The Risk That Scares Me the Most (and Why I’m All In)

The Risk That Scares Me the Most (and Why I’m All In)

Lesson: My Crown Jewel Is Also My Biggest Risk

Right now, the riskiest thing I’m doing is also the one I’m most proud of: Blue Ocean Pool Service. We’re on track to do around $5.25M this year, likely over $7M next year, and I can see a clear path to $10M. That’s exciting. It’s also terrifying. As the business grows, mistakes get more expensive, complexity increases, and the margin for error shrinks fast. This isn’t a business I can just “clean up” with a check anymore.

Insight: Scale Changes the Weight of Responsibility

• Bigger Businesses Mean Costlier Mistakes: At scale, small errors compound quickly. What used to be manageable becomes material.
  
  
• People Raise the Stakes: With 25+ employees and real customers relying on us, the risk isn’t just financial, it’s human. Livelihoods are attached to every decision.
  
  
• Fear and Excitement Can Coexist: The things that scare you most are often the ones worth doing. Growth doesn’t remove fear, it just changes what you’re afraid of.
  
  
• Maturity Brings Weight, Not Ease: Getting older, more tired, and more stressed is part of building something meaningful. The pressure is real, and so is the reward.

This business keeps me up at night, but I wouldn’t trade that feeling for comfort.

Action Item: Pressure-Test Your Biggest Bet

1. Name the Risk Clearly - Write down the one thing in your business that scares you the most right now.
   
   
2. List Who It Impacts - Employees, customers, partners, family, make the responsibility visible.
   
   
3. Decide If It’s Still Worth It - If the fear comes from growth and responsibility, not avoidance, you’re probably on the right path.

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