About Kevin Thomas
Hi, I'm Kev, a Business Coach based in the beautiful Conwy Valley in North Wales.
I work primarily with IT business owners across the UK, helping them prepare themselves and their business for a future exit — whether that's 18 months away, several years away or something they haven't yet put a date on.
But before I became a coach, I spent 15 years experiencing the realities of building and running an IT business myself.
My Journey
From IT Engineer to Business Owner
My career started in technical IT roles before I eventually moved into sales.
I was a natural problem solver. If something needed fixing, I'd fix it. If there was more work to do, I'd work harder. And if an opportunity appeared, I'd usually want to pursue it.
For a long time, that approach served me extremely well.
In 2004, I co-founded an IT business with two friends. Over the next 15 years, we grew from three founders into a substantial team, built the business to an eight-figure annual turnover and ultimately sold the company in 2019.
It was an incredible journey.
But it certainly wasn't easy.
When Success Creates Complexity
As the business grew, so did the number of things competing for our attention.
More customers. More employees. More opportunities. More decisions. More problems to solve.
We expanded beyond our original hardware and services business into software. We entered new markets. We recruited and developed people, built systems and processes, dealt with cash flow pressures, difficult customers, competition and the inevitable challenges that come with building a growing company.
And for a long time, my response to increasing complexity was simple:
Work harder.
There were periods when I'd get up before 5am and work for a couple of hours before the normal working day had even begun. Even on weekends away, I'd sometimes be at the laptop early in the morning before everyone else got up.
The strange thing is, I didn't necessarily think there was anything wrong with that.
I loved the business. I enjoyed the challenge. I loved winning new customers and solving difficult problems.
And working harder had helped us become successful.
Eventually, though, I began to realise that the business couldn't continue relying on my personal capacity to absorb more and more.
More effort wasn't necessarily the answer.
Learning to Lead Differently
One of the biggest changes came when I began training as a coach in 2017.
Until then, when somebody came into my office with a problem, my natural instinct was usually to solve it.
I was good at it.
But I began to realise that constantly being the problem solver wasn't necessarily helping the people around me develop — and it certainly wasn't the best use of my own attention.
So I started responding differently.
Instead of immediately giving people the answer, I'd ask:
“What do you think?”
“What do you suggest?”
“What would you do?”
They sound like simple questions, but they fundamentally changed the conversations I was having with my team.
I became less interested in being the person with all the answers and more interested in helping other people think.
That shift also changed the way I thought about leadership.
A stronger business wasn't one where I had all the answers — it was one where other people were increasingly capable of thinking, deciding and leading without me.
Building a Business That Could Operate Beyond Us
Around the same time, my two business partners and I made another significant decision.
We decided to begin preparing the company for an eventual sale.
That forced us to look differently at the business we'd built.
We strengthened the management team, developed people, documented processes, improved our systems and management information, and deliberately worked to reduce the company's dependence on its three founders.
My own role changed considerably during this period.
I spent less time doing some of the things I'd historically been known for and more time developing people, improving systems, resolving difficult issues and helping prepare the company for its next chapter.
In 2019, fifteen years after we started it, the business was successfully acquired.
Looking back, one of my biggest lessons from that journey is this:
The behaviours that help you build a successful business aren't necessarily the same behaviours required to lead the business you've built.
Sometimes the business changes before the owner does.
And preparing a business for a future beyond you isn't only about changing the business. It's also about preparing yourself to step away from it.
Why I Became a Business Coach
Experiencing coaching myself, and later training as a coach, changed the way I thought about business, leadership and my own role as an owner.
It also made me realise how valuable it can be to have somebody outside the business who gives you the space to think.
Someone who isn't there to tell you how to run your company.
Someone who can listen, challenge your thinking, notice what you might not be noticing and help you step away from the noise long enough to decide what really matters.
That's ultimately why I established New Perspectives Business Coaching.
Today, I primarily work with owners of IT businesses — including MSPs, software companies, cybersecurity businesses and IT consultancies — who are beginning to think about a future exit.
Having been through that journey myself, I know that preparing to step away from a business you've spent years building involves more than simply preparing the company for sale.
Looking back, I can see how valuable it would have been to have someone independent alongside me during that period — someone to give me the space to think, challenge my assumptions and help me work through what needed to change in both the business and my own role within it.
That's part of what I now want to provide for other IT business owners as they prepare themselves and their business for what comes next.
I understand many of the pressures that come with running an IT company because I've experienced a version of them myself.
But I don't assume your business is the same as mine.
My experience gives me perspective and sometimes a useful hypothesis.
It doesn't give me your answers.
That's what we work together to uncover.
My Approach to Coaching
I believe business owners rarely suffer from a lack of ideas.
More often, there are simply too many things competing for their time, energy and attention.
That's why much of my work begins with helping clients step back and think.
What really matters now?
What deserves your attention?
What doesn't?
Where are you still doing something because that's how you've always done it?
And what needs to change if you and the business are going to move into your next chapter?
My role is to provide the space, challenge and perspective that helps you answer those questions for yourself — and then turn that clarity into meaningful progress.
FOCUS. MOMENTUM. BETTER BUSINESS. FUTURE EXIT.
Outside of Coaching
When I'm not coaching, you'll usually find me learning Welsh, cold-water swimming in the sea, practising Wing Chun Kung Fu or exploring the beautiful North Wales countryside with my family.
My Credentials
I’m a certified coach and a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the ICF UK Chapter. I’m committed to high professional and ethical standards in my coaching, including adherence to the ICF Code of Ethics.
My key coaching qualifications and certifications include:
- Coach Certification, Robbins Madanes Training (RMT)
- Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching, Academy of Executive Coaching (AOEC)
- Enhanced Practitioner, Foundations of Great Coaching, World Business & Executive Coach Summit (WBECS)
- Enhanced Practitioner, Breakthrough Coaching, World Business & Executive Coach Summit (WBECS)
Thinking About Your Own Future Exit?
If you're an IT business owner beginning to think about stepping away from your business at some point in the future, you're welcome to book a Discovery Call.
It's an opportunity to step back from the day-to-day and have an honest conversation about where you are now, what you want your future to look like and what may need to change to help prepare both you and your business for it.
You don't need to have an exit date or all the answers.
Sometimes having someone outside the business to listen, challenge your thinking and offer a different perspective can help you see the next step more clearly.