Whipper Snipper madness

Jun 27, 2025
Playa Caracol, Panama

(Can’t read the full email – click here for the online version.)

What a strange and interesting week. Literally, on Monday the US was at war. By Tuesday it was “time for peace”. As a Canadian living in Panama it really makes one gives his head a shake.

Closer to here in “Middle Earth”, Chiquita fires all of its employees and closes the largest banana export market over striking workers. Were they striking over conditions with the company?

No! The strike initially was over a pension reform made by the Panamanian government. This lead, naturally, to another strike by the country’s public teachers, a strike that has been ongoing since April.

What is this reform?

Purportedly, the new law has reduced the pensions and the reason for that, from what this expat can discern, is because the government does not want to go down the rabbit hole like the US, Canada and all of Europe whereby they promise pensions they will not be able to afford nor fund, down the road.

Whoa – that almost sounds like “chainsaw” Milei, the president of Argentina talking.

Meanwhile, a local economic think tank worried that while the country experienced a 5.2% growth rate, unemployment is still around 9.5% - most of whom are young people. The article then goes on to quote the president of the College of Economists of Panama who warns: “the most important thing is to create jobs” and develop a strategic plan to boost economic sectors. 

It would be fruitless of your feeble scribe to point out that no government anywhere I’ve witnessed has any idea of how to ensure that an economy flourishes and that everyone has a job. 

But the mentality that we need to provide jobs is just as prevalent here as elsewhere.

Let me give you an example.

Just the other day, the lawns that surround our complex were cut. Nothing newsworthy about that. Except for the fact that no lawn mower was used. Not a sit mower. Not even a powered push one.

Instead, the worker labored all morning using a simple Whipper Snipper. After he had cut all the grass around our complex, he returned with a hand-held leaf-blower, to blow all the grass that found its way on the walkways and patios, away and back onto the grass.

A 30-minute job became a 4-6 hour one.

Granted, labor is cheap here. Many scarcely earn $800 a month. This guy might be earning $30-$40 for the day. Maybe this is the most profitable way to cut grass here.

The thinking of course, is that the more people we get working no matter how inefficiently, the less chance for theft and crime. The “Idle hands breed mischief” idea.

And there is some truth there.

Because we have seen this grass cutting technique everywhere. Roadsides and ditches. Even soccer fields. Here, Mexico, Namibia, South America. I bet the companies selling whipper snippers and leaf blowers never saw this opportunity when they first started marketing their inventions!

Now, if you are a business owner or even a coach, I imagine you thinking, how is any of this relevant to me or my clients? What is the lesson?

One big one.

Most owners fail to grow their companies, because they fail to delegate. They fail here, because they are so busy running everything that they have no time to train anyone new. They end up working 50, 60, 80 or more hours a week.

It is unsustainable. And in the end, ineffective.

The key is to first examine all the tasks you are doing and determine which of those would you pay someone the “hourly” rate you, yourself are worth. In other words, determine your highest, best paid tasks, that only you can do. The only way to do more of those, is to find others, to do the least valuable tasks. 

At first, perhaps you will have to find an intern for those. Or you could outsource some to offshore virtual assistants, many who can do the job for much less than someone in the US or Canada.

Once you’ve done this, ensure you use the “freed-up” time to undertake your most valuable tasks, those which have the most likelihood of helping you reach your goals. 

Until next week, 

Stay healthy and focus on profit! 

 - Hugh 
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert