Of course, I’m WAY too young to remember Charlie Brown’s friend, Linus, who waited and watched for the Great Pumpkin in an animated Charlie Brown Halloween TV special. But I’ve heard the stories. And when you get down to it, you gotta give Linus a lot of credit for perseverance.
He was the ONLY one who believed the Great Pumpkin was real.
Linus did get some support from Charlie Brown’s younger sister, Sally. But that was mostly because she was in love with Linus. So, she thought he could do no wrong. But Charlie Brown took her away so they could join the gang for some trick-or-treating.
Before they really got going, the gang stopped by the pumpkin patch. Because they wanted to make fun of Linus for missing out on all the fun. Especially since the same happened the year before. But Linus refused to leave the patch. And he was able to convince Sally to stay behind.
Charlie Brown’s TV special was way back in 1966. So, it shouldn’t be much of a spoiler alert when I tell you the Great Pumpkin never showed up. But it’s a cartoon. So, Linus can try again next year.
And you might be wondering why a business consultant would be talking about a Charlie Brown cartoon. Of course you would. I’m wondering that myself.
Just kidding.
No, I brought it up because each year Americans start one million new businesses. But, according to statistics, nearly 80 percent of them fail within the first five years. Yikes!
And those are the kinds of stats Mike Michalowicz faced as he tried to grow his first company.
As he put it, he made “steady money.” But “there was never very much left over.” And he ended up “chasing customers left and right, putting in twenty-eight-hour days, eight days a week.” But he discovered a source of inspiration from a very unlikely source. Pumpkin farmers.
Mike read an article about a local farmer who had dedicated his life to growing pumpkins. But not just pumpkins. The farmer worked hard to grow giant pumpkins. And Miked saw what the farmer did and figured the same process could apply to growing a business.
So, he tested out what he called The Pumpkin Plan on his own company. He says it “transformed it into a remarkable, multimillion-dollar industry leader.
And I’m sure you’d like to know what the Pumpkin Plan is? Mike outlined it this way:
- 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.
As you can see, it’s basically three parts.
Mike’s book, describes it this way in the title to his book: “The Pumpkin Plan:
But here’s the thing. There are plenty of steps to make those parts seem that easy. The steps I call “Frontloading.” And I show you how to do that, and a whole lot more, in MY RondaReady Business book.
In my book, you get the full System to set up and run your own business, better and faster. But you can just sit up, day and night, like Linus waiting for your Great Pumpkin to show up.
First, invest in your own copy of the RondaReady System book, today. Then, take the steps I show you. Learn to automate and delegate. And discover how you’ll be able to run of business instead of it running you. Because you’ll BE the Great Pumpkin.
Use the link below and start today, and let me help you…
Stay Ready,
R.O.N.D.A.
Responsive Organized Nonstop Digital Action
(https://www.amazon.com/RondaReady-Online-Business-Coach-System/dp/1688796479)