Listening to the people around you—from clients to an MSP peer group to your own inner voice that holds you accountable to get better—can make all the difference in propelling your MSP on the path to growth.
In fact, that’s exactly what pulled Stuart Bryan, CEO and president of Norwich, Connecticut-based MSP I-M Technology, out of the rut he’d been stuck in for years. Here’s how he broke free—and broke the million-dollar mark.
Listen to Your Clients, Move Your MSP Forward
Listening to your clients can drastically improve your business. Most MSPs tune in to what their clients need during QBRs and other meetings, but expressing their personal business needs is not the only way they can help you.
For Bryan, listening to his client’s advice took his MSP to the next level. “There was a client who basically acted like our muse,” says Bryan. “She was willing to ask the questions.”
Over lunch, she would give Bryan insight into what she was looking for from her IT provider. “To be frank with you, that was probably the best help I had,” Bryan says. “It helped me understand, from a client perspective, what her needs were as a business and what she was looking for.”
Thanks to this client’s advice, Bryan shifted I-M Technology from almost fully variable managed services, which was essentially only a monitoring fee, with everything else clients needed billed as time and material, to a full fixed-fee model. The only thing the new model excluded were projects and hardware. “Because she brought that to my attention, we were really early to market on that [pricing model] in our area,” Bryan says.
Strength in Community
Joining an MSP peer group of like-minded business owners was one of the defining moments of Bryan’s success. “I tried a number of them over the years,” he says, “[but with this group], I found a core group of fellow business owners who really wanted to grow and develop. We built that esprit de corps amongst our group. That was back in 2014, and I’m still with some of those guys today.”
But their peer group’s comradery went beyond just business—which is exactly what made it so impactful. “Some of them are coming to my daughter’s wedding,” says Bryan. “And I still keep in touch with members who are not in the group anymore. I’m still part of their lives and vice versa, because we shared more than just business; we shared our lives.”
This deep level of community allowed Bryan’s peer group to create more of an impact, business-wise, on the MSPs in the group. “We shared our struggles,” he says. “There truly was that accountability there.”
Don’t Bottleneck Your Business
After five years of nearly flat revenue, Bryan joined TMT’s Producers Club to yank his MSP out of its rut. They were stuck right around the three-quarters of a million dollar mark, and couldn’t figure out how to break free.
“I realized I was the bottleneck,” Bryan says. “I was the problem. It was an honest conversation that I had with myself, and I’m so glad I did. You have to either be the leader you need to be, or hire the leader you need. After getting that [mindset] in place, it helped me bust through the $1 million mark within 18 months.”
There was no silver bullet that helped Bryan reach that next level of success. “It was really just that decision—to get better,” he says. And his MSP’s success meant his team’s success, as well. “It’s the old law of the land,” Bryan says. “You’ve got to be able to create space for the people around you to grow. And at the same time, you’ve got to look at [yourself] and see [where you can improve]. I’m not perfect in any way; I’m a work in progress. But [when you compare] the business leader I am today versus the business leader I was a decade ago? That guy didn’t deserve his job, because he didn’t really earn it.”
Bryan’s advice to any MSPs stuck below the $1 million mark is a tough love kind of answer: “If you’re stuck, you’re probably the problem. You, specifically. It’s not your area; it’s not your clients. It is probably that you are not holding yourself accountable enough and asking yourself for the best.”
Related: This MSP Broke the $2M Barrier by Getting Out of His Own Way
Fill the Gaps in Your Knowledge
For those struggling because of a lack of business knowledge, Bryan’s advice is to seek out available resources. “I didn’t go to business school,” he says. “I went to the business school of reading books and listening to speakers. It would have been nice to go to business school, but I can either complain about it or just get busy getting better.”
“That was the main thing [that made a difference],” Bryan says. “Getting busy and getting better by being honest with myself about the fact that I had gaps [in my knowledge] that needed to be taken care of. Getting into a peer group and having people, whether that’s your clients, staff, or peers, around you who will speak frankly to you, helps eliminate those blind spots.”
For more insider secrets from Bryan, check out his episode on the My First Million podcast here.
