Your Invitation To David’s Private Mentorship Group

There’s a point in every trade business where the old problems disappear.

You’re not worrying about finding the next job. The diary’s full. You may even have staff, or are thinking about making that leap.

This is where a different set of problems shows up. Bigger ones. Ones that don’t have a straightforward answer.

And the people around you — good as they are — haven’t been where you’re trying to go.

That’s what this is for.

My Story

Last month I left my business for a month. 22,000 miles. Australia, Hong Kong, Bali.

While I was sitting on a beach at seven in the morning watching the sun come up over the Pacific Ocean, Mr Soot was running. The team were working. Chimneys were being swept. Courses were being run. Everyone was getting paid.

Without any input from me.

That didn’t happen by accident. It took over 10 years of making every mistake going — hiring wrong, pricing wrong, doing everything myself, being the bottleneck in my own business — and gradually, sometimes painfully, working out how to fix each one.

I came home with a clearer head than I’ve had in years. And a very clear sense of what I want to do next.

What Is This?

A small, private group of four trade business owners. Meeting online once a month for six months.

No PowerPoints. No frameworks. No homework.

Just four people at a similar stage, with one facilitator who’s actually built what you’re trying to build — working through the real decisions together.

Why David?

I started Mr Soot Chimney Sweep a decade ago as a one-man band with a £600 second-hand Citroen Berlingo van.

Since then, I’ve built it into a a national brand, with a multi-location operation, a full team and a HETAS-approved training centre that’s put hundreds of sweeps and installers into the trade.

Still in the job. Still learning every day. Still loving it.

Before I ever picked up a brush I spent 20 years in marketing and communications.

I’m not a business coach. I’m a trade business owner who figured some things out the hard way — and I’d rather you didn’t have to.

What You’ll Work On

Every group is different because every business is different. But the conversations almost always come back to the same things:

• Whether your business could run without you — and what’s stopping it.
• How to build a team you can actually trust to make decisions.
• Pricing properly and charging what you’re actually worth.
• Knowing when to hire, when to hold back, and how to have the performance conversations nobody wants to have.
• Getting your standard out of your head and into systems that work whether you’re there or not.
• Working out what you’re actually building toward — and making sure every decision points in that direction.

These aren’t textbook problems. They’re real ones. And they need someone who’s actually lived them.

What You Learn: The Six Months

There’s no rigid curriculum. The conversations go where they need to go. But here’s what typically gets covered.

Month 1 — You, your business and your problems

Honest assessment of the business as it is right now. Not the version you tell people at networking events. The real one. What’s working, what isn’t, and what you’ve been avoiding looking at.

Month 2 — How owners strangle their own business

Most trade business owners are the bottleneck in their own business without realising it. Quotes, decisions, customer conversations, problem-solving — everything runs through one person. This session is about identifying where you’re blocking your own growth and what to do about it.

Month 3 — Pricing and positioning

Cheap prices are a choice, not the market. What you should actually be charging, how to raise prices without losing the customers you want to keep, and why the wrong price attracts the wrong customer.

Month 4 — Building a team you can trust

Hiring right. Managing properly. The performance conversation nobody wants to have. How to build a team that makes decisions without you — and why that requires training them in the thinking behind the job, not just the job itself.

Month 5 — Systems and stepping back

The standard that lives in your head is not a system. How to extract what you know, write it down, and build processes that mean the business runs the same way whether you’re there or not.

Month 6 — What’s your endgame?

Sell it, scale it, or step back and enjoy it. Three exits available to every trade business owner. Knowing which one you’re building toward changes every decision you make. This session brings it all together.

How It Works

Four trade business owners. One group. Six months.

One online session per month — 90 minutes. Small enough that everyone gets proper airtime. Structured enough to make progress. Honest enough to actually be useful.

Between sessions — a private group chat where you can share wins, sense-check decisions, and get a quick read from the group when something comes up that can’t wait.

Direct access to David – As a busy, in-demand trades owner, David’s time is limited. Priority access is given to his private groups and inner circle.

Who Can Apply?

Any trade welcome. Plumbing, electrical, landscaping, building, groundworks, solid fuel — any trade where you’ve got people working for you and you’re trying to figure out what the next stage looks like.

The group is deliberately mixed trades. No competitive tension. Just people dealing with the same problems from different angles.

The Investment

£500 + VAT per month for six months. £3,000 + VAT in total.

No hidden extras. No upsells. No pressure to continue.

Cohort Dates

Two cohorts run each year.

June — applications now open. Four places only.

January — join the waiting list now to be considered first.

Is This For You?

This is probably the right fit if you’ve got at least one member of staff or you’re trying to grow beyond just you.

You’re making decent money but not building anything you could walk away from.

You’re careful about who you take advice from because most advice comes from people who’ve never run a trade business.

You want honest conversation, not motivational content.

You’re prepared to show up, be straight about what’s going on, and do the thinking.

A Note On Group Size

Four people maximum. That’s a deliberate choice.

Big enough for proper conversation. Small enough that nobody gets lost. 

This isn’t first come first served. It’s a short conversation first — to make sure the group works for everyone in it.

Next Step: Submit Your Application

If it seems we’re aligned, we’ll have a straightforward 20 minute conversation. No pitch. No pressure. Just a chat to work out whether this is the right fit — for you, and for the group.

It won’t be for everyone, and that’s fine. That’s the entire point.