Stop Playing Whack-a-Mole: Why Smaller Businesses Need to Do Less (Not More)

Bradley Hamner, October 10, 2025

You’re working your tail off. Running around like a chicken with your head cut off (as my dad used to say). Playing whack-a-mole with customer issues, team questions, and that upset client who just texted you.

Sound familiar?

Here’s the paradox most small business owners miss: The smaller your business is, the fewer things you should be doing.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re at $500K or $750K in revenue, and you feel like you need to do MORE to break through to seven figures. You need more marketing channels. More lead sources. More strategies running simultaneously.

But that’s exactly the problem.

The Constraint: Your Real Business Bottleneck

Here’s what I’ve learned working with small business owners who successfully scale from six figures to seven figures and beyond:

If you’re under a million in revenue, you really need to focus on ONE thing. Maybe two. At most three.

This goes against everything you’ve been taught about entrepreneurship. Aren’t entrepreneurs supposed to be hustlers who do it all? Shouldn’t you be testing multiple channels and keeping your options open?

No.

Everything can work. Cold outreach works. Referral systems work. Pay-per-click advertising works. Content marketing works. Strategic partnerships work.

The real question is: Will you commit to ONE approach for 90 days minimum—often 6-12 months—before you switch?

Your plan needs to solve ONE thing: the actual constraint of your business.

What’s blocking forward progress between where you are and where you’re trying to go?

• Is it lead generation? (You don’t have enough prospects in your pipeline)
• Is it sales conversion? (You have plenty of conversations but can’t close deals)
• Is it delivery capacity? (You’re selling but can’t fulfill without burning out)
• Is it team capability? (Your people can’t execute at the level needed)
• Is it systems? (Everything depends on you personally)

The constraint is the ONE thing that, if solved, would unlock the next level of growth in your business. Everything else is a distraction.

Getting Above the Business: Three Essential Disciplines

So how do you figure out what your constraint actually is? And once you know it, how do you maintain focus on solving it when a hundred other “urgent” issues are popping up daily?

You need to get above the business.

Most business owners are so deep in the weeds of daily operations that they can’t see the forest for the trees. They’re playing the game without ever stepping back to evaluate whether they’re even playing the right game.

Here are three simple disciplines that change everything:

1. Quarterly Planning

Plan your quarter once every 90 days. Not a full-day strategic retreat (though those are valuable). Just a few hours to:

• Review what worked and what didn’t last quarter
• Identify your current constraint
• Choose the ONE primary focus for the next 90 days
• Define what success looks like

This gives you a North Star—the clarity of vision you’re trying to accomplish. Without this, you’re just floating around without direction, reacting to whatever seems urgent in the moment.

2. Weekly Thinking Time

Get out of your office for one hour every week. Go to a coffee shop. Go to a park. Go anywhere you won’t be interrupted.

Don’t bring your task list. Don’t answer emails. Don’t “work.”

Just think about the business.

• Is what we’re doing this week actually solving our constraint?
• What’s working that we should double down on?
• What’s not working that we should stop?
• What decisions do I need to make?

This weekly session becomes your filter. When that next “mole” pops up—the urgent customer issue, the shiny new marketing tactic, the crisis that feels like it needs immediate attention—you have context to evaluate it.

Does this actually help you solve your constraint? Or is it a distraction?

3. Sunday Night Planning

Spend 30-45 minutes every Sunday night planning your week.

What are the critical activities that move you toward solving your constraint? Put those on your calendar first. Everything else gets scheduled around them or doesn’t get scheduled at all.

This becomes your second filter. When opportunities, requests, or crises pop up during the week, you can evaluate them against your plan. Does this align with what I decided was important? Or is this pulling me off course?

The Question Nobody Asks About Whack-a-Mole

Here’s what nobody mentions about the whack-a-mole game: Just because something pops up doesn’t mean you should hit it.

