Chris Scott-Thomas, business mentor for founders

Business mentoring that keeps you honest with yourself.

For founders who want to grow their business,
and someone who will hold them to it.

In one session, you’ll know exactly what to work on next and why everything else can wait.

Book your free first session → Now taking new clients
Jess Scott-Thomas, business mentor and co-founder of Clarity.

What founders say after working with us

“I trust Chris’s guidance, have sought his advice since, and I’m certain I will again.”
J., Senior Product Consultant
“I made a decision I felt confident in and stopped spending energy on the wrong things.”
Jessie Tung, Founder, Evolii
“He spotted I was sitting on a much simpler opportunity. It saved me from building something nobody wanted.”
Mauro Marchei, Co-Founder, Nnamo

How it works

Built to create clarity, follow-through, and momentum. Each element exists because founders usually get stuck in a different place.

1-hour free intro call

The background work needs to happen once, properly.

We spend the first hour getting the full picture: the business, the problems, what you’ve already tried, and where you want to be. We need this context to work well in every session that follows. So we do it once, at the start.

2 sessions per month

One conversation rarely changes a business.

Two 30-minute sessions each month. We start by reviewing what you committed to and what actually happened. Then we deal with whatever is most pressing. Every session ends with something specific to do.

Direct Slack access

Some decisions can’t wait two weeks.

Problems show up in real time: a pricing decision, a team issue, a difficult client, a moment where you need to choose. Slack is there for the important decisions that can't wait.

We’ll tell you what we actually see

Politeness is expensive.

Founders often don’t need more encouragement. They need someone to tell them when the real problem is pricing, positioning, culture, hiring, or avoidance. Direct, honest feedback is what makes the rest of the structure useful.

What we work on

Every session focuses on whichever is most pressing right now.

Pricing & Value

From cost-plus to outcome-based. Raising prices without losing the room.

Business Model

Two conflicting models running at once. A market that’s too small. A structure that doesn’t match the value you’re delivering.

Double down

Identifying what’s already working that could scale you better than the new thing.

Hiring & Teams

When to hire, who first, and how to replace yourself in delivery.

Client Problems

Difficult clients, scope, mistakes, and knowing when to walk away.

Proposals & Pitching

Proposals that list services instead of outcomes. Losing work you should win.

Scaling & Systems

Identifying the bottlenecks and how to resolve them.

Culture

Fixing low standards, rebuilding trust, and creating a team culture people actually want to perform inside.

Accountability

Reviewing what you committed to and what actually happened.

The cost of inaction

Delay has a price. It slows growth and traps you in the wrong work. It turns problems with people and systems into expensive habits.

Strategic / Commercial

If this waits, the business pays for it.

  • You keep spending time on work that looks productive but doesn’t move revenue.
  • You chase new ideas before validating what already has demand.
  • Pricing, positioning, and commercial decisions stay fuzzy, so growth stays slower than it should.
Operations / Teams

Team drag gets more expensive over time.

  • You stay the bottleneck because the team, systems, or standards can’t hold without you.
  • Underperformance, late hiring, and unclear accountability become normal instead of getting fixed.
  • Culture slips, turnover rises, and delivery gets harder exactly when the business needs stability.
Working on the wrong things
£37k–£75k
lost per year
5–10 hrs/week wasted = 250–500 hrs/year at £150/hr founder time
Undercharging
£40k
left on the table per year
A 20% pricing gap on £200k revenue = £40k/year unrealised
Weak positioning
£20k–£80k
in unrealised revenue
Losing one good-fit client per quarter at typical deal sizes
Founder stuck in the weeds
£37k–£112k
of misused time per year
10+ hrs/week in ops at £150/hr = time that should be driving growth
Staff turnover
£45k–£90k
gone when 3 people leave
50–100% of salary to replace each person. Lose 3 on £30k = £45k–£90k gone

One good decision covers a year of working together.

Business mentoring for founders

£500
First session free per month · 2 sessions + Slack access
📅

2 sessions per month

Fortnightly working sessions.

💬

Direct Slack access

For the moments that can’t wait.

🎯

Something to do after every session

Every session ends with something to do or a direction to move.

🔍

We’ll tell you what we actually see

Direct and honest feedback.

First session free Fortnightly sessions Direct Slack access
Book your free first session →
Work with:

Chris

For founders with strategic and commercial problems: pricing wrong, chasing the new thing instead of scaling what works, or building before validating.

Outcome: You’ll know exactly what to work on, and you’ll actually do it.

Experience: Former tech leader with a track record in decision clarity, business model restructure, and negotiation.

Work with:

Jess

For founders dealing with low team performance, culture issues, high staff turnover, and inconsistent or inefficient operations.

Outcome: More stable operations, stronger teams, lower staff turnover, and reduced reliance on the founder.

Experience: 20+ years turning around loss-making retail and hospitality businesses, with a focus on people management, training, and improving day-to-day operations.

Technical leadership, without the full-time commitment.

Hands-on technical work, strategy, and mentoring for teams that need a CTO but not a full-time hire.

