The #1 Problem Killing Small Business Growth (And How to Fix It)
Bradley Hamner, October 4, 2025
After working with hundreds of small business owners doing between $300K and $3M in annual revenue, I’ve identified three core problems that keep them stuck.
Today, we’re diving into problem number one. And if I’m being honest, this was absolutely a problem I faced in my own small business career.
The biggest problem? Lack of clarity.
I know that sounds simple. But it’s actually profound.
If It’s a Mist in the Pulpit, It’s a Fog in the Pews
Pastor Andy Stanley has this incredible quote: “If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pews.”
That’s the perfect analogy for what most small business owners are experiencing. Everything is just… fuzzy.
It’s not that business owners don’t have ANY idea where they are or where they’re going. These are smart, capable people. They’ve been successful in past careers, whether athletically or in corporate roles. They took the leap to go out on their own.
But when you dig deeper, here’s what you find:
- They have SOME idea of where the business is today
- They have SOME idea of where they want to take it
- They have SOME sort of plan they’re executing on
But is any of that documented? Is any of that shared with the team?
Rarely.
[Learn how Blueprint helps you create complete clarity in your business →]
If It’s a Mist in the Pulpit, It’s a Fog in the Pews
Pastor Andy Stanley has this incredible quote: “If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pews.”
That’s the perfect analogy for what most small business owners are experiencing. Everything is just… fuzzy.
It’s not that business owners don’t have ANY idea where they are or where they’re going. These are smart, capable people. They’ve been successful in past careers, whether athletically or in corporate roles. They took the leap to go out on their own.
But when you dig deeper, here’s what you find:
- They have SOME idea of where the business is today
- They have SOME idea of where they want to take it
- They have SOME sort of plan they’re executing on
But is any of that documented? Is any of that shared with the team?
Rarely.
[Learn how Blueprint helps you create complete clarity in your business →]
Watch The Video:
Watch The Video:
The Clarity Problem Across Every Revenue Stage
Here’s something important to understand: The problems a business owner faces at $2.5M are completely different from the problems at $400K.
I typically break our small business clients into two groups:
- $300K to $1M in annual revenue
- $1M to $3M in annual revenue
While it’s good to have inspiration and see what’s possible at higher revenue levels, you can’t tactically DO what a $2M business does when you’re doing $20K a month in revenue. The approaches are fundamentally different.
But the lack of clarity problem? That shows up at every stage.
[See how one business owner 2.5x’d his revenue through creating clarity →]
What Lack of Clarity Actually Looks Like
When I worked through our messaging a few months ago, I created a document called “Pains and Problems.” It’s eight pages long and covers every struggle I’ve seen business owners face.
Here are just a few:
- Overworked and overwhelmed
- Exhausted and burned out
- Unpredictability in revenue and growth
- No real marketing and sales system
- Cash flow stress with no financial management system
- Constant hiring and even more constant turnover
- Stuck as the doer, not functioning as the true CEO
- Still operating as the technician (as Michael Gerber calls it in The E-Myth)
All of these problems trace back to one thing: lack of clarity.
The Three Questions That Expose the Problem
Ask yourself these three questions:
1. Where is your business today?
Do you really know your numbers? Not just directionally, but as if you were sitting in the cockpit of your business? Point A requires knowing exactly where you stand.
2. Where is your business going?
If someone asked about your vision, could you give them a clear answer? Or is it more like “I just want to be away from where I am today and somewhere better in the future”? Point B requires a documented destination.
3. What is your plan to get there?
Do you have a written, documented plan? Or are you constantly starting and stopping? Trying lead generation for a month, then switching to referral partners for 30 days, then changing your sales process, then adjusting compensation plans?
Constantly starting back at zero?
That’s the lack of clarity problem in action.
Point A + Point B + The Plan = Your Business Roadmap
This is exactly why we built the roadmap framework in Blueprint:
Point A: Where is the business today? Understanding your current reality, including tools like the Rule of 40 to know your numbers.
Point B: Where is your business going? This is where your business blueprint comes in – your three-year vision, one-year objectives, and 90-day priorities.
The Plan: How do you get from A to B? This addresses what Alex Hormozi calls the theory of constraints – removing any barriers between where you are and where you want to be.
When you shift from Rainmaker to Architect, you stop operating in the fog. You get above the business and see everything clearly from that airplane view.
The Discipline of Clarity
I was doing an onboarding call with a new Blueprint member recently. He interrupted me and said something powerful:
“This work is really creating discipline for me. It’s helping me stay true to what I said I was going to do.”
That’s personal integrity. Doing what you said you were going to do for yourself. Not for anyone else, but for yourself.
Having clarity about where you are, where you’re going, and your plan to get there creates that discipline. It builds a business operating system that keeps you on track instead of constantly chasing the next shiny object.
The Path Forward
Lack of clarity isn’t about intelligence. It’s about documentation, communication, and systematic thinking.
The business owners who break through this problem are the ones who:
- Document their current reality (Point A)
- Define their clear destination (Point B)
- Create and stick to their plan (The Roadmap)
- Share all of this with their team
- Review and refine regularly
Remember Andy Stanley’s quote: If it’s a mist in the pulpit, it’s a fog in the pews.
If YOU don’t have clarity as the business owner, your team certainly won’t have it either.
This is the foundation of everything. Without solving the clarity problem first, nothing else can fall into place.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing the other two core problems I see small business owners facing. But this one – lack of clarity – is where it all starts.