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  • The Pumpkin Plan

  • A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field
  • Written by: Mike Michalowicz
  • Narrated by: Mike Michalowicz
  • Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (75 ratings)

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The Pumpkin Plan

Written by: Mike Michalowicz
Narrated by: Mike Michalowicz
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Publisher's Summary

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 28-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?

  • 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.

Full of stories of other successful entrepreneurs, The Pumpkin Plan guides you through unconven­tional strategies to help you build a truly profitable blue-ribbon company that is the best in its field.

Includes exclusive author commentary throughout the audiobook and a bonus author interview at the end of the program.

©2012 Mike Michalowicz (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"Every page, every chapter, as I read this book, I asked myself, ‘Michael E. Gerber, how come YOU didn’t think of that?’ Just remarkable! Just absolutely a remarkable book. A pumpkin! Who would have thought? Every one of you—entrepreneurs, business owners—read it! Do it now!" (Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth and creator of the E-Myth Evolution)

"Another great read from Mike Michalowicz! Mike’s off-the-cuff sense of humor and business savvy ensure that The Pumpkin Plan is a book that entrepreneurs should read for years to come." (Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment and The Art of the Start)

"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, author of We Are All Weird)

What listeners say about The Pumpkin Plan

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Such great info!

This is such a great book. Mike provides great information and is so easy to listen to.

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Must read for businesses wanting to scale

I read Mikes Profit First but probably should have read this one first. Really well put together. I even emailed him and he responded. Immediately. Not many authors can make that claim.

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so good!

must read for any entrepreneur! this is aligned with mikes other books (that i’ve already read) so there were some repeat insights here but that’s not a bad thing! anything to get it to stay in my head. Highly recommend!

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Entertaining and informative

Enjoyed listening to this book in the car. His take home principles to grow a business while not dying in the process were fantastic.

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Best book I’ve ever listened to

This is undoubtedly the best book I’ve ever listen to both for performance and for its content. I’m an instant fan of Mike Motorbike

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Great overall, very easy listen and entertaining

I’ve listened to quite a few audio books, likely over 50 and this one stood out as very entertaining, not dry, the author Mike who reads it very well is passionate about all content and if his humour doesn’t make you laugh your bond to at least smile. I sent this book to my friend who owns a small computer repair shop and he loved it, and finally realizes the power of system’s, and how important it is to step back and be profitable without working 1 min. IN the business (or 9-5 day job rut if your doing it incorrectly). Thanks Mike.

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Simple concepts powerfully communicated

Very practical, useful for all small business owners I know. He has a way of making things easy to understand and he “gets” the challenges we face as entrepreneurs. I highly recommend it.

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game changing

this book is phenomenal. I love how engaging Mike is and the content is no nonsense, straight up actionable. I have no doubt that following this to a T would produce excellent results

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Useful insights, overloaded

This book has lots of valuable insights and approaches to business. With that being said, it could have been half as long as just as valuable. It’s too fluffy and the author comes across as pompous.

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Great plan

Well laid out plan that I hope is as useful to my business as Mike's other books have been.

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  • Harry Wilson
  • 2021-06-04

Great book

I have 89 books in my library now and this is excellent, has a lot of the nitty gritty actual things you can do to grow your business unlike a lot of business books that are more philosophical or mindset orientated

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6 people found this helpful

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  • Robert
  • 2022-04-09

Top 5

I’d put this book in the top 5 books I’ve read. That doesn’t mean much because I’ve probably only actually read like 10 books in my life.

But, his voice reading his book makes it feel like he’s in the room telling me a story. Kept me engaged most of the time, I usually listen while I drive and sometimes I zone out. I’ve already used some of the tips and tricks in the book.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • matthew
  • 2021-03-18

Read the first two chapters

This book is primarily just a repetitive reinforcement of the first couple chapters, not that the first couple chapters are bad but it is definitely dragged out.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Tori
  • 2022-07-12

Best Book for Entrepreneurs I’ve Read to Date

I wish I would’ve found this book ten years ago! I recently cut some vines before reading this book because I felt like my attention was so divided between this side hustle or that start up idea. It was making it to where I didn’t have time or focus for any of them. I scaled it back to 2 things in the same industry. I figure that at least aligns, but of course I want to eventually scale what I’m doing..I’ve been researching what to outsource to which company, best hires, who to hire first, how to combo jobs, etc. Basically I want to know all the steps to scale before I get in too deep and drown myself(did that before). I’m so glad I found this book because it literally breaks it down step by step and it’s replicable. This side of entrepreneurship fascinated me and it turns out, this is all it should be. He tells you everything to focus on and when. I know I will go back and read random bits of this book for years to come depending on where I’m at in the process. Thanks Mike! You’re a real one. 😃👍🏻

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  • Harold
  • 2021-08-05

Exceptional

Game changer, the steps in this book are actionable and effective. I did the work of applying them and it works. Highly recommend this book.

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  • Ivonne Zucco
  • 2020-09-29

Great book.

I loved this book. It was very engaging and presented valuable insight. I will recommend it to all entrepreneurs I encounter and will use all its advice in my own business.

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  • Zach Muzzy
  • 2023-12-07

Blueprint to Grow

Great book and the author is great! Shares a ton of great ideas and gives you exact steps to take to grow your business! Very inspiring!

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  • Logan
  • 2023-11-28

Great Delivery

Great content, with a great delivery! Thank you for this! It has been very insightful. I’ve recommended the Pumpkin Plan to several friends and colleagues.

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  • Alex White
  • 2023-11-15

One of the best business books I’ve ever gone through!

This book emphasized the importance of owning your ideal scene in business and continually pruning it to the best version of itself!

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  • G. P. Reed
  • 2023-11-02

A Great Book - Made Better on Audible

The Pumpkin Plan is a great book full of prescriptive advice for any business. The Audible version is even better than the original because Mike Michalowicz reads it himself and has added many asides that are not in the printed book.

It’s great stuff!

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