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My 14 years’ experience of growing a business from £0-£100m as well as the life that goes with it.

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Simon Says

Winformation this week...

Back in the 90s when I was a kid, my parents were both teachers. We always had 6 weeks off together in the summer. Most summers we would go to Italy, but we could never afford to fly, so we drove, from England.  

The journey would take 4-5 days, stopping off in small cheap hotels on the way. We loved it. If you’ve ever driven through the Alps, or any mountain range, you will know about the tunnels. For 20 mins you are in the bright sun, driving along the open road, playing music and enjoying the amazing views from the top.  

Then without warning you are in a dark tunnel that blocks the radio signal, no natural light, and seemingly no end to the darkness. Business and life lets you drive on their sunny roads and then without warning hits you with a tunnel.

I’ve experienced a business (and life) tunnel these past 18 months and below in today’s One Idea to Win in Business I give you the exact steps I used to see the light at the end of the tunnel and come out the other side.  

Below in this week’s One Idea to Win in Life it’s all about ownership. This is what separates the goal hitters from the excuse makers. We dive into the mindset shift that happens when you stop focusing on activity and start chasing actual outcomes. 

One Idea to Win in Business

Tunnel Season: The Hardest Year of My Life And the 6 Steps That Got Me Through It

If you’ve read the Simon Says intro you know what I’m talking about here… 

Every business owners and entrepreneur faces “tunnel seasons”. I wasn’t actually truly aware of this until about 18 months ago. In business, apart from the very tough start in 2011 and the obvious tunnel the world faced together in 2020, I thought (if I’m being totally honest) I was home and dry. How naïve. What I’ve learned is it’s never sunny forever. Whether it’s business or life there’s always a tunnel up ahead.  

So, the key is not to avoid the tunnels but to learn how to drive through them. Here’s how I did it. Here are the exact steps I took to get back on track, bearing in mind it was all trial and error at the time, but if it worked for me, it could work for you too:  

Recognise You’re in the Tunnel (Self Awareness) 

Most tunnels don’t just appear from nowhere; there are signs they are coming and there are signs you are in one. The first thing to do is to recognise these signs. Cash flow pressure, team issues, burnout, the health of family members. If things start to get dark, hard and long, don’t deny what’s happening, bring awareness to it straight away. I made a big mistake with this one.  

For me my tunnel was business and life related. In 2024 we bought out two other co-founders and the business. This had a huge impact on my time and my sanity. In November 2024 my Dad was given a terminal diagnosis, passing away in March this year. My partner and I have been organising a huge wedding.  

Throw in house renovations and 2 young kids, hectic family life and 110 people to manage, a Mum to look after and huge market challenges in the UK, and it’s fair to say, I’ve been in “tunnel season” for a while.  

Action - List everything causing you issues. Determine if the solution to each problem is within your control or outside of your control.  

Reduce Noise and Distractions (Strong Boundaries) 

This is so key. List everything you currently do daily, weekly and monthly. To avoid getting overwhelmed and to concentrate on getting through the main issues causing you problems, remove or delegate every task that doesn’t help solve these issues, so the hard hours are spent on the problems.  

For me, I removed most meetings that were out of town. I also totally removed making and posting content (outside of this newsletter). If you look at my socials, they stopped in February. It was essential tasks only. I also kept the things in my schedule that I enjoyed, relaxed me, or made me happy.

Get Clear on Your Destination (Vision)

Every day I woke up consumed by the issues and the stress I was feeling. So, I took some advice from a trusted mentor and wrote myself a half page vision of a happy more successful time in the future.  

I chose the May school holidays with the kids next year, driving to the airport with all of this in past. I read it every day before I got in the shower. It was the shower where started to stress about my situation and the day in front of me. Instead, I was now entering that space calm, happy and excited for the future. It helped me realise this tunnel was all just a moment in time.

Find Your Headlights (Clarity)

I was finding with so many negative things going on at once, it seemed all consuming to tackle them at once. From step 1, I knew what I could control and what I couldn’t. This instantly reduced my action steps in half.  

I scheduled my time wisely. I go into every day with a decent plan anyway, but you need laser focus in a tunnel. I knew exactly what I was doing and when. I used a simple colour coded outlook calendar. I also scheduled downtime with my family to get through what was happening to my Dad. I prioritised exercise and things that made me calm and productive. In the past these things would have fallen into the “if I had time” category. Now I was building my day around them.  

Don’t Stop the Car (Action & Resilience)

Once I planned my day, I made sure I did the tasks. However small. For me, ticking things off and slowly moving things in the right direction builds momentum.

Momentum gets you out of the tunnel. With small steps forward and constant awareness this is all going to be over at some point you can make progress.

Look for the Light (Gratitude)

I’d always thought gratitude journals were a waste of time. Not that some good wouldn’t come from it, but literally I thought it would take me too long to sit down and write things I was grateful for. I was wrong. I found an app called Three Good Things. Not an ad by the way…just a friendly recommendation.  

It took me 2 mins a day, which I usually do now just before bed. After a few weeks I was starting to scan my day for good things that took place. This really started to shift my mindset. Focus on the problems and they grow, focus on the good things and suddenly there seems to be many more than you realised.

So… big up Robert Herjavec for the wisdom on this quote “tough times never last, tough people always do”. Although everything’s still a bit raw, I will look back on 2024 and 2025 as a gift. It’s humbled me, made me realise nothing lasts forever. It’s made me cherish moments with my family and made me more grateful for what I have. The steps above have made me and my business more resilient. I hope when you next experience something like this they can help you too.  

One Idea to Win in Life

Extreme Ownership: How to Focus on Outcomes to 10x Your Results

Great leadership isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters. The most effective leaders focus on outcomes, empower their teams, and take ownership of both successes and setbacks. Here are five key principles that underpin this kind of leadership in action.  

1. Focus on outcomes. This is what great leaders do. All too often we focus on our activity. It is more effective to instead prioritise the desired results. That way, if you are setting out a list of tasks they very clearly lead into that result.

2. Nurture the team. This is about creating a supportive environment. That means giving the team the resources they need to succeed. Doing this helps your team to grow and improve.

3. Get on front foot. It’s about being proactive, not reactive. In Steven Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, he defines proactivity as the ability to change the problems that you can change, and accept the ones that you can’t. It requires taking full responsibility for your actions and decisions.

4. Clear understanding of roles. Much like focusing on outcomes, not tasks, your team need to focus on their role. First, they need to fully understand what that role is. Sounds obvious, but all too often it’s not.

5. Holding each other to account. A big part of ownership is being all over your work and responsibilities. No point focusing on a result if you never check if you’ve achieved it. A good way to encourage this is asking yourself some questions – did I do my best to progress my goals today? Did I do my best to be a positive influence? If the answer is no, go again the next day to put things right. 

Win or Wonder?

Ask Me a Question…

No matter where you are on this mad journey. Starting out, scaling up, or somewhere in the messy middle feel free to ask me anything.

Business, life or mindset, I read and reply to every question. The best ones will get featured in future editions of Winformation, with your permission of course!

To ask, just hit “reply”, type away, and send. That’s it. No forms. No fuss.

Until next week! 

Let’s win, together!