THE FELLSIDE METHOD / FOUR STAGES
A method with a map,
a rhythm, and no guru talk
Fourteen years, 214 companies, one route walked every time. It isn’t magic and we won’t pretend it is — it’s disciplined navigation, done with you, until it holds without us.
WHY A METHOD AT ALL
Most coaching fails politely. Structure is the antidote.
Ask around and you’ll hear the same story: six months of pleasant conversations, a whiteboard photo, and a business that looks exactly the same. Coaching without structure decays into sympathy — enjoyable, useless.
The Fellside Method exists so that can’t happen here. Every engagement has a written destination, a 90-day leg, three priorities, and a fortnightly session that opens with the numbers, not the news. If a quarter passes and nothing measurable moved, that’s a red flag we raise about ourselves.
THE FOUR STAGES
Survey. Route. Climb. Cairn.
- 01
Survey — Know the ground you’re standing on
Every engagement starts with the Terrain Survey and a long, honest conversation. Numbers on the table: margin by job, sales pipeline, who does what, and how many hours a week the business takes from you. No plan survives a wrong map.
- 02
Route — Pick the line, not just the summit
A 12-month destination, broken into 90-day legs with three priorities each — never ten. You’ll know exactly which lever we’re pulling first (usually margin, not marketing) and what we’re deliberately ignoring.
- 03
Climb — Fortnightly rhythm, relentless accountability
Coaching sessions every two weeks with your numbers reviewed first, decisions minuted, and actions carried forward until they’re done. Between sessions your coach is a phone call away. This is where most of the +31% comes from.
- 04
Cairn — Mark progress, then raise the next objective
Each quarter closes with a review against the numbers we set — profit, hours, team scorecards — and a rest-day: what did the climb cost you personally? Then we stack the next cairn and go again.
THE SIX DISCIPLINES
What the Survey actually measures
Every business stands on six kinds of ground. The Terrain Survey scores each one, and the route card always attacks the weakest first.
01Direction
A destination the whole team could repeat back, and a plan shorter than a page.
02Money
Margin by line, true owner pay, and a cash gap you can state in days.
03Team
The right people on a written scorecard — and the first real manager in place.
04Systems
The five processes that matter, written simply enough to survive a Tuesday.
05Sales
A pipeline you can see, prices that make margin, and follow-up that actually happens.
06Owner’s Freedom
Hours, holidays, and whether the business can pass the quarterly week-off test.
THE FIRST STEP
See the method applied to your business.
The free Survey Session is stage one, done live: your numbers, our questions, and a first route card you keep either way.
NO OBLIGATION · NO FOLLOW-UP PESTERING · EST. 2012