Episode Details

One of the hardest parts of running a business isn't knowing that something isn't working.

It's figuring out what's actually causing the problem.

You might think you need more leads, better marketing, stronger systems, a new website, or another person on your team—but how do you know that's where the real gap is?

As online business has become easier to start, we've gotten incredibly good at figuring things out as we go. We learn enough marketing to get visible, enough technology to build our systems, enough sales to land clients, and enough of everything else to keep moving.

But learning enough to keep moving isn't the same as understanding how all the pieces of a business fit together.

And those knowledge gaps don't automatically disappear as your business grows.

In this episode of the Sustainable Foundations Podcast, we're talking about why going back to basics isn't just for new business owners. In fact, seven- and eight-figure business owners are still being coached through foundational business questions—and I think there's a reason for that.

We're looking at how gaps in our business knowledge affect the decisions we make, the people we hire, and even the way we serve our own clients.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• Why business owners at every stage benefit from going back to basics
• How online business made entrepreneurship more accessible while removing some of the traditional checkpoints of starting a business
• Why knowing how to do something isn't the same as having expertise in it
• How the way we learn business can create gaps we don't realize we have
• Why no coach, consultant, or service provider can be the expert in every area of business
• What business owners need to understand before hiring an expert
• Why B2B service providers should know what sits upstream and downstream from their work
• What spending more than $30,000 hiring the wrong people taught me about understanding what my business actually needs
• How to use ChatGPT to investigate a business problem instead of immediately jumping to a solution
• How AI can help close knowledge gaps when you're not financially ready to hire an expert
• Why sustainable business growth requires understanding the whole without becoming an expert in every piece

Coming Soon: The Sustainable Foundations Roadmap

You don't need to become an expert in marketing, sales, branding, finance, operations, technology, legal, and every other part of running a business.

But as the business owner, you do need enough understanding to know what the pieces are, how they connect, where your gaps may be, and who can help you fill them.

That's why I'm creating the Sustainable Foundations Roadmap.

It will help you see the major areas of a sustainable business, how they work together, what sits upstream and downstream, and the types of experts who can help you with each piece.

And if you're a B2B service provider, it will also help you better understand where your expertise fits into your client's larger business—what should ideally happen before they work with you and where they may need support after your work is complete.

Want the Sustainable Foundations Roadmap when it's ready? Drop your email here and I'll send it to you as soon as it's available.

Because sustainable growth isn't about finally knowing everything.

It's about knowing your business well enough to recognize what you don't know—and what to do about it.

Try This With ChatGPT: Find the Gap Before You Fix It

In this episode, I talked about using AI differently—not just to give you an answer, but