In fact, two critical questions determine whether any issue deserves your attention:

1. Does this even need to be addressed at all?

Some fires in business need to burn. Not every customer complaint requires your personal intervention. Not every opportunity is actually an opportunity. Not every problem is actually a problem worth solving right now.

When you’re clear on your constraint—the ONE thing blocking your next level of growth—it becomes easier to let other things go.

2. Should YOU be the one handling this?

Even if something needs to be addressed, that doesn’t mean you’re the right person to address it. As the business owner, your highest value is solving the constraint, not responding to every issue that pops up.

If you don’t have team members who can handle these things, that might actually BE your constraint. But if you do have capable people, your job is to empower them to handle issues without you.

From Reactive to Strategic: A Different Way to Build Your Business

I’m not naive about the reality of running a small business. You can’t just ignore customer issues. You can’t pretend urgent matters don’t exist. You can’t adopt some guru’s productivity system that works for their $100 million company but has no bearing on your reality.

You’re trying to grow your company from $30,000 a month to $60,000 a month. Or from $60,000 to $80,000. Or maybe you’re already at $100,000 to $150,000 a month and trying to break through to the next level.

You’re playing a level of whack-a-mole. You have to handle the things that pop up.

But here’s what changes everything: You can decide whether each “mole” is worth your time before you reflexively swing at it.

That decision-making ability comes from having clarity on where you’re going (quarterly planning), maintaining perspective on what matters (weekly thinking time), and filtering your activities (Sunday night planning).

These aren’t productivity hacks. They’re strategic disciplines that fundamentally change how you operate.

The Sustainable Path to Seven Figures

There’s no perfect solution that works for everyone. No magic productivity system. No one-size-fits-all strategy.

But there are principles that work across industries, business models, and personality types:

• Clarity over activity – Know where you’re trying to go before you decide what to do
• Constraint over expansion – Solve the ONE thing blocking progress, not ten things simultaneously
• Commitment over experimentation – Give your strategy enough time to actually work
• Delegation over heroics – Build a team that can handle issues without you

When you’re running a small business, you have limited resources. Limited time. Limited attention. Limited capital.

The path to growth isn’t doing more things. It’s doing fewer things better. It’s focusing your limited resources on solving your actual constraint instead of spreading them across a dozen initiatives that never get enough attention to produce results.

Your Next Step: Evaluate Your Current Approach

Here’s how to start:

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Do I do weekly Sunday night planning? (30-45 minutes to plan the week ahead)
2. Do I have at least one hour per week where I get out of the office and think about the business? (Not working IN it, but thinking ABOUT it)
3. Do I plan for the quarter? (Setting clear priorities and focus areas every 90 days)

If you answered no to any of these, you’ve identified where to start.

Then ask the bigger question:

What is the ONE constraint in my business right now? What’s the single thing that, if solved, would unlock the next level of growth?

Is it more qualified leads? Better sales conversion? Stronger delivery systems? More capable team members? Better cash flow management?

Get clear on that constraint. Then commit to solving it for the next 90 days minimum before you chase the next shiny strategy.

Stop Playing Whack-a-Mole on Purpose

Let’s silence the feeling that you have to play whack-a-mole all the time.

You don’t need to swing at every issue that pops up. You don’t need to chase every opportunity. You don’t need to implement every strategy you hear about.

You need clarity on where you’re going. Focus on solving your constraint. And the discipline to evaluate whether each demand on your attention actually moves you forward.

The smaller your business, the more critical this becomes. You can’t afford to waste energy on distractions when you have limited resources.

Choose your ONE thing. Commit to it. Give it time to work. And watch what happens when you stop spreading yourself thin and start focusing your efforts where they actually matter.

Ready to Get Above the Business and Design the Blueprint for Your Growth?

If you’d like direct, 1-on-1 support identifying your constraint and designing your business blueprint, schedule a Blueprint Game Plan Session. We’ll help you get clear on what actually deserves your attention—and what doesn’t.