Katie Birkett, The Business Survivalist

Survive the first years.Thrive for the long haul.

I help experts who've started a business with the foundations, knowledge and support nobody taught them, so they survive the first years and build a business that gives them the life they started it for.

Find your next step Join the free CEO Clinic

Real people.
Real progress.

27years starting, building and running businesses

17businesses given 90 days of Katie's time during Covid

16of those 17 still trading today

11of them now turning over seven figures

Been there. Done that. Still doing it.

Start where you are

Where are you on the mountain?

Different stages. Different challenges. The same destination.

0 to 90 days

Pitch

I have an idea.

You're at the start, validating the idea and working out what comes first. Excited, a little exposed, and short on clarity.

Explore the Pitch stage

1 to 18 months

Year One

I'm doing everything myself.

You're trading and working every hour. You've built yourself a job, and you're worried you're missing something.

Explore the Year One stage

18 months to 3 years and beyond

Gap

I've built something, but I'm stuck.

Feast one month, famine the next. You're tired, stuck, and quietly wondering whether to keep going.

Explore the Gap stage

Your business backpack

What's in your pack?

Business is wild terrain. The struggles are normal. What matters is what you're carrying when the weather turns.

Get these four working together and the climb gets a lot easier.

The Backpack Check takes three minutes and shows you what's missing from yours.

Take the Backpack Check

Time

Structure, routines and protected hours, so the business doesn't swallow your life.

Money

Pricing that works and steady cash flow. No more feast or famine.

Skillset

The running-a-business skills nobody taught you when you started.

Environment

The right people behind you. Peers, experts and a community that gets it.

One climb, not a shop window

Practical support at every stage.

Start free, find your route, get in the room, then build for the long haul. Join the climb wherever you are on the mountain.

Start

Start free

Get your bearings without spending a penny.

Backpack Check
CEO Clinic
Wilderness Weekly

Find your starting point

Find the route

Find your route

Map the way from where you are to where you want to be.

Mind the Gap
Business First Aid Kit

See the programmes

Any time

Get in the room

Live rooms, real conversations and a plan to take home.

Pitch Camp
Expedition Days
Panic Rooms
War Rooms

See events and rooms

Climb

Build for the long haul

For founders who are ready to go further.

Base Camp
The Ascent
The Expedition Summit

See the long-haul programmes

What we stand for

Before you scale a business, you need one that can survive.

Profit, not hype.

Turnover isn't what lands in your pocket. Forget "£100k months". Know your numbers.

Foundations before funnels.

Don't buy the next course, coach or tool to fix a business with no groundwork. Get the groundwork right first.

Build it properly before you build it bigger.

The right business, built to the size you choose. No bottleneck, no ceiling, no burnout.

The story we're all soldStart→Scale→Sell

The route we takeStart→Survive→Stabilise→Thrive

Katie Birkett outdoors in a sequinned jacket, leaning against a yellow post

Been there. Done that.
Still doing it.

About Katie

The guide, not the coach.

I'm Katie Birkett, The Business Survivalist. I've spent 27 years starting, building and running businesses, and built multiple six and seven figure businesses from the ground up.

I don't teach business from a textbook. I help founders with the things nobody teaches you at the beginning: money, time, customers, systems, decisions, confidence and people.