Why I'm Building a Community for Lean Operators

I started Bolt Search in 2016. Recruitment. Executive search in education and training. For the best part of a decade it was the thing I did, the thing I was known for, and the thing that paid the bills.

I was good at it. I built a business that worked. But somewhere around year seven or eight, I noticed something. The thing I was best at wasn't recruiting. It was building systems that made the recruiting work without me.

I started automating. Then I started building tools. Then I built entire businesses: FATP, a UK training provider marketplace that runs semi-autonomously. Tiding, an autonomous systems lab. Operating dashboards and management systems for a growing food retail business. I replaced most of my own team with systems and kept the revenue.

At some point I had to be honest with myself about what I actually was. Not a recruiter who was good with tech. A business operator who happened to start in recruitment.

The shift

In March 2024 I coined the term "Leanpreneur" to describe what I was becoming. Someone who builds lean, leveraged businesses using modern tools and old-fashioned business sense. Not an AI guru. Not a tech influencer. An operator who uses every advantage available to punch above their weight.

I wrote about it, talked about it, and started meeting others doing the same thing. Solopreneurs running multiple revenue streams. Small teams operating like companies ten times their size. Founders who cared more about margin than headcount.

They didn't need another course. They didn't need another tool demo. They needed a room of people doing the same thing, figuring it out together.

What I've built

The Leanpreneur community launched this month. It's a paid community for solopreneurs and lean operators. Monthly workshops where I teach one thing properly with real examples. Bi-weekly show-and-tells where members share what they're building. Office hours for specific problems. And a build-in-public rhythm where I share exactly what I'm doing across my own businesses, with full transparency.

Every new member gets a 1-to-1 call with me to make sure we set the right goals and build with intention. This isn't a content library. It's a working room.

What this means for everything else

Bolt Search isn't going anywhere. I still do executive search where it makes sense, particularly in education and training where I have 15 years of relationships. But it's no longer the identity. Recruitment is a supporting activity, not the main lane.

I also work directly with founder-led businesses on the operating problems that keep founders stuck. Systems, workflows, visibility, management structure, the dependency on you being in every room. Most of that work starts with an Operating Review and goes from there.

The community, the consulting, the content, the businesses I run myself - they all feed each other. The community produces stories. The stories become content. The content attracts more operators. The consulting keeps me sharp. The businesses I run are the proof.

The thesis

The future of business is lean. Not zero-human. Not bloated. Lean. AI and modern tools mean individuals and small teams can operate at the scale of companies 10x their size. The winners will be the ones who combine good business sense with the right technology in the right places.

Business fundamentals first. Technology second. Build first, subscribe later. Own your tools where you can.

If that resonates, the Leanpreneur community is where we do this together. Founding rate is £79/month and I'm capping it at 20 spots before the price goes up.

Ten years of recruitment. A good run. Now something bigger.