The information to Win in Business, the information to Win in Life, all wrapped up in one winning, weekly email. Winformation Weekly.

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...

I’ve spoken to a lot of people over the past few weeks. Some right at the top of their game. Some just getting started. Others staring down a complete change of direction. Different stages, different industries, different lives.

But they all had one thing in common.

A quiet but very real determination that 2026 is going to be a transformational year.

Can you believe it’s nearly six years since the pandemic? Mad. For most of us, whatever “normal” used to be feels like a distant memory now. And I think there’s been a collective realisation over the last few years, that if you want something to change, you’re going to have to figure it out yourself. Build it yourself. Push for it yourself.

And if the last 6 years have taught us anything, you’ll need to swim against the tide to do it. Nothing going to get easier.

If you haven’t yet reviewed your year or set your goals, go back and read the last 2 editions (all previous on the “view online” link, top right) and get that done first. Don’t sleep on that, get it done. But once that’s in place, everything else comes down to one thing.

Momentum.

Momentum is everything. It’s the difference between knowing what you want and actually moving toward it. As one of my coaches used to say “get hot, stay hot”. The good news is momentum is something you just “catch” or wait for. It can be built.

In today’s One Idea to Win in Life, we’re talking momentum and how it’s built using my G.A.M.E framework. This is the same process I use when motivation is low, energy is flat or the goal feels a long way off. It’s simple, but it works, especially when you stop waiting to feel ready.

Based on your feedback over the last few months, we’re also going to start ramping things up in the Business section of Winformation Weekly. A bit more detail. A bit more depth. Taking things into what I’d call black belt territory.

My aim is for these newsletters to become a back catalogue you can come back to as and when you need them, depending on where you are in your journey. We kick that off in today’s One Idea to Win in Business by focusing on outsourcing. It’s a tricky subject and one I’ve not always got right myself.

I’m genuinely excited for your 2026, whatever you’re looking to build or change. If you bring clarity, consistency and momentum to the year ahead, a lot can happen.

Let’s ‘av it.

P.S. There’s still time to jump on a totally free one to one call with me in January. If you want to be considered, head back to last week’s edition for the details. All previous newsletters on the view on line link top right.

One Idea to Win in Business

Something to Scale Faster

When Outsourcing Accelerates Growth and When it Back Fires

No matter where you are on the entrepreneurial timeline “starting next year” or “5 years in”, if you want to scale you can’t do it alone. So, do you hire to your team, or look to outsource? It’s an age old conundrum. One I’ve faced numerous times in my 14 years round the block.

To help you make this decision, below are 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of outsourcing from my real-world experience.

Advantages of Outsourcing

Speed to implementation - You can have your new function, whether it be IT, Marketing, or Payroll up and running often within days. Hiring the right person, and training them can take months.

Greater experience, earlier in the process - When you outsource something, you should be hiring an expert consultancy or person. If you ask the right questions of their service, they should be teaching you HOW this function is run as well as performing it for me. Stay curious, and write down the process and platforms they are using. You might one day, want to bring this in house.

Time saver - In the early days of your business, or even in the early days of a new function within an established company, not only do you benefit from the speed to implementation as above, but the time it takes during your working day and working week to manage a function in house is vastly reduced. This frees up your time to do what you do best, which almost always is another part of your function altogether.

What you need help with. Thinking of starting up? Scaling an existing business? Or just keen for clarity on how to be the best “you” you can be. Let me know in a few sentences what you need help with and how you would like me to help.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Culture fit - I truly believe to have a great business, you need a great culture. Although it takes far longer, and more money to recruit internally, you need to ask if you are missing the opportunity to add to your team, and grow your culture. More people that live and breathe the mission and message of your business begins to compound.

Lack of control - Unless your provider has a stable workforce, you may be given a different account manager every few months, they may even outsource this work themselves. If there are errors, how quickly can someone jump on and solve these for you. Far easier if you can lean over and chat with your marketing team face to face.

Slipping between the sheets - You need cast iron agreements in place with every outsourced partner, especially if they have a fairly steady turnover of their team. I’ve seen pretty vital functions before not get fulfilled as the provider assumed the client was picking it up, and vice versa.

Please Remember - You still have to manage outsourced partners, but in theory not as closely. Managing an employee and an outsourced partner is different, but this doesn’t give you the right to shout and scream when things aren’t done properly. The best results we have seen with outsourced partners over the years is when we extend things to them that we would to our own team members.

Be a good client. Pay on time, suggest improvements, refer them to other clients, and don’t forget Christmas drinks invites. The closer they feel to your business, the more discretionary effort you will see from them.

One Idea to Win in Life

Something to build momentum

The Founder’s Secret Sauce: THE Framework for Building Momentum

If there is one thing I have learned over years of building businesses, it is this. Momentum beats motivation every time.

Motivation is unreliable. It comes and goes. Momentum, once built, carries you forward even on the days you would rather not show up. In business especially, waiting to feel motivated is a dangerous game. Progress is built by people who know how to create movement first and let the feeling catch up later.

This is exactly why I use the G.A.M.E framework. It is not a mindset trick. It is a practical way to manufacture momentum when things feel heavy, unclear or slow.

What better way to kick off 2026 than to build the first wave of huge momentum of the year early doors.

Here is how it works.

Grit - The first step is deciding to start regardless of how you feel. Grit is not excitement. It is the willingness to begin when conditions are not perfect. In business, there will always be reasons to delay. Not enough time. Not enough clarity. Not enough confidence. Grit is choosing to act anyway.

Momentum never starts with confidence. It starts with a decision.

Action - Once you decide to start, you must take physical action immediately. Send the email. Make the call. Open the document. Put something into motion. This matters because action changes your internal state. Thinking keeps you stuck in your head. Action moves you into the real world.

The mistake most people make is trying to think their way into movement. It does not work. Movement creates movement.

Motivation - This is where people get it wrong. Motivation is not the input. It is the output. Once you have taken action and can see progress, even small progress, motivation starts to appear. You feel more engaged.

More focused. More capable. This is why waiting for motivation is backwards. You earn motivation by acting first.

Effortless Execution - When momentum builds, execution becomes smoother. Decisions feel easier. Work flows. The task you were avoiding suddenly feels manageable. This is not because the work changed. It is because you changed your state by moving through the earlier steps.

At this stage, momentum starts doing the heavy lifting for you.

Here is the key business lesson. You do not need to feel ready to start building momentum. You need to start building momentum to feel ready.

When you are stuck in your business, do not ask how to feel more motivated. Ask what small action you can take today that proves movement has begun. That single step often does more for progress than weeks of planning ever will.

Momentum compounds quickly once it starts. The hardest part is always the first move.

Play the G.A.M.E properly and momentum stops being something you hope for and starts being something you create.

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 your question and send. That’s it. No forms. No fuss.

Until next week! 

Let’s win, together!