You know that client. The one who calls at 5:47 p.m. on a Friday. Clients whose tickets make your best techs groan. The one who negotiates every invoice, questions every recommendation, and treats your team like an on-demand IT vending machine. These are classic examples of Bad-Fit Clients.
And yet: you keep servicing them. Month after month. Year after year.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: that client is costing you more than just sleep. They’re actively destroying your MSP’s value.
We’ve watched it happen over and over again. MSP owners grinding themselves into dust trying to be everything to everyone, wondering why their margins stay stuck in the teens and why potential buyers walk away from their businesses.
The answer? You’re spending your most valuable resource: time: on clients who will never move the needle on your valuation.
The Farming Analogy That Changed Everything
Mike Michalowicz wrote a book called “The Pumpkin Plan” that flipped conventional business wisdom on its head. The premise is dead simple: farmers who want to grow giant, prize-winning pumpkins don’t water every pumpkin equally. They identify the most promising pumpkins early, then systematically kill off all the others.
Brutal? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.
When we introduced this framework to our peer groups, we watched MSPs double their valuations in 18-24 months. Not by working harder. Not by adding more clients. By doing the exact opposite: ruthlessly pruning their client base and focusing obsessively on their “giant pumpkins.”
Because here’s what nobody tells you about scaling an MSP: growth for growth’s sake is a trap. Revenue vanity is real. And that $2,000 MRR client who requires $4,000 worth of support isn’t just unprofitable: they’re a liability on your balance sheet.
What the Pumpkin Plan Actually Looks Like for MSPs
The framework isn’t complicated, but it does require guts. Three core steps:
Step 1: Identify Your Giant Pumpkins
Pull up your client list right now. All of them. Then create a simple spreadsheet with these columns:
- Monthly recurring revenue
- Ease of working together (1-10 scale)
- Strategic fit with your service offerings
- Alignment with your values and vision
Here’s where it gets uncomfortable. You’re going to discover that some of your highest-paying clients score terribly on everything else. And some of your favorite clients: the ones who send you Christmas cards: barely move the revenue needle.
The math doesn’t lie. Your giant pumpkins are the clients in the top-right quadrant: solid revenue, easy to work with, perfect fit for your services, and aligned with where you’re taking your business.
Step 2: Define What Makes Them Different
Once you’ve identified your best clients, look for patterns.The industries are they in? What size are they? What problems do they hire you to solve? How do they make decisions?
This isn’t about demographics. It’s about psychographics. Your ideal client isn’t just “a manufacturing company with 25-75 employees.” It’s “a growth-oriented manufacturing company that sees technology as a competitive advantage and values proactive partnership over reactive firefighting.”
See the difference?
When you nail this definition, something magical happens: you can actually articulate your value proposition. You stop sounding like every other MSP. You become the obvious choice for a specific type of client.
Step 3: Build Systems to Attract More Giant Pumpkins
Here’s where MSP profitability actually explodes. Once you know exactly who you serve best, you can:
- Create service packages designed specifically for them
- Build marketing that speaks directly to their pain points
- Develop processes that scale efficiently for that client type
- Train your team to become experts in their unique challenges
The Pareto Principle kicks in hard. You focus 80% of your energy on the 20% of clients who generate the most value: and watch your margins soar.
The Part Nobody Wants to Talk About: Pruning
“But wait,” you’re thinking. “Are you seriously telling me to fire clients?”
Yes. Absolutely yes.
Look, we get it. Letting go of revenue feels terrifying, especially when you’ve got payroll to meet and growth targets looming. But here’s what we’ve learned from working with hundreds of MSPs:
Every hour you spend on a bad-fit client is an hour you’re not spending on a great-fit client. Tickets from a problem account is a distraction from delivering exceptional service to your giant pumpkins. Every dollar of margin you lose on unprofitable relationships is a dollar you can’t invest in scaling.</p>
You’re essentially volunteering to work harder for less money. Nobody wins.
The pruning process doesn’t have to be dramatic. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Here’s the approach that works:
The C-Players: These are the bottom 10-15% of your client base. The ones scoring poorly across the board. Give them 60-90 days notice and help them transition to another provider. Be professional, be kind, but be firm.
The B-Players: The middle tier that’s neither terrible nor great. These clients stay for now, but you put them on a “graduation plan.” They either move up (by changing their behavior and fitting your model) or they move out.
The A-Players: Your giant pumpkins. They get your absolute best attention, proactive recommendations, and white-glove service. You actively ask for referrals to similar companies.
One of our peer group members went from 87 clients to 62 in a single year. Their revenue dropped 8%. Profit margins went from 19% to 34%. The company valuation literally doubled because buyers saw a predictable, efficient, scalable business instead of a chaotic service mess.</p>
Why This Framework Creates Valuation Multipliers
When you’re selling your MSP, buyers aren’t just buying your revenue. They’re buying predictability, efficiency, and growth potential.
A client base full of mismatched accounts screams risk. High churn risk. Low margin risk. Key person dependency risk (because you’re probably the only one who can manage the difficult relationships).
But a tightly focused client roster built around the pumpkin plan? That tells a completely different story:
- Predictable revenue: Similar clients have similar needs and renewal patterns
- Higher margins: Standardized service delivery means lower costs
- Scalability: You can hire and train for a specific type of client
- Lower churn: Clients who fit are clients who stay
- Strategic defensibility: You become the expert in your niche
This is how you move from a 3-4x EBITDA multiple to a 6-7x multiple. By proving you’ve built a machine, not just a job.
Getting Started: The 30-Day Pumpkin Plan Challenge
You don’t have to burn it all down tomorrow. Start here:
Week 1: Complete your client assessment spreadsheet. Be brutally honest with the scores.
Week 2: Identify your top 10 clients and analyze what makes them great. Document the patterns.
Week 3: List your bottom 10 clients. Calculate what they’re actually costing you in time, stress, and opportunity cost.
Week 4: Make one decision. Either commit to having a difficult conversation with your worst-fit client, or invest in deepening your relationship with your best-fit client.
The framework works, but only if you actually implement it. We’ve seen MSPs transform their businesses in 12 months using this exact approach. Better margins, happier teams, and valuations that make exit planning actually exciting instead of depressing.
Your MSP Deserves Better Than Being a Commodity
Business isn’t a popularity contest. You’re not here to have the most clients. You’re here to build something valuable: for your team, for your ideal clients, and eventually, for yourself.
The pumpkin plan gives you permission to stop being everything to everyone and start being exceptional for someone specific. It’s how you break out of the race-to-the-bottom pricing. How you build a team that’s not constantly overwhelmed. It’s how you create an MSP worth buying.
Stop watering every pumpkin. Start growing giants.
Want to see how other MSP owners are implementing the pumpkin plan and building valuable businesses? Join one of our peer groups where we work through these frameworks together: because transformation is easier with people who’ve been there.