What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: The Key to Entrepreneurial Success
For an entrepreneur, selecting the right business partners is one of the most critical decisions they will make. The right partners can be the difference between long-term success and stagnation. From my experience, two fundamental factors drive this decision: strategic goals and attitudes toward uncertainty or "not knowing what we don’t know." These elements shape how an entrepreneur builds their business infrastructure and scales effectively.
Strategic Goals: Defining Your Business Trajectory
Every entrepreneur has a vision, but it is essential to clarify where you want to go. Do you envision a small, lifestyle business that serves a handful of loyal clients while maintaining a balanced personal life? Or are you driven to scale, building the infrastructure necessary to take your business to the next level? Many start closer to the lifestyle model but find themselves climbing the growth ladder as opportunities arise. It is in our nature as humans to grow; remaining small is surprisingly challenging, particularly when your clients demand more. Regardless of the path, being honest about your aspirations is crucial.
For those aiming for growth and scale, investment in infrastructure is a necessity. Smaller businesses often lack the resources for full-time staff in critical areas like finance, legal, or operations, making fractional or outsourced partners essential. These partners help entrepreneurs build the necessary infrastructure while allowing them to focus on what they do best—serving clients and generating revenue. While passion and expertise in a specific field drive most businesses, true success requires attention to business infrastructure -- like risk management, financial strategy, legal structuring, data analytics, pricing, and long-term wealth-building.
Infrastructure, in this sense, is synonymous with scaling partners. Entrepreneurs who want to grow must build a network of reliable professionals to help them navigate the complexities of business expansion. Whether it’s financial advisors, legal experts, or strategic consultants, these specialist partners provide the knowledge and support necessary to make informed decisions. Without these key relationships, business owners may find themselves stuck in inefficiencies, financial uncertainty, or operational chaos.
A successful entrepreneur’s goals and strategy will drive how they build infrastructure and engage with partners to achieve those goals.
Knowing What We Don’t Know: A Three-Tiered Framework
An entrepreneur’s knowledge falls into three categories:
What they know they know – The expertise and experience they bring to their business.
What they know they don’t know – Recognized gaps where learning or external support is needed.
What they don’t know they don’t know – Uncertainties, unforeseen risks, and opportunities that could shape their future success.
Take the example of a personal trainer. A seasoned trainer knows how to tailor workouts, manage client expectations, and deliver results. They may recognize gaps in their expertise—like new nutritional approaches or behavioral psychology—and proactively seek to expand their knowledge. However, many aspects of business growth, such as financial risk management, liquidity planning, and wealth-building, may fall into the realm of the unknown. Without proper guidance, these blind spots can hinder long-term success.
The challenge is that entrepreneurs often struggle with assigning value to things they do not fully understand. If they are unaware of financial risks, growth strategies, or investment opportunities, how do they justify paying for professional guidance? This is why a structured approach is essential. Entrepreneurs must prioritize education in key areas and learn how to outsource effectively. Recognizing the existence of areas they have no way of knowing yet allows them to take proactive steps toward financial stability and business longevity.
Expanding Your Pie
A common challenge entrepreneurs face is what is known as the "Pie Fallacy." Many believe that maintaining 100% ownership of their business is always better than giving up any portion of it. The natural instinct is to hold on tightly, assuming that full control equates to full success. Also, our nature is to perceive giving up ownership as a negative - this feels like a loss. However, this mindset can be limiting and that loss feeling is deceiving. It often prevents businesses from reaching their full potential.
The reality is that strategic partnerships can expand the pie, making the entire business more valuable. Consider this simple example: If your business is worth $1 million, you might prefer to keep it all. But what if, by bringing in the right partners, you could scale your business to $2 million, even if you gave up 10% ownership? In that case, your 90% stake would now be worth $1.8 million—far more than the $1 million you started with. Beyond the financial upside, having knowledgeable partners allows you to leverage their expertise, share the burdens of leadership, and access growth opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.
This brings up another common objection: "Why not just pay partners a fee for their services instead of giving up ownership?" While that approach works in some cases, it overlooks the power of skin in the game. Skin in the game—an authentic stake in the success of the business—is one of the greatest human motivators. When a partner has equity, they are not just providing a service; they are invested in the outcome. A service provider operates like a tool—useful, but limited in scope. In contrast, an equity partner thinks strategically, improvises in the face of challenges, and works tirelessly to drive success because their own future is directly tied to the business’s performance.
That said, not every partner requires ownership. Some functions, such as tax and bookkeeping services, operate best under a fee-for-service model. These areas require consistency, predictability, and reliability, much like using a well-made hammer to complete a task. You know exactly what to expect, and there is little need for long-term strategic alignment. However, for roles that require deep business involvement—such as a fractional CFO or a strategic growth advisor—equity can be a powerful tool to create alignment, ensure commitment, and drive innovation.
Recognizing when to expand your pie and bring in the right partners with meaningful incentives is a key milestone for any entrepreneur. Those who understand this principle position themselves for greater scalability, resilience, and long-term wealth creation.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap with PFR
At Personal Finance Reimagined (PFR), we specialize in helping entrepreneurs navigate the unknown. Our role is to provide clarity, structure, and strategic financial insight so business owners can focus on their highest and best use of time. Entrepreneurs often do not want—or need—to know every intricate detail of financial structuring, risk assessment, or investment planning. Instead, our goal is to position them for success by handling the complexities and guiding them through informed decision-making.
As we work with entrepreneurs, we help shift their context from "don’t know what I don’t know" to "know what I know." This transition builds confidence and enables them to make better financial and strategic decisions. More importantly, they begin to appreciate the true value of their time—a resource more valuable than capital or technical expertise. By learning to invest their time wisely and outsourcing lower-leverage tasks, entrepreneurs develop resilience and adaptability, key traits of long-term success. PFR's goal is to help entrepreneurs scale their business, expanding their pie, and achieving wealth along the way.
Building Confidence, Resilience, and Success
Entrepreneurship is an ongoing journey of learning, adaptation, and growth. With the right partners, business owners can move beyond uncertainty and scale with confidence. PFR exists to support that journey, offering expertise in financial strategy, risk management, and business structuring to ensure entrepreneurs stay focused on what they do best. Over time, we empower entrepreneurs to make smarter financial decisions, improve their operational efficiency, and build sustainable wealth.
As an entrepreneur, your time is your most valuable asset. Investing it wisely will determine your ability to scale, sustain, and succeed. If you’re ready to move beyond uncertainty and take control of your business future, let’s start the conversation today.
Jeff Hulett
President and Founder
Personal Finance Reimagined
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