📅

Monthly retainer

One or two days per week. Strategy, mentoring founders and tech leads, and hands-on guidance where it's needed.

Flexible support

Hourly or daily. Short-term fixes, emergency support, or targeted sessions without an ongoing commitment.

🎯

Project-based

Scoped to the work. Technical audits, team restructuring, system migrations, or scaling strategy — defined start and end.

🔍

Always paired with mentoring

We don’t just deliver. We show you how it’s done so the knowledge stays in the business.

Bespoke pricing Scoped to the work Paired with mentoring
Book a call →
Fuuse

“I engaged Clarity. at a key junction in our team structure. With several viable options on the table, each with its own trade-offs, it was difficult to step back, see the whole picture, and confidently determine the best path forward while ruling out approaches that would introduce unnecessary complexity.”

“They quickly got to work, presenting clear options with well-articulated trade-offs. Their experience was invaluable in challenging ideas that looked sensible on paper but were ultimately more complex in practice, or better suited to a different style or size of organisation. The outcome was a clear, pragmatic decision that led to a marked improvement in team productivity.”

“Clarity.’s consultancy style cuts through the traditional model of long, costly engagements and focuses on delivering measurable outcomes in a short space of time. I would happily recommend working with Clarity. if you are facing difficult decisions and need genuine clarity.”

Chris Townsend Technology Director, Fuuse.io

Who is this for

  • You’re working hard but can’t point to the progress to show for it
  • You’re a solo operator, agency founder, or consultant who’s outgrown winging it
  • You’re still too close to delivery and need to think like an owner
  • You’re at a crossroads: you know something needs to change, and you want a clear call
  • You want someone to tell you what they actually see, not what you’re hoping to hear
  • You’re ready to act on it

The work, in their words

New to the world of contracting, I’d taken a three-month contract with my old employer on a set rate. Within a month, I found myself leading the strategy, working closely with business leaders, and operating far beyond the level I was being paid for.

I reached out to Chris in confidence. “Can I trust you?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied, and I believed him. He helped me see that I wasn’t an employee asking for a raise; I was a business with genuine leverage. Chris gave me clear, practical guidance: keep it concise, state my rate, set a deadline, and let them respond.

I went back, negotiated, and secured a higher rate for my extension. More importantly, I walked away with a completely different mindset about operating as a contractor. I trust Chris’s guidance, have sought his advice since, and I’m certain I will again.
J. Senior Product Consultant
I was being persuaded in a direction I wasn’t fully convinced was right for the business. It started to feel like I was chasing something that looked good on paper rather than focusing on what would actually move things forward.

The conversation helped me get clear on what mattered, who it was really for, and whether it aligned with where I was actually trying to go. I made a decision I felt confident in, refocused on the work that counted, and stopped spending energy on something that wasn’t right for where I am right now.
Jessie Tung Founder, Evolii
I was wrestling with a business model that was getting more complicated every time I looked at it. Chris cut through it quickly. He spotted that I was actually sitting on a much simpler opportunity and helped me reframe the whole thing into something I could test cheaply before committing to the infrastructure.

He gave me a clear five-step testing framework and challenged me to validate the two sides of the market before spending anything significant. It saved me from building something nobody wanted.
Mauro Marchei Co-Founder, Nnamo
About Chris

I didn’t want to spend my career
doing the easy thing.

Chris Scott-Thomas, business mentor for founders

Chris Scott-Thomas

Business mentor for founders

LinkedIn →

I spent years watching other people run businesses and thinking: I could do that. Eventually I stopped watching. I walked away from a good salary and flexible hours, with a family of four depending on me, because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my career doing the easy thing.

Since then I’ve built teams, advised founders, and made expensive mistakes. What I’ve learned is that the hardest part of running a business isn’t the work. It’s making the right calls at the right time, and not letting yourself hide in the busy ones.

I’m direct, I move fast, and I don’t let people stay comfortable in problems they could solve. If you want someone to tell you what they actually see, not what you’re hoping to hear, that’s what this is.

About Jess

I’ve spent 20 years watching businesses get in their own way.

Jess Scott-Thomas, business mentor and co-founder of Clarity.

Jess Scott-Thomas

Business mentor & co-founder

LinkedIn →

I’ve spent 20 years in retail, hospitality, and customer service — seeing every kind of business mistake you can imagine, and the real cost: low morale, frustrated teams, and missed potential.

I’ve built teams, turned around loss-making businesses, and rebuilt cultures from the ground up. What I know is what it takes to get a team performing — not from a boardroom, but from the floor.

Starting Clarity. with Chris meant walking away from a steady salary. I did it because I could see what was possible — and I didn’t want to keep watching other people’s businesses struggle with problems I knew how to fix.

I speak simply and won’t sugarcoat. If something isn’t working in your team or your operations, I’ll tell you what I see and what to do about it.

Questions about business mentoring

Stop being busy.
Start making progress.

Book a free 1-hour intro session. We’ll both know if it’s right.

Book your free first session →
£500/month No contract First session free