“There is what we know we know. There is what we know we don't know. But there is also what we don't know that we don't know..”

This quote from Donald Rumsfeld referring to the problems generated by the Iraq war. It also describes many of the problems encountered by small businessmen.

For it is precisely what we don't know that we don't know that can do us the most harm. Because if you don't know something, but you know you don't know it, you can ask questions, educate yourself, ask for help.

But when you don't even know you should be looking there, the problem grows quietly, without resistance, until it becomes too big to ignore.

Many freelancers and entrepreneurs have an advisor or manager to whom they send their invoices once a quarter. This person calculates the taxes, reports the result and, from time to time, resolves any queries over the phone. It is a functional model... to a certain extent.

Today it is easy to find low-cost consultancies that respond only by WhatsApp or email. Often, it is even an AI that answers basic questions. All very efficient, very modern, and also very limited.

The service usually boils down to what you upload yourself. No questions. No context. No one to look at your activity in depth.

There are also the offices where you see the consultant briefly, every three months, when you hand over the invoices. Add up, calculate, present... and see you next time.

And then one wonders:

How many customers do you need to manage for such a model to be profitable?

And most importantly:

With that volume, is there really time to look at your case calmly? To detect anything more than the obvious?

For years, many have understood consultancy as a compulsory formality. A formality necessary to comply with the tax authorities. But when consultancy is just that - delivering forms on time - it ceases to fulfil its most valuable function: to be a second look. An external view, with distance, with judgement, with the capacity to warn you before the error becomes a cost.

Because the problem is not not knowing. The problem is to move forward without anyone questioning what you are taking for granted. The problem is making decisions without a second opinion, without contrast, without context. And that - even if it is not reflected in a balance sheet - has a cost.

Not everything cheap is profitable. And not everything expensive is an expense. Sometimes, the biggest cost is not in what you pay, but in what you ignore because you don't have someone to ask the right question in time.