"I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know"

I hear this all the time from business owners (yes, even 8+figure founders):

🗣️ “I don’t even know what I don’t know.”

🗣️ “I’m not sure I’m asking the right questions.”

It’s an honest frustration; after all, you're an expert in your field-- you didn't sign up to be a financial guru. But, as a CEO, you’re making key management decisions daily, so how do you know if you’re making the right ones — before it’s too late?

Do you ever feel like you’re missing something critical?

In 26 years of working with business owners, I’ve learned that the biggest risks in business aren’t always obvious. It’s not just about cash flow, hiring, or pricing—it’s about the unseen gaps in how you make decisions.

For example:

🔍 Hiring decisions – Are you basing them on gut feeling, fear, frustration, or financial clarity?

🔍 Profitability – Do you know which projects or clients are worth your time and which are draining your team and bank account?

🔍 Growth strategy – Are you scaling in a way that strengthens your business—or stretches it too thin— by growing for the sake of growing without considering the impact to the bottom line or your team's capacity?

Most business owners ask surface-level questions that address the most painful issues first, but usually the deeper question is missing. And that’s what makes all the difference.

Instead of resigning to the disempowering belief of "I don't know what I don't know", try this:

💡 Ask: “What assumptions am I making about my business that might not be true?”

💡 Look: For patterns—where do problems keep repeating?

💡 Challenge: The validity of your data—do your numbers tell the full story, or just part of it? How accurate, timely, and relevant are the figures you use to make your daily management decisions?

Clarity doesn’t come from having all the answers—it comes from knowing where to look.

Where have you found unexpected blind spots in your business? Take the poll below - this will help me know what to write about in next week’s newsletter!