"Much clearer about where I should be putting my time and energy."
Bridget Gardner, after the Business Reset
Read this first. Furnace isn't for you if…
That's why it's by application. The group only works if everyone in it is ready to do the work, so I'd rather tell you now than take your money.
You want someone to do the work for you.
You're looking for another set of ideas rather than help finishing the ones you already have.
You won't turn up every week, or you'd rather hear what you want to hear than be challenged.
You're comfortable with how things are and you're only browsing.
You haven't started trading yet, or you're still testing the idea.
You can't commit to 12 months right now. Start with the Business Reset instead.
The business is busy. It just isn't moving.
If you're nodding at more than two of these, keep reading.
You own an established business, typically turning over £100k to £500k, and you work harder than anyone in it.
You have ten things started and none of them finished.
Your team brings every decision to you, so nothing moves when you're not there.
You can't take a week off without the business wobbling.
Your evenings and weekends go on work you should have finished on Tuesday, and your family gets what's left.
You've bought the courses and read the books. You came back fired up, and by Friday nothing had changed.
Turnover has been roughly flat for a while, even though you're working harder than ever.
There's nobody to think it through with, so every big decision sits on you alone.
4x your investment, or I keep working with you for free.
Twelve months from now, imagine if…
You finish each week with the one piece of work that mattered actually done, not just started.
Monday starts with a decision you made at the weekend, not with whatever is in the inbox.
Your team brings you answers, not questions, because they know what the priority is.
You take a week off and the business carries on without you.
Your evenings and weekends belong to your family again.
Turnover is moving again, because the work that drives it is finally getting finished.
Furnace is for you if you want…
"I'm already flat out. I've tried this kind of thing before."
You're busy. You've bought courses before and they didn't stick. Twelve months sounds like a long time. And part of you thinks that if you just worked a bit harder, you'd get on top of it.
I get it. Here's what's really going on.
You're not failing. You're diluted.
Most owner-led businesses don't stall because the owner lacks ideas or effort. They stall because of dilution: too many open priorities, decisions made in reaction to whatever landed that morning, and the owner sitting in the middle of everything.
That's why the courses didn't stick, and it wasn't your fault. They gave you more ideas when the problem was too many open ones. Working harder doesn't fix it either, because more effort spread across ten things still finishes nothing.
And it doesn't sort itself out. Another year of working this way costs you money, and it also costs you the evenings, the weekends and the energy you started the business to protect.
Business owners don't need more ideas. They need to finish the right work properly.
I've failed at least 2,000 times. Most of it came from doing too much.
Everything in my own business was half finished, and I was the bottleneck. Pushing harder only got me further down the wrong road, faster. That's when I had to take two steps back.
I got my degree in coaching and mentoring at 42, and since then I've mentored and coached more than 400 founders. The same pattern turns up in almost every business, whatever the sector. Furnace is built on what fixed it, for me and for them.
Inside Furnace, you'll find out:
4x your investment, or I keep working with you for free.
One thing to the anvil at a time.
You don't get more content to watch. You get a rhythm that makes sure the work you've chosen gets done, built on the six principles of the Flourish Framework.
Stop and look at the whole business before you push any harder.
Do one role properly at a time, instead of all of them badly at once.
Guard the hours that move the business. Time is the real currency.
One priority on the anvil until it's finished. Then the next.
Build one habit until it sticks before you add another.
Count finished work, not activity, and keep it moving.
Your year in Furnace
Set the baseline
We agree your baseline in writing from your accounts, you choose your first priority, and your Furnace Journal arrives in the post.
The Daily Anvil
A morning check-in with the group, run by the Flourish Foundry team: what you're finishing today.
The Quench
A short look back at what went right this week, so you go into Monday knowing what's next.
Group session
We work through members' businesses together: what got finished, what's stuck and what comes next.
Guest expert and Q&A
A focused session with a guest expert on one topic, such as sales, finance, hiring or marketing, plus an open Q&A.
Check the numbers
We measure progress against your baseline. If something isn't moving, we change the approach, not the commitment.
Measure against 4x
If you've met the conditions and haven't reached four times your investment, you stay in Furnace free until you do.
What owners say after working with me
"Once clear priorities are set, real and visible progress follows."
"These aren't revolutionary ideas, they're the fundamentals that get buried under the day-to-day noise."
Stepping back gave her space "to see what's really going on rather than just pushing through."
4x your investment, or I keep working with you for free.
Everything included for £250 a month.
Two things to make sure you start properly and don't do it alone.
The printed Furnace Journal
An A5 journal posted to you, with 90 days of morning check-ins and your goal-setting pages, so the habit starts on paper from day one rather than on another app you'll stop opening.
Circle Networks membership, worth £75 a month (£900 over the year)
I include it at no extra cost because I believe networking is what drives a business forward. The right room of owners brings you customers, introductions and answers you won't find on your own. It's a big part of how you reach four times your investment.
One strategy call every quarter, four across the year. Bought separately, they would cost £1,000.
£250 a month including VAT. You only pay if you're accepted.
