In MSP Success’ latest My First Million podcast, Todd Clark, president of Anchorage, Alaska-based MSP DenaliTEK, shares his guiding business philosophy, which originated from his time on a fishing boat. Here are some key takeaways on how he used that philosophy to shape his MSP and reach his first million—and beyond.
Embracing Complete Accountability and Ownership
Unlike most MSPs, Clark got his start on his uncle’s Alaskan commercial fishing boat. One day, his uncle told him, “Grab it like you own it,” referring to the fishing line. That advice was a major mindset shift for Clark, both as an 11-year-old deckhand and an MSP owner.
“There were a number of years where I wasn’t doing well. [My MSP] was floundering. I had this epiphany—I hadn’t grabbed it like I own it. That was really the turnaround.”
Clark’s mindset of “grabbing it like he owned it” is responsible for a great deal of success in his business. To him, this approach means complete accountability and total ownership. Like many MSPs early in their business, Clark was acting as the outside salesperson, marketing manager, and technician. “Having your sleeves rolled up and doing that work yourself is so important in that first stage, that first million, because you need to understand all the processes. Nobody’s going to do it like you,” says.
Delegating Your Way To A Second Million
On his way to his second million, “I got so busy I finally had to hire other people,” he says. But he struggled with learning how—and what—to delegate. “I let go of certain processes that I shouldn’t have,” he says. “The turning point for me was at the end of 2022; I figured out what processes I needed to grab like I own again.”
Clark found that one of the things he didn’t need to manage himself was operations. “When I delegated that, it freed up a ton of my time. I found somebody that was doing a better job at it than I was. I can trust this person to build a team to hit the numbers. I’m still setting the vision. I’m still deciding where our metrics need to be, but I’ve got someone else implementing them.”
Delegating operations allowed Clark to focus on vCIO, external sales, and marketing management. Focusing in on these three functions—and delegating the rest—has made a massive difference in his MSP’s growth. Clark says one of the last functions you should give up as the owner is the sales function. “No one represents your business as well as you can,” he says.
Making The Most Of A Small Market
Many MSPs know the struggles of working with a small market, but being based in Anchorage, Clark had it worse than most. “That was my excuse,” he admitted. “I finally said, I need to grab it like I own it. Up here, we have the Bull Moose technique—that just means that you brute-force it.”
Clark had been using paid marketing lists to bolster their own, but was unsatisfied with the numbers. “We couldn’t seem to get above maybe a thousand prospects; by the time we were done cleaning them, it’d be back down to 800. It just wasn’t enough.”
That’s when Clark changed his strategy. “I went out to the state of Alaska’s website, where you could download the business license database. It had over 100,000 businesses.” After he filtered out the out of state and one- or two-employee organizations, he had 500 prospects, nearly doubling his list.
Today, Clark has a much better handle on his list. “Everything’s classified properly, and my sales department reps are doing a much better job of setting appointments,” he says.
His advice to other MSPs struggling with a small market is this: “One thing you’ve got to do is market and sell better. But there are other things you can do.” What worked for him was increasing prices, providing more value or services to existing clients, and decreasing costs.
Looking For More Expert Advice?
Clark’s MSP is only continuing to grow, thanks to his philosophy. Beyond that, Clark advises, “If you do the right thing by your clients, the money will follow. I truly believe that.”
For some of Clark’s sales tips and insight into his QBR process, check out the full podcast episode here.
