.

Partly

Varies by coach.

Partly

Often used good systems, set up and run by an IT team.

A big network to connect you with
Partly

Banks, owners who have done it, and experts from MentorBusiness.com, rather than a large coaching network.

Partly

Their own contacts.

Strong

A large network within the franchise: coaches, clients and events across the country.

Partly

Banks, lenders and other professionals.

Partly

Often a network from their sport and events.

Partly

Contacts from their corporate career.

Group events with lots of businesses in the room
Weak

No open events. Established businesses tend to want planning and growth days built for their own team, not generic to everyone in the room, so that's what I run.

Partly

Sometimes runs workshops or networking events.

Strong

Regular group events and workshops for its clients, with lots of businesses in the room.

Weak

Not their focus.

Partly

Often runs group sessions and events.

Partly

Sometimes runs workshops.

Places available when you want to start
Weak

I take on a limited number of owners, so each one gets my proper time and attention.

Partly

One person, but coaching is their full-time job.

Strong

A big network, so there's always a coach available.

Partly

Often part of a practice with more people.

Partly

One person, often with group programmes.

Partly

One person, coaching full-time.

Help getting a start-up off the ground
Weak

I work with established businesses from about £250k turnover, not start-ups.

Strong

Many take on start-ups and solo founders.

Strong

Often has programmes for start-ups.

Partly

Often helps set up the company and the books.

Partly

Often works with new founders on mindset and habits.

Partly

Varies; often prefers established teams.

Lowest price
Partly

From £800 a month plus VAT. Priced for owners of established businesses, not the cheapest.

Strong

Often the lowest price.

Partly

Set packages, mid to high price.

Partly

Often bundled with accounting fees.

Strong

Group programmes keep the price down.

Partly

Often charged at a day rate.

Does the hands-on work for you (runs your ads, keeps your books)
Weak

I'm a mentor: I show you and your team how and hold you to it, but I won't run your ads or do your books.

Partly

Some will do parts of it.

Weak

Coaching only.

Strong

Often also does your accounts.

Weak

Coaching only.

Weak

Coaching and training only.

A plan built for your business, not one-size-fits-all
Strong

Built from evidence-based research and modern data from my own businesses, not opinion.

Partly

Varies by coach.

Weak

A one-size-fits-all system, used the same way in every business, because it's a franchise.

Partly

Built around your accounts and the numbers.

Partly

Often a structured programme, used with every client.

Partly

Corporate frameworks, adapted.

Support when it matters, outside sessions
Strong

Yes, because owners need support when they're worrying about things at night.

Strong

Often flexible with their time.

Partly

Trained to stick to the coaching hours; some coaches do support more, but not in the system.

Weak

Tends to work office hours.

Strong

Often available, motivation-led.

Partly

Tends to keep office hours.

Evidence-based
Strong

A doctorate, 100+ podcast episodes with owners, and my own businesses' numbers.

Weak

Often relies on personal experience and stories.

Partly

A generic one-system-fits-all model used for many years (often outdated); lots of stories shared about the companies it worked for, few about the ones it did not.

Strong

Works from the numbers.

Weak

Often motivational rather than evidence-led.

Partly

Frameworks from corporate life.

Prices published up front
Strong

Every price is on the website, so you know before we talk.

Partly

Sometimes.

Weak

Prices are often only shared in the sales process.

Strong

Transparent on fees when asked.

Partly

Sometimes.

Partly

Sometimes.

Owns businesses today
Strong

I'm building and investing in businesses today, not telling success stories from five years ago.

Weak

Very few overheads and costs of service, and hardly any payroll or HR to manage.

Weak

The business they own is the franchise licence: very few overheads and costs of service, and hardly any payroll or HR to manage.

Partly

May still own an accounting business.

Weak

Most have never owned a business that isn't the coaching business.

Weak

A career in employment; rarely owned a business.