At least four times your investment, or I keep working with you for free until you get there.
Four times is the minimum, not the ceiling. This isn't a refund, because I'd rather keep working with you than hand money back. If you do the work and you haven't reached four times your investment after 12 months, you stay in Furnace, with everything included, at no cost until you do.
The conditions, in full
These are simply the work. They're here so you can read them before you apply.
- In your first 30 days we agree your baseline in writing, using your last 12 months' revenue from your accounts.
- You attend at least 40 of the 52 weekly group sessions, live or by watching the recording within 7 days.
- You complete your morning check-in on at least 80% of weekdays.
- You complete the actions you commit to, or tell us why not.
- You share your figures with us each quarter so we can measure progress.
- Your membership payments are up to date.
Full guarantee terms: read the terms
If you're accepted, you confirm these conditions before you pay.
Dave Christie
Founder of Flourish Foundry. I played rugby and went on to coach it, including at London Irish Rugby Club. I then held senior commercial roles with brands including Faith in Nature and Perrigo. I've now mentored and coached more than 400 founders, and about half of them run businesses outside food and drink.
Every month you wait is another month of the same.
There's no fixed intake and no cap on places, so I won't pretend there's a countdown. The only deadline is the one your business is already paying for: another month of the same ten things open, the same evenings at the laptop, and the same turnover.
Furnace starts on the 1st of each month. Apply by the 20th and, if you're accepted, you start on the 1st of next month. Apply later and your start moves back a month.
Including VAT, for 12 months (£3,000 in total). Nothing else to pay.
You only pay if you're accepted.
Including VAT, for the full 12 months. That's £500 less than paying monthly, and works out at about £208 a month.
You only pay if you're accepted.
What owners ask before they apply
Is VAT included?
Yes. £250 a month, or £2,500 paid in full, includes VAT, and there's nothing else to pay.
I've tried courses and coaching before. Why would this be different?
Because Furnace doesn't give you more to learn. Most programmes hand you more ideas and leave you to get on with it. Furnace takes things off your plate, holds you to one priority until it's finished, and checks in with you every week and every morning. And if the numbers don't move, the guarantee means I keep working with you for free.
How much of my time will it take?
One group session a week, the monthly expert session and Q&A, and a few minutes each morning for your check-in. That's about 14 hours a month. The real time goes on finishing your priority, which is work you'd be doing anyway, just without the drift.
What if I miss a session?
Every session is recorded. Watching the recording within [7 days] counts as attending for the guarantee.
Can I cancel before 12 months?
No. Furnace is a firm 12-month commitment, and you confirm that before you pay. The results come from staying with it past the point where most people give up.
What counts towards the 4x guarantee?
Additional minimum additional revenue over 12 months, compared with the baseline we agree from your accounts in your first 30 days. On £250 a month (£3,000 in total), the minimum is £12,000. If you pay £2,500 in full, it's £10,000. The full conditions are listed above.
What happens if I don't reach 4x?
If you've met the conditions, you carry on in Furnace with everything included, at no cost, until you reach it. It isn't a cash refund.
I'm already a Circle Networks member. What do I get?
You get four strategy calls added in, one each quarter. Bought separately, they would cost £1,000.
How big are the groups?
Groups typically have 40 to 50 business owners. You'll hear how other owners solved the problem you're stuck on, which is often worth as much as the session itself.
Does it work for my type of business?
Furnace is about how you run the business, not which sector it's in. Too many open priorities, the owner as bottleneck and time going on the wrong things look the same in a shop, a trade, a consultancy or a product brand.
How do I pay?
Either £250 a month by [card / direct debit], from the 1st of the month you start, or £2,500 once, paid in full, which saves you £500. Both prices include VAT.
What happens after 12 months?
[Confirm: renew for another year, move to monthly, or step down to the membership]
I'm not ready for 12 months. What else is there?
Start with the Business Reset, a four-week course at £495. It's the quickest way to take two steps back and decide what matters, and plenty of owners move into Furnace afterwards.
Let's be straight with each other for a second.
Most owners already know what they should be doing. They're just not doing it.
Plenty of people will read this page and think, "I could do this myself." Some could. Most won't, because they'll be doing it alone, with no plan for the week, nobody asking whether it got done, and the same ten things still open.
After working with more than 400 founders, I've found there are really only two ways to fix it.
Keep trying to do it on your own, and hope next year is different from this one.
Put yourself in a room of owners doing the same work, with someone who's been there holding you to it.
Pick one thing. Finish it. Then the next.
Twelve months from now, you'll either have finished the work that's been sitting there, or you'll still be carrying it. £250 a month including VAT, Circle Networks membership included, and the 4x guarantee behind it.
Apply
Tell us about your business and what isn't getting finished. It takes about 5 minutes.
We review it
Within 2 working days. If Furnace isn't the right fit, we'll tell you honestly and point you to something that is.
Start on the 1st
If you're accepted, you confirm the 12-month commitment and the guarantee terms, then start on the 1st of the following month.
4x your investment, or I keep working with you for free.
Questions first? Email [email protected]. We reply within one working day.