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Nick Thorpe walking through woodland

The business operating system

Your business runs you.
Build the plan that changes that.

Answer seven questions and get a clear 12-month business battle plan, built from Nick Thorpe's Army planning method and a decade running real companies.

Free · seven questions · a twelve-month plan built from your answers

01 The method

Seven questions. One battle plan.

The planner is built on the Combat Estimate, the seven-question method the British Army uses to plan under pressure, adapted for running a business rather than a patrol. Answer the seven questions and you get a clear twelve-month plan for your business, not a generic template.

It is the same discipline Nick uses to run his own companies. The plan sets the mission. What comes after is the operating system that keeps you on it.

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Strategy Where the business is going, and why Accountability Actions agreed, actions checked Systems It runs without you, or heroics Mindset Discipline when motivation runs out CoreOS YOUR BUSINESS, ONE SYSTEM
02 The problem

Why owner-led businesses get stuck

The business grows, the team grows, and every decision still lands on your desk. Pricing, hiring, the wording on one social post. Quality drops the moment you step away, because the standard lives in your head and nowhere else. Your team waits rather than acts, because waiting has always been the safe option.

It is a system problem, not a personality problem, and it follows a clear order to fix. That order is what the plan and CoreOS give you.

04 The operator
Nick Thorpe, founder of Core Business

Coached by someone who actually runs businesses

Sixteen years as a British Army officer. Then a decade building 6- and 7-figure companies in property and investment, with the scars to show for it. Nick coaches in the morning and applies the same advice to his own payrolls in the afternoon. No franchise manual, no borrowed slides.

Read the story
05 After the plan

The plan sets the mission. CoreOS installs the operating rhythm.

A plan on its own does not run a business. CoreOS is what Nick installs after it: strategy to decide where you are going, accountability to make sure the work happens, mindset to hold when motivation runs out, and systems to make it run without you. Built from real operating experience, not coaching theory, and used with clients who need better decisions, cleaner numbers, stronger teams and less owner-dependence.

See how CoreOS works
06 What clients say
“Every session left me with clarity, practical steps, and a renewed sense of direction. I’ve noticed real, tangible changes in my mindset, confidence, and decision-making since starting.”
Jonny Thompson · Trustpilot
“Working with Nick has been a game-changer for us. He’s helping us move from being busy owner-operators to thinking and acting like true business owners.”
Stuart Bramley · Trustpilot
“I came to him as a tradesman with an ambition to run my own business but no real idea of how to get there. His coaching style is warm, straight-talking and genuinely motivating.”
Joe Polfrey · Trustpilot
“Nick has been amazing and a breath of fresh air. He has been mentoring me for the past 3 years and it’s safe to say I am here for the long run. Nick is great at cutting through the noise and giving actionable advice that will push you forward.”
George Samoila · Trustpilot
“A very successful, self disciplined and driven leader which shines through in his coaching but is also a very down to earth person who can relate to real life situations and give great advice from his very experienced life.”
Iain Collins · Trustpilot

Every client review on Trustpilot is five stars · Read them

Read two client stories: from doing the work to running the business →

As heard and seen in · Paul Lanfear Property & Investor Podcast · Brave Bold Brilliant Podcast · Blue Bricks Magazine · Business Connect Magazine · The Property Catalyst Club

07 Fit

Who this is for. And who it isn't.

Who it's for

Owners of established UK businesses, roughly £200k to £2m in revenue, usually with a team. Property, trades and service businesses are where Nick has the strongest authority, running the same framework in his own companies. If the business runs on you and the next level needs decisions you keep putting off, this is the room where those decisions get made.

Who it's not for

Pre-revenue businesses: spend the money on customers first. Anyone wanting motivation without accountability, or a cheerleader rather than straight answers. Nick asks hard questions, expects the actions done, and turns away applicants where the fit is wrong.

· Free resources

The tools Nick uses with paying clients, free to take.

08 The journal
All posts

Your business runs you. Build the plan that changes that.

Build your free business plan