Focus on the owner's payoff (dividends, time back, life), not just company growth
Strong

I measure success by what the business pays you: dividends, time back and life goals.

Strong

Genuinely wants to help people, but may not fully understand how a business really pays off for its owners.

Partly

Answerable to the franchise for KPIs based on revenue.

Partly

The focus is on the company's numbers, not always the owner's personal numbers.

Weak

Good at KPIs, but lacks knowledge of real-life owner numbers (P&L, tax, cash flow, loans).

Weak

Focused on company performance and leadership, not the owner's personal payoff.

The better choice if you want…Owners of established businesses who want it to pay off for them, and run without themA lower price, and a coach who's flexible with their timeOne system for every business, group events and a big communityHelp with tax, accounts and complianceMindset, habits and performanceCorporate-style leadership and process for a larger management team

Fig. · My own view as an owner-mentor, not an independent ranking · Types of coach, not named firms or people · Tap a dot for the reason · Swipe the table on a phone

100+ businesses coached, across

Chances are I’ve sat at the table of an owner in your sector

  • 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
  • Medical technology
  • Sports and fitness equipment

Clients stay private, so these are the sectors, not the names. But sector knowledge isn’t what makes the difference. What does is that I own and run businesses myself, so I’m not advising from a textbook.

What clients say

“Lewis’s profound knowledge and forward-thinking, positive attitude has not only had a big impact on myself but also the company as a whole, helping us push forward and grow to achieve our goals. If you are looking to build or improve any aspect within your company, Lewis comes highly recommended.”
David GatenbyDavid GatenbyOperations Manager
“I have been really impressed with his natural people skills and unique ability to get a true understanding of what people need to move to the next level in their business and personal life journeys.”
Laurie WardLaurie WardFounder and CEO, Ward Associates
“I’ve worked with Lewis as a coach and strategist while running a software agency. He understands owner-led businesses well, in particular how hard it is to stop doing the work and start running the company. Sessions are direct. He asks the questions you’ve been avoiding, gets you to commit to an answer, and checks that you did what you said. Since we started, the business has grown and I spend much more of my week on the things only I can do. If you’re the bottleneck in your own business, give him a call.”
James MerrixJames MerrixOwner, software agency · Google reviewAppoly Group
“£200K to £1M+ in revenue, and one business to four. That’s where Vantage 365 has gone since I started working with Lewis. We’re now a group made up of Vantage 365 Group plus dedicated Consultancy, Training and Support businesses. Lewis has helped foster my entrepreneurial spirit and, just as importantly, helped me see the wood for the trees. He’s someone I can share ideas with, talk problems through with, and occasionally just vent to. And it’s not only me he’s supported; he’s worked with members of my team too, which has made a real difference across the business. If you’re an owner who knows there’s more in you and your business, I’d highly recommend him.”
Matthew WestonMatthew WestonOwner, Vantage 365 Group · Google reviewVantage 365 Group
See more reviews10+ more from owners and clientsRead them

Questions

What is the difference between a business coach and a business mentor?

A coach helps you find your own answers; a mentor has done it and tells you what worked. I do both. I’ll challenge you to think it through, and where I’ve already faced the problem in my own businesses, I’ll tell you what I did.

Who do you work with?

Owners of established businesses from about £250k turnover, scaling to £1m and on to £20m, who are ambitious and still doing too much themselves. Not start-ups.

Can we work together if I’m not near Birmingham?

Yes. Monthly sessions run on Zoom for owners anywhere in the UK and abroad. The planning day is in person, in your business.

How much does it cost?

Business mentoring from £800 a month plus VAT. Full prices, with a comparison for each, are on the pricing page.

Choosing a coach? Read how to find and vet a business coach or mentor in the UK. Planning to sell one day? Start with business exit planning for owners.

Next step

Ready for a business that pays off for you, and runs without you?

Bring your biggest question about scaling the business to a 30-minute virtual coffee, and leave with a straight answer.

Book a virtual coffee