Wednesday 2 December 2026 · Kelso
The Founder Glue Workshop
Map it. Price it. Fix it.
Stop being the person your business can’t run without. In one morning, find out where it would stop if you had to step away for 30 days without warning, what that’s costing you, and how to start fixing it.
Book your seat Small room. Good biscuits. Nothing is sold on the day.
- When
- Wed 2 December 2026
9:45am to 12:45pm
Doors and coffee from 9:30 - Where
- The Dickson Room
The Cross Keys Hotel
Kelso, Scottish Borders - Price
- £197 a seat
Workbook, tea and coffee included
The question
If you had to drop everything for 30 days, what would stop first?
Most solo founders have a quick answer, and it is not a comfortable one.
The follow-up only you send. The quote only you chase. The handover that lives in your head. It works because you make it work, right up until you are ill, on holiday, or just full. Your back-up plan is currently you, remembering.
I call that Founder Glue. It is invisible, it feels normal, and it is costing you more than you think. This morning is about finding it, putting a price on it, and fixing the biggest bit.
Why it keeps happening
It isn't a discipline problem. It's how the business grew.
Nobody sat down and designed how people find you, enquire, buy and get looked after. It grew one workaround at a time. A reply here, a reminder in your head there, a spreadsheet you swore you would tidy.
That whole path, from first hello to happy customer, is what I call your client journey. It works because you make it work.
- They find you
- They enquire
- You talk
- You quote
- They say yes
- You look after them
So you carry it: the enquiry nobody chased, the quote that went quiet, the welcome you meant to send. Each one is small. Together, they are why you can't properly switch off, and why one busy week can cost you work you never knew you had lost.
Working harder won't fix it, and neither will another tool, if you haven't seen what you are fixing first.
There is a calmer way. Look first, then fix.
-
Map it.
See your client journey as it really is, stage by stage, and mark where it leans on you.
-
Price it.
Put a £ figure on what is leaking, so it stops being a vague worry in the back of your mind.
-
Fix it.
Pick the biggest leak and fix it, with the message or checklist drafted before you leave the room.
That is the morning. Here is what you walk out with.
What you leave with
Four things, written down, on paper
-
1
A map
Your client journey in six stages, each coloured red, amber or green, showing where it breaks when you are not there.
-
2
A £ figure
What the leaks cost you each month and each year. We use the lower, honest number, so it survives a sceptic doing the maths.
-
3
An hours figure
How many hours a week go on jobs only you can do, and which of them could be automated, templated or handed over.
-
4
One leak fixed
Fixed, or half-fixed with the actual message or checklist drafted, plus a 14-day plan and a partner to keep you honest.
Everything lands on one page, your Founder Glue Map. You photograph it and take it home. Fridge optional.
How the morning runs
Three hours, no filler
- Doors and coffeeName badge, workbook on your seat.
- WelcomeToday's promise, and why nothing is sold.
- Thirty Days AwayShare your score with a partner and finish the sentence: "The thing I dread being away for is..."
- Your Founder Glue heatmapColour each stage of your client journey red, amber or green.
- Price your leaksCount the last 30 days of slow replies and unchased quotes, then work out what they cost.
- BreakBiscuits are involved.
- Count your glue hoursList what only you can do and tally the hours.
- Hot seatOne volunteer is mapped live, kindly. Everyone else notes what applies to them.
- Fix one leakPick the biggest, design the fix, draft it and set your 14-day plan.
- CloseFinish your map, check-in call date, questions.
Timings are a guide. If we overrun, I protect "Fix one leak", because that is the part you take home and use.
Pitch-free, properly
Nothing is sold on the day
No pitch, no upsell, no "special offer for people in the room". Nobody will lock the doors and start a countdown timer. You come, you work on your own business, and you leave with your own map.
Who it is for
Founders who are the business
Coaches, consultants, practitioners and other expert-led businesses where you are the person who delivers, follows up and remembers everything.
If you have a team and a polished system already, this is probably not your room. If you suspect it all runs on you, it is.
Before the day
What to bring
- A laptop, tablet or phone with access to your email and calendar. A laptop is easiest, because scrolling an inbox on a phone is slow. It is only for looking things up. Your answers go on paper.
- Two rough figures: your average job or client value in £, and how many enquiries you get a month. Rough is fine.
- Your Thirty Days Away score. About a week before, I will email you a short test to take. It takes a few minutes.
I supply the workbook, pens, coloured stickers, tea, coffee and biscuits. The biscuits are not optional.
Who is running it
Andrew McEwan, The Savvy Marketing Guy®
I have spent more than 25 years helping small business owners in the Scottish Borders and beyond make sense of websites, marketing systems and automation.
I also spent more than 20 years in radio. Some of that was behind the mic, and a lot of it was in commercial production, writing and voicing thousands of radio commercials. It is where I learned to say something useful in 30 seconds, and I still try to.
These days I help expert-led businesses stop relying on the owner's memory and build simple, connected systems that keep working when they are not in the room. The workshop is the practical, hands-on version of the first step: map before you build.
Questions
Good to know
Is this a sales pitch in disguise?
No. Nothing is sold on the day. The only mention of anything further is one factual line on the back page of your workbook, which you can ignore.
Will I be made to do anything awkward?
No. No role play, no trust falls, no hugging strangers. You fill in a workbook and talk to one other person.
Do I have to take the hot seat?
No. It is optional, you tick a box when you book if you are happy to be considered, and you can say no on the day. Nothing said is recorded or shared outside the session.
What if I only have my phone?
That works. You only use it to look things up, and every answer is written in your workbook. A laptop or tablet is just easier for scrolling an inbox.
Is it online?
No, it is in person in Kelso. A small room is part of what makes the pair work and the hot seat useful.
What if I can't make it?
Full refund, no questions asked, up to 14 days before (by Wednesday 18 November). After that there are no refunds, but you can give your seat to someone else. The full wording is just below.
Wednesday 2 December 2026 · Kelso
Ready to find your Founder Glue?
£197 a seat. A small room, so places are limited.
Booking, refunds and transfers
Please only book if you're confident you can be there. Places are limited, and every seat matters in a small room. If you don't show up, someone else misses out.
Plans change, so here's the deal.
- Full refund, no questions asked, up to 14 days before (by Wed 18 Nov). That's when I finalise numbers for the room, refreshments and printed workbooks.
- After that there are no refunds, but you can give your seat to someone else. Send me their name by 5pm on Tue 1 Dec.
- If I cancel or move the date, you get a full refund or can keep your seat for the new date.