Dearest Reader,

Most of my clients have grown their businesses intuitively — by feel, not formulas.

And I don’t knock it. You can build an impressive, fulfilling, sustainable business this way.

We even celebrate it when men do it. A male trader “trusts his gut.” A male founder “moves fast and breaks things.” A male CEO “has a nose for opportunity.”

But when women do, suddenly it’s “emotional,” “unstructured,” or the all-too-familiar:

“They don’t know their numbers.”

Let’s call that what it is — a double standard.

The truth is: intuition is a strategy. It’s data that lives in your body — learned through pattern recognition, experience, and risk tolerance. But if you want predictability — if you want your intuition to have teeth — you need the math to back it.

Why Knowing Your Numbers Becomes Non-Negotiable

Knowing your numbers isn’t just about vanity metrics or dashboards. It’s about leverage.

If you want to:

Secure financing — you’ll need to prove predictability and margin.

Retire or transition out — you’ll need a valuation story that holds up under scrutiny.

Sell your business — you’ll need to show that your revenue isn’t dependent on you.

Because the only way for your business to operate like an asset is if you know your numbers.

And if you don’t want it to operate like an asset? Fine. But do you want stability? Do you want predictability? Then you want to know the following:

The Math That Makes Intuition Predictable

1. Close Ratio — Your Conversion Reality Check

Why it matters: Shows how efficiently you turn conversations into clients. Solid predictor of the degree of confidence in revenue projections.

Formula:

Closed Deals ÷ Qualified Conversations × 100 Closed Deals÷Qualified Conversations×100

→ Under 70%? Check your targeting and discovery. → Over 80%? You might not be talking to enough people. (this is a contextual metric. here's a post that goes into more detail)

2. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Why it matters: You can’t scale what you can’t afford.

Formula:

Sales + Marketing Spend ÷ New Customers Sales + Marketing Spend÷New Customers

→ If CAC exceeds your first-month revenue per client, growth will choke your cash flow.

3. Retention Rate

Why it matters: Predictability is built on repeat business.

Formula:

( Clients at End – New Clients ) ÷ Clients at Start × 100 (Clients at End – New Clients)÷Clients at Start×100

4. Pipeline Coverage

Why it matters: A full pipeline today means a calm founder tomorrow.

Formula:

Pipeline Value ÷ Revenue Target Pipeline Value÷Revenue Target

→ Aim for 3–4x coverage for steady cash flow.

5. Sales Cycle Length

Why it matters: The shorter the cycle, the faster you learn and adjust.

Formula:

Average number of days from first conversation to closed deal.

TL;DR

Intuition gets you started. Numbers keep you steady.

When you know your numbers, you stop hoping for good months and start engineering them. It’s not about being a “numbers person.” It’s about being a power person — one who makes informed, confident decisions.

PS: I’m unpacking all of this at my November roundtable — Know Your Numbers: The Founder’s Guide to Financial Literacy

We’ll talk about what metrics actually matter, how to calculate them, and how to turn instinct into predictable income.

Stay tuned for more deets.

Until next time, Happy Selling.

Talica

PS - want more, in real time discussions like this? Join me inside my private community for founders -- The Revenue Room. It's small, high trust, and is moving the needle for our current members.