http://www.openforum.com/articles/top-10-business-books-for-summer-reading
The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz: Mike uses the analogy of pumpkin farmers as a model for entrepreneurial success. He shows readers how to identify and leverage your best strengths and cut out all the distractions that keep you spinning your wheels. Who should read it: Entrepreneurs who want to take their company from average to outstanding. Favorite quote: “Like a geeky, freaky farmer of mammoth pumpkins, I would focus all my attention, time, love, support, creativity and energy on the most promising clients in my ‘patch’.I
http://chameleonresumes.com/2012/05/10/review-of-the-pumpkin-plan-by-mike-michalowicz/
Here are the suggestions Mike makes to fine tune your business (and job seekers, take notice this list can help bring more action from a job search):
(1) Define the characteristics of your ideal client and target market benefiting from your business.
(2) Ask the ideal client target what services of yours they want and do not want. Learn about what helps them make a decision to buy.
(3) Structure execution processes within your business around those needs and likes of your client. Set up systems and staff to service those needs likes/needs that enable you to deliver above their expectations consistently.
I learned from The Pumpkin Plan that to grow the business further, I need to say ‘no’ to the client prospects that are not within my target market and extract myself from the execution process of the business focusing on the strategy. For this do-it-yourselfer entrepreneur, that sometimes seems counter-intuitive: to grow I have to do less of the business myself and say no to prospects? But I have started to these steps over the past month and a half and I can already see an increase in productivity and a decrease in my stress levels. Profitability in the short term has not been affected and I am positive good change is coming resulting from these practices.
Plant the right seeds: Don’t waste time doing a bunch of different things just to please your customers. Instead, identify the thing you do better than anyone else and focus all of your attention, money, and time on figuring out how to grow your company doing it.Weed out the losers: In a pumpkin patch small, rotten pumpkins stunt the growth of the robust, healthy ones. The same is true of customers. Figure out which customers add the most value and provide the best opportunities for sustained growth. Then ditch the worst of the worst.Nurture the winners: Once you figure out who your best customers are, blow their minds with care. Discover their unfulfilled needs, innovate to make their wishes come true, and overdeliver on every single promise.
Each year Americans start one million new businesses, nearly 80 percent of which fail within the first five years. Under such pressure to stay alive—let alone grow—it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of “sell it—do it, sell it—do it” that leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and unable to get ahead no matter how hard they try.
This is the exact situation Mike Michalowicz found himself in when he was trying to grow his first company. Although it was making steady money, there was never very much left over and he was chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week. The punishing grind never let up. His company was alive but stunted, and he was barely breathing. That’s when he discovered an unlikely source of inspiration—pumpkin farmers.
After reading an article about a local farmer who had dedicated his life to growing giant pumpkins, Michalowicz realized the same process could apply to growing a business. He tested the Pumpkin Plan on his own company and transformed it into a remarkable, multimillion-dollar industry leader. First he did it for himself. Then for others. And now you. So what is the Pumpkin Plan?
Event Seth Godin endorsed this book:
Hard-hitting advice aimed directly at the entrepreneur who is stuck being a wandering generality instead of a meaningful specific. Plenty of seeds worth planting.” ~SETH GODIN
The Pumpkin Plan recipe according to Mike Michalowicz:
In case you’re wondering if I’d ofi cially lost it, here’s what I understood when I read the article:S T E P O N E: Identify and leverage your biggest natural strengths.S T E P T W O: Sell, sell, sell.S T E P T H R E E: A s your business grows, i re all of your small- time, rotten clients.S T E P F O U R : Never, ever let distractions— often labeled as new opportunities— take hold. Weed ’em out fast.S T E P F I V E: Identify your top clients and remove the rest of your less- promising clients.S T E P S I X: Focus all your attention on your top clients. Nurture and protect them; i nd out what they want more than anything, and if it’s in alignment with what you do best, give it to them. Then, replicate that same service or product for as many of the same types of top client as possible.S T E P S E V E N: Watch your company grow to a giant size.
Love these quotes from @mikemichalowicz:disqus in The Pumpkin Plan:
“Building systems is simply another form of investment.”
“Gross revenue means nothing when your receptionist makes more than you do.”
‘Ordinary pumpkins are always forgotten’
‘”Really big pumpkins have really strong roots. ”
“The key to explosive growth is competing reasonably well in every area of your competition competes in, and then blowing them away in one category.”
Yes, congrats Kenny! So now that it’s over, tell us how you did it. I’m sure everyone would love to know!
I’m writing up the details of what I did to bring people to Mike’s site to share with others, and we should compare notes. I’d love to hear from Paul and Matthew as well. We could all learn a lot from each other and others would too. What do you say Kenny?
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The Facebook LIKE button is not working on this page. I’ve Liked it. It’s gone to my facebook wall, but this counter still reflects zero likes.
When I did it it seems to work fine and increased the count for me.
Thanks. Seems like it is fixed now!
HAHAHAHAHA! He sounds like the adults from Charlie Brown. Great touch! Good luck with the contest!
