Tomorrow’s Technology Today was stuck in slow, predictable growth—until CEO and founder Lisa Niekamp-Urwin made a bold decision that changed everything. By shifting her focus to sales and marketing, diversifying her marketing funnel, and refining her customer engagement strategies, she skyrocketed her St. Henry, Ohio-based MSP business in just two years.
In this interview with MSP Success, Niekamp-Urwin shares the key metrics she tracks, the game-changing MSP growth strategies that fueled her success, and the biggest lessons she’s learned since founding the business in 2002.
MSP Success: What are the top three metrics you use to measure your business and why?
Lisa Niekamp-Urwin: Revenue, gross profit, and customer satisfaction. These metrics help ensure we’re growing and moving forward rather than getting stale. I always remind my team that we’re a customer service company that happens to do technology. We want clients to love us and feel confident that their technology works seamlessly without issues.
MSP Success: You’ve increased your YoY growth by 300% over the past two years. What’s the top lesson you had to learn that allowed you to kick-start your business growth?
Niekamp-Urwin: Take the risk and keep moving forward. My business was stagnant, so I took a chance on dedicating considerable resources to marketing and sales, something I’d avoided for a long time. Once I embraced marketing and sales, we went from only growing approximately 5% each year to consistently growing 20% year over year, a 300% increase. This shift allowed us to scale operations and improve overall efficiency. Before, I thought growth would happen organically. We relied almost entirely on referrals, which only resulted in approximately 5%–6% growth. As the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Now it’s about learning lessons rather than fearing failure. This approach has taken a weight off my shoulders and provided financial stability, which allows me to focus on providing for my employees and their families while creating an environment they enjoy coming to every day.
MSP Success: As the 2024 Women-Owned/Led Titans Of The Industry Award winner, what was the single secret to your success this past year?
Niekamp-Urwin: The secret is it’s not about one single factor. It’s about doing multiple things right. Diversifying our marketing funnels and being active in the community have been critical. You can’t rely solely on referrals or one marketing channel–you need a well-rounded strategy. Running multiple marketing campaigns at once has dramatically increased our pipeline. We went from having one opportunity worth between $1,200 to $3,000 in our pipeline to consistently having between 5 to 10 opportunities worth between $3,000 to $60,000 each in our pipeline. This has been a game-changer for sustainable growth.
MSP Success: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome this past year related to reaching that growth?
Niekamp-Urwin: Identifying the real pain points of our clients so we can address that pain, overcome it, educate them on it, and make the sale. Getting them from A to B to C is always the biggest hurdle. For example, I may assume that HIPAA compliance is a pain point, but often, that isn’t what they perceive as their primary issue. In fact, often, they don’t even know what they need, let alone understand it. Bridging that gap has been a challenge. I’ve discovered that by asking open-ended questions and addressing specific frustrations they mention, such as slow computers or lost productivity, we are able to meet them where they are and educate them along the way.
MSP Success: What partners, products, or tools have been instrumental in getting you where you are today?
Niekamp-Urwin: We use a lot of tools. I read that 80% of MSPs use the same kinds of technology. It’s what you put on top of that technology that differentiates you. For me, my team and their engagement are [what’s] most valuable and what differentiates us. As for products, Kaseya’s Autotask [PSA] for ticketing and its AI capabilities are enhancing our client communications and efficiency. It helps my techs write better comments, making it more client-facing, which is helping us look more professional.
MSP Success: Who is the most impactful business leader whose leadership style you try to emulate, follow, or are influenced by, and why?
Niekamp-Urwin: Robin Robins (CEO of TMT and MSP Success). She’s such a rock star. Her journey, where she came from to her success in building her empire, is incredibly inspiring. She’s humble, approachable, and always willing to share her knowledge. I like her process of emulating, replicating, and then improving things once you have a baseline.
MSP Success: What book would you recommend to other MSPs or SMBs trying to grow their business?
Niekamp-Urwin: 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan. It gives simple strategies to 10X everything without putting in more hours of work. I reread it every six months and always find valuable insights.
MSP Success: What words of wisdom would you give to other MSPs looking to grow their business?
Niekamp-Urwin: Build your business as if you were ready to sell it tomorrow. We are not in control of everything. You never know what might happen or what’s going to change. By always preparing to exit, you ensure you are maximizing the value of everything you’ve built and are ready for anything.
