Episode #42 – How The Pumpkin Plan Can Help Solo Law Firms Grow

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Welcome back to the podcast! 

Today we’re going to talk about how “The Pumpkin Plan” can help solo law firms grow.

“The Pumpkin Plan” is a book by Mike Michalowicz, a successful entrepreneur and author of several business books. Full disclosure: I am a huge supporter of Mike. I enjoy his writing style and no-nonsense approach to his books. 

I am a Certified Profit First Professional meaning I help companies implement the cash flow management strategy presented in Mike’s book, Profit First. A few years ago, I also completed the training to support The Pumpkin Plan book and became a Certified Pumpkin Plan Strategist. However, I let my certification for The Pumpkin Plan lapse as I personally felt strained trying to maintain the certifications for two different programs.

While I let my certification lapse for The Pumpkin Plan, I fully support the book which is why I want to talk about it today!

So, in The Pumpkin Plan, Mike reveals how applying the same methods that farmers use to grow giant pumpkins can help entrepreneurs grow remarkable businesses in any field.

The main idea of the book is that instead of trying to do everything for everyone, you should focus on your best clients, your unique strengths, and your core offerings. By doing so, you will create a loyal fan base, stand out from the competition, and grow your business faster and easier.

This book is especially relevant for solo law firms, because many solo lawyers struggle with finding their niche, attracting their ideal clients, and scaling their practice. If you’re one of them, The Pumpkin Plan can help you overcome these challenges and grow your law firm to the next level.

Before we get too far, I want to mention that in business the word scale has a different meaning than the word growth. Growth is to grow; to make your business bigger – meaning more of exactly what you currently have. But scale means to grow in a controlled, strategic and profitable way. Scale is achieved by increasing your revenue without a substantial increase in resources. 

For a law firm, scale can mean:

• hiring a paralegal who can prepare motions, petitions, responses, orders and other documents for your cases
• outsourcing phone calls to a virtual receptionist company who will follow up with prospective leads, enroll clients for paid consultations, collect payments, and book clients directly to your calendar for virtual or in-office appointments
• sending your overflow work to an attorney with an of counsel arrangement

Each of these are ways to take tasks off your plate, delegate them to someone who can complete them for you at a lower cost and free you up to focus on completing more billable work.

Ok – back to the book. How does The Pumpkin Plan work? Well, it consists of three simple steps:

Step 1: Plant the right seeds

This means identifying your best clients, the ones who pay you well, appreciate your work, refer you to others, and align with your values. You should also identify your worst clients, the ones who drain your time, energy, and money, and who cause you stress and frustration. Then, you should fire your worst clients and focus on serving your best clients better. 

I do want to point out that your worst clients are not “bad” clients. It just means they are not a good fit for you. They are someone else’s perfect clients. 

This process of identifying your best and worst clients will help you increase your revenue, reduce your costs, and improve your satisfaction.  While going through this step, keep in mind Pareto’s Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, that states that roughly 80% of an outcome comes from 20% of the effort. Translated to business: 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your clients.

To find your best clients, you can use the following criteria: they are easy to communicate with, they are eager to buy from you, they are profitable for you, they are loyal, and they are evangelists for your brand. 

To find your worst clients, you can use the opposite criteria: they are hard to communicate with, they are reluctant to buy from you, they are unprofitable, they are disloyal, and they are detractors for your brand. 

Instead of a subjective approach, consider rating each of your clients on a scale of 1 to 5 (from worst to best) for the following criteria: 

• Revenue
• Profitability
• Communication
• Loyalty
• Evangelism
• Time
• Frustration

The higher the score, the better the client. The lower the score, the worse the client. You can then fire the bottom 20% of your clients and focus on the top 20% of your clients.

I know in the legal industry, depending on your area of practice, you may not easily be able to fire a client. If it is not possible to fire a client, then make notes about the red flags they have shown you that you can use to determine whether a future prospect will not be your best client.

Step 2: Weed out the losers 

This is specific to the services you offer and the areas of law you practice in. Here you will identify your unique strengths, the things that you do better than anyone else, and that make you different and valuable. You should also identify your weaknesses, the things that you don’t enjoy, don’t excel at, or don’t add value to your clients. 

Then, you should eliminate or delegate your weaknesses and focus on developing and showcasing your strengths. This will help you enhance your reputation, differentiate yourself from the competition, and attract more of your best clients. 

To find your unique strengths, you can use the following questions: 

• what are you passionate about?
• what are you skilled at?
• what are you experienced in?
• what are you knowledgeable about?
• what are you recognized for?

To find your weaknesses, you can use the opposite questions: 

• what are you bored by?
• what are you bad at?
• what are you inexperienced in?
• what are you ignorant about?
• what are you criticized for?

Once you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, you can use the following matrix to categorize them: 

• if something is both enjoyable and valuable, it is a strength. 
• if something is both unenjoyable and invaluable, it is a weakness. 
• if something is enjoyable but invaluable, it is a hobby. 
• if something is unenjoyable but valuable, it is a chore. 

You can then eliminate or delegate your weaknesses and hobbies and focus on your strengths and chores.

Step 3: Nurture the winners 

Now, let’s combine what we learned in steps 1 & 2!  This means identifying your core offerings, the services that you provide to your best clients, that leverage your unique strengths, and that generate the most profit and satisfaction. 

You should also identify your non-core offerings, the services that you provide to your worst clients, that dilute your strengths, and that generate the least profit and satisfaction. Then, you should drop or outsource your non-core offerings and focus on improving and marketing your core offerings. 

This will help you optimize your operations, increase your efficiency, and create more value for your clients. 

To find your core offerings, you can use the following criteria: 

• they are in high demand
• they are highly profitable
• they are highly enjoyable
• they are highly scalable
• they are highly unique

To find your non-core offerings, you can use the opposite criteria: 

• they are in low demand
• they are lowly profitable
• they are lowly enjoyable
• they are lowly scalable
• they are lowly unique

Once you have identified your core and non-core offerings, you can rank them on a scale of 1 to 5 (from worst to best) for the following criteria: 

• Demand
• Profitability
• Enjoyment
• Scalability
• Uniqueness
• Time
• Cost To Fulfill
• Complexity
• Competition
• Risk

The higher the score, the better the offering. The lower the score, the worse the offering. You can then drop or outsource the bottom 20% of your offerings and focus on the top 20% of your offerings.

By following these three steps, you will create a Pumpkin Plan for your law firm, that will help you grow your practice faster, easier, and more enjoyably. You will also create a strong brand, a loyal fan base, and a competitive edge in your market.

If you found this information helpful and you want to learn more about The Pumpkin Plan and how to implement it, I highly recommend that you read the book which is available on Amazon, Kindle and Audible.

If you have any questions about today's episode please let me know. If you're watching on YouTube, you can comment below or send me an email to [email protected] and if you know someone who might need to hear this information please share this episode with them or if you're on YouTube, you can tag them below. 

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Did you enjoy this episode? Please consider leaving a review. 

And before I go, remember profit is something you intentionally plan for in the beginning. It is not a potential bonus at the end of the year. 

Thanks, and have a great day.

In this episode we will talk about the book “The Pumpkin Plan” written by Mike Michalowicz. It is a great book for solo law firms, because many solo lawyers struggle with finding their niche, attracting their ideal clients, and scaling their practice. If you are struggling, The Pumpkin Plan can help you overcome these challenges and grow your law firm to the next level.

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