As they grow, businesses tend to accumulate a lot of “dead wood”—processes and tools that hinder growth and just aren’t serving the business, team, or clients as well as they could. That’s why when Angie Wittke joined Blue Net, she went over the MSP with a fine-toothed comb.
While Adam Wittke had run the firm effectively since its founding in 2007, the MSP had accumulated a lot of debris that the couple knew Angie could clear away. That’s why after their wedding, Adam asked her to join the business, resulting in the Blue Net as you see it today—a premier MSP providing white-glove technology services to businesses throughout Minneapolis.
Dead Wood And Old Leaves—Start To Stagnation
Adam got his first taste of IT firm ownership in 1997, when he partnered with his cousin at a tech firm. After a decade of this, he mentions, “My cousin and I had a disagreement about whether we should stick with the break-fix model—his opinion—or if we should move towards a recurring revenue model—my opinion. I really saw the value in this model, so I decided to go out on my own and offer managed services in 2007.” And thus, Blue Net was born.
“Business was good, and the company was growing steadily,” says Adam, “It was just me for the first few years, but clients loved that some of our offers included hardware, making one less thing for them to think about. Over time, we started adding more technicians and services—things were great.”
Until they weren’t. “There was a time when I didn’t know if Blue Net would survive,” Adam admits. He underwent a bitter divorce from his first wife, all while butting heads with partners who disagreed about how to grow the MSP. This caused the business to stagnate. “It was arguably the biggest battle of my life, but I made it through, kept the business intact, and now I get to do it with my best friend, business partner, and wife,” he says.
The Spark
Today, Angie is a critical facet of Blue Net. “I met Angie on a night out for a friend’s birthday,” recalls Adam. “It was like we found each other at the exact perfect moment in each other’s lives, and we’ve been together ever since.”
After dating for three years, the pair tied the knot before Adam convinced his new wife to combine their expertise to push Blue Net to the next level. “I remember he called me and said, ‘I need you to come work for me,’” says Angie. “I knew between my sales experience, Adam’s leadership, and the team’s technical abilities that we could make something special. For example, I’m currently rolling out another niche program based on my tech’s data experience to help take our manufacturing clients’ messy data and configure it in an organized, analytic-friendly way.”
That’s not the only thing Angie has created since coming on board at Blue Net. After joining several industry-specific women’s groups, she ended up starting her own. Blue Net has gotten many leads and is about to close several deals due to her network. “It’s such an amazing energy and group of women,” she says when asked about her group. “Some are HR, some are fractional CFOs, all different stuff. The networking component is we all have manufacturers that we work with, we all have them looking for different things. So, I’ve done some lunch and learns with a couple of the women already in the group. They’re inviting some of their manufacturers; I’m inviting some of mine. It’s really pointing us to where our target market is.” Angie also started Blue Net’s podcast, which is focused on positioning the MSP as a trusted advisor for their clients.
Much of Angie’s sales and marketing tactics come from a nontechnical point of view. “That’s something a little bit unique about Blue Net—we actually have people that come from the industry as salespeople; they’re not technical. Something else that makes us a little bit different is we have a customer experience manager that helps with all the presales,” she explains.
A Raging Forest Fire—And New Growth
After getting those partners out of the business and bringing Angie on board, the couple made the call to tear the business down to the studs. In the last year and a half, Blue Net has replaced all of their systems, including their website. They’ve focused on automating as many processes as possible, allowing them to concentrate on the white-glove service they pride themselves on.
“It’s been a crazy year and a half since I entered the picture,” Angie notes. “We want to provide white-glove service to our clients, so we’ve been conducting interviews to find ways to improve our customer experience. There are a million MSPs, so it’s about finding ways to be different and coming up with innovative solutions to our clients’ problems.”
If Angie is the foot on the gas, Adam is the hand on the wheel, and the two work together seamlessly. From her previous work experience, Angie knows how to grow a company exponentially. “I worked for a $3 million company when I came in. When I left 16 years later, it was $250 million, and now is over a half a billion,” she explains. “I’ve seen it—I know the structure; Adam knows the technology side and he is brilliant with it. Our employees say we’re the perfect team, because what one isn’t thinking, the other one is.”
Looking ahead, the Wittkes are excited to see what grows now that their MSP has been cleared of debris. “It took me a long time to get here,” Adam says. “My whole life really, but at the same time, it feels like just the beginning of something new—dare I say better than I’ve ever had before. I’m looking forward to growing Blue Net with Angie as we continue to navigate this new beginning together.”