I saw this plastic bag guy on Fiverr. 🙂
Hoping more people can click the LIKE! 😉
http://www.openforum.com/articles/top-10-business-books-for-summer-reading
The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz: Mike uses the analogy of pumpkin farmers as a model for entrepreneurial success. He shows readers how to identify and leverage your best strengths and cut out all the distractions that keep you spinning your wheels. Who should read it: Entrepreneurs who want to take their company from average to outstanding. Favorite quote: “Like a geeky, freaky farmer of mammoth pumpkins, I would focus all my attention, time, love, support, creativity and energy on the most promising clients in my ‘patch’.I
http://chameleonresumes.com/2012/05/10/review-of-the-pumpkin-plan-by-mike-michalowicz/
Here are the suggestions Mike makes to fine tune your business (and job seekers, take notice this list can help bring more action from a job search):
(1) Define the characteristics of your ideal client and target market benefiting from your business.
(2) Ask the ideal client target what services of yours they want and do not want. Learn about what helps them make a decision to buy.
(3) Structure execution processes within your business around those needs and likes of your client. Set up systems and staff to service those needs likes/needs that enable you to deliver above their expectations consistently.
I learned from The Pumpkin Plan that to grow the business further, I need to say ‘no’ to the client prospects that are not within my target market and extract myself from the execution process of the business focusing on the strategy. For this do-it-yourselfer entrepreneur, that sometimes seems counter-intuitive: to grow I have to do less of the business myself and say no to prospects? But I have started to these steps over the past month and a half and I can already see an increase in productivity and a decrease in my stress levels. Profitability in the short term has not been affected and I am positive good change is coming resulting from these practices.
So what is the Pumpkin Plan?
Plant the right seeds: Don’t waste time doing a bunch of different things just to please your customers. Instead, identify the thing you do better than anyone else and focus all of your attention, money, and time on figuring out how to grow your company doing it.Weed out the losers: In a pumpkin patch small, rotten pumpkins stunt the growth of the robust, healthy ones. The same is true of customers. Figure out which customers add the most value and provide the best opportunities for sustained growth. Then ditch the worst of the worst.Nurture the winners: Once you figure out who your best customers are, blow their minds with care. Discover their unfulfilled needs, innovate to make their wishes come true, and overdeliver on every single promise.
Each year Americans start one million new businesses, nearly 80 percent of which fail within the first five years. Under such pressure to stay alive—let alone grow—it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of “sell it—do it, sell it—do it” that leaves them exhausted, frustrated, and unable to get ahead no matter how hard they try.
This is the exact situation Mike Michalowicz found himself in when he was trying to grow his first company. Although it was making steady money, there was never very much left over and he was chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week. The punishing grind never let up. His company was alive but stunted, and he was barely breathing. That’s when he discovered an unlikely source of inspiration—pumpkin farmers.
After reading an article about a local farmer who had dedicated his life to growing giant pumpkins, Michalowicz realized the same process could apply to growing a business. He tested the Pumpkin Plan on his own company and transformed it into a remarkable, multimillion-dollar industry leader. First he did it for himself. Then for others. And now you. So what is the Pumpkin Plan?
OK. Here is the first chapter of The Pumpkin Plan book — Free PDF download:
http://mikemichalowicz.s3.amazonaws.com/Pumpkin-Plan-Chapter1.pdf
Event Seth Godin endorsed this book:
Hard-hitting advice aimed directly at the entrepreneur who is stuck being a wandering generality instead of a meaningful specific. Plenty of seeds worth planting.” ~SETH GODIN
The Pumpkin Plan recipe according to Mike Michalowicz:
In case you’re wondering if I’d ofi cially lost it, here’s what I understood when I read the article:S T E P O N E: Identify and leverage your biggest natural strengths.S T E P T W O: Sell, sell, sell.S T E P T H R E E: A s your business grows, i re all of your small- time, rotten clients.S T E P F O U R : Never, ever let distractions— often labeled as new opportunities— take hold. Weed ’em out fast.S T E P F I V E: Identify your top clients and remove the rest of your less- promising clients.S T E P S I X: Focus all your attention on your top clients. Nurture and protect them; i nd out what they want more than anything, and if it’s in alignment with what you do best, give it to them. Then, replicate that same service or product for as many of the same types of top client as possible.S T E P S E V E N: Watch your company grow to a giant size.
http://mikemichalowicz.com//the-inner-critic-by-kenny-jahng/
Love these quotes from @mikemichalowicz:disqus in The Pumpkin Plan:
“Building systems is simply another form of investment.”
“Gross revenue means nothing when your receptionist makes more than you do.”
‘Ordinary pumpkins are always forgotten’
‘”Really big pumpkins have really strong roots. ”
“The key to explosive growth is competing reasonably well in every area of your competition competes in, and then blowing them away in one category.”
24 Must Read Blogs for entrepreneurs (beside’s Mike’s of course): http://www.businessinsider.com/24-must-read-blogs-for-entrepreneurs-2012-6
Have you read it yet? REPLY with your favorite chapter, tip or quote.
I think my video is brilliant and your social networking skills are extraordinary. Good work!
Congrats, Kenny!
Yes, congrats Kenny! So now that it’s over, tell us how you did it. I’m sure everyone would love to know!
I’m writing up the details of what I did to bring people to Mike’s site to share with others, and we should compare notes. I’d love to hear from Paul and Matthew as well. We could all learn a lot from each other and others would too. What do you say Kenny?