Wednesday, April 27, 2022

NSITSP Announces May 11th All-Member Meeting

Mark your calendar . . . Everyone Welcome!


The NSITSP has set May 11th for the the next all-member meeting.

9AM Pacific / Noon Eastern


I know a lot of activity has been going on quietly, but our committees have been very busy building the “bones” of the association.

Please register now:

https://bit.ly/nsitsp-may11


Please register and begin sharing, inviting, etc.

Agenda items include:

  • Updates on the Code of Ethics taskforce
  • Committee charters and news/reports
  • September Elections and calendar/schedule
  • Budget report
  • Vendor Partner Program news
  • Member Program for 2023
  • Open Forum

More!

Please mark your calendar. Register today. And spread the word!

See you May 11th.


Help Spread the Word!

Grab these graphics and share on your social media!

Sample Social Media Post:

Registration is open - NSITSP Member Meeting - Everyone Welcome. Lots of news. Open forum. Register now. 

https://bit.ly/nsitsp-may11

#NSITSP #ITConsulting #managedservices 




:-)

Friday, April 22, 2022

How To Build A Valuable Local LinkedIn Network - by Amy Babinchak - UPDATED!

How To Build A Valuable Local LinkedIn Network - by Amy Babinchak, Microsoft MVP and owner of three technology-related businesses.


UPDATED: Version 3 - April 2022


Long-time community member Amy Babinchak has updated her excellent white paper that shows you her strategy for building a local LinkedIn network that you can use to build your client base - and fill your local events. Amy's strategy will help you make great contacts without making people feel like you're a spammer. And, as a side benefit, you'll improve you LinkedIn Sales score.

Includes Amy hottest four tips for setting up a LinkedIn profile that works!

Now expanded to 14 pages. Delivered as a PDF document.



Contents Include:

  • Make sure that you're connected with your current customers
  • How to search
  • Customize Your Invitations
  • Connect with your customers network
  • Make cold connections
  • Clearing your unaccepted invitations
  • Build a relationship with your network
  • Establishing your expertise
  • Hashtag it
  • Four tips for brushing up your LinkedIn profile
 

About Amy Babinchak


Amy is the owner of three IT related businesses: Harbor Computer Services, Third Tier and Sell My MSP. She has been working in the small and medium business IT field for more than 20 years. She is a technical person with advanced skills in networking design, management, and implementation. She values technology for what it does for people and the success it brings to business.

Amy is also a Microsoft MVP for more than fifteen years. She has received numerous leadership awards and is a valued member of various boards. She has served on the executive council of the Managed Services community at CompTIA, and is currently President of the Board of the National Society of IT Service Providers.

:-)


Thursday, April 21, 2022

Widgetization, Homogenation, and Commoditization in SMBIT - A Primer on Private Equity

The SMB IT community may not have chosen the path we're on, but we have built it one brick at a time.


When I ask, "How large is your company?" how do you answer that question? Some people immediately think in dollars. Some think about the number of employees. Some count endpoints.

And while endpoints is not the first thing that pops into our minds, for most of us, it is no longer an unusual request. Fifteen years ago, we asked questions like how many clients you have, or how many clients you have under contract.

Now, the measure is endpoints. Why? Because it's a great surrogate measure for how large your company is. With a little calculation, I can guess a lot about your company based on whether you service 250 endpoints, 500, 1,000, or 10,000.

The number of endpoints also gives me an excellent idea of how many RMM agents you have deployed, how many Microsoft licenses you have deployed, and how many anti-malware agents you have deployed.

This I call the widgetization of our industry. How many widgets do you support?

But this is also the language being used to homogenize and commoditize our industry. Unfortunately for me, I have to accept some of the responsibility for this. So many people have adopted the basic model laid out in Managed Services in a Month that it has become a blueprint for the modern MSP.

Standardization has the advantage of creating an industry. It allows us to compare companies. It allows us to know where we stand. It also allows others (perhaps buyers) to know where we fit in the big puzzle. Good or bad, the widgetization becomes a shorthand for measuring the worth of a company.

So now, we can use endpoints as a rough measure of worth. It's not exact, and almost no one treats it as if it is. But in a very relative sense, it tells us quite a bit about a company. Now potential buyers can look at companies and determine whether to make offers on companies that are 1,000 endpoints or more. Or 5,000. Or 10,000.

Licensed from Sketchplanations

I love to remind people of Goodhart's Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

In this case, the surrogate measure will always be a basic, imprecise measure. Again, "everyone" knows that. But a key piece of commoditization is to strip away the details and focus on one or two things you CAN measure. Then pretend that the measure has meaning.


This is how Private Equity sees our industry.

Companies are bought when a deal can be swung for enough endpoints. Valuation has to be agreed upon, but the conversation begins with the number of endpoints. Until money becomes the commodity of choice, endpoints are the commodity of choice.

PE - Private Equity - is different from VC - Venture Capitol. VCs fund a number of projects, often taking a chance on wild ideas, hoping that one in ten becomes a massive success. This causes some odd behavior we're not here to talk about today.

PE is almost the opposite: They are not interested in gambling with their money. They want a return of "X%" where X is often twenty or thirty or forty percent. This leads to a different kind of odd behavior.

PE funding works well if you can gather up a bunch of companies and merge them all under one  holding. The holding might be invisible to outsiders, or it might be a new company brand. You've probably seen this behavior. It goes something like this: 

- I'll buy your company as cheaply as possible, and tie you into it for a period of time. You might do well if the company thrives. I will limit my risk if it doesn't.

- I'm most interested in companies that fit the operating model I like (e.g., managed services), and use the toolsets I prefer. RMM. PSA. Widget, widget, widget.

- Your uniqueness and individuality are irrelevant.

- Once I gobble up enough companies to reach my target number for endpoints, then I can engage in other activities.

- The new entity can now be "managed" to reach revenue/margin targets. 

 - - The easiest place to cut is personnel since they are the most expensive. Duplicate roles across companies are first. This includes customer service and administration, primarily. In some cases, it includes the bookkeeping and invoicing staff.

 - - If there is a subset of clients who represent a specialty, they might be bundled together and sold off as a unit. Similarly, other bundles of specialty clients might be bought as a unit. I'm buying and selling based on widgets.

- Eventually, larger collections of companies will be merged into even larger collections of companies. More endpoints and more endpoints, and more endpoints. It's all about the widgets!


What's missing in this wonderland of widgetization? Uniqueness. Customer-centric support. Personalized anything. Best practices. Employee-centric culture.

What's missing is the people part of small business. The relationships. Employees you care about. Clients you care about. Like it or not, life is different when it's all about the widget.


And the good news is . . .

The endpoint-obsessed MSP of the (not so distant) future will be easy to sell against. They will not give good service. In fact, the larger they are, the less capable they are of providing good service. They will not spend energy or money maintaining culture. Customer loyalty will have disappeared after the first sale.

The sale of a company inevitably results in a period of confusion and chaos. With a tiny company, this can be short. In a small company it can be relatively short. But the period of confusion grows as the size of the companies grow.

Whose SOPs will be used? Generally, the larger company wins this one. But when the company grows to a certain point, no one is responsible for keeping the SOPs good and up to date. Customer service is no longer delivered by every employee: Now it's a department. Customer service is now just another expense to be managed - and cut when necessary.

This is one possible future for our industry. It's one you can certainly compete with. You need to maintain personalization, culture, and a focus on service. And, yes, there will always be clients who only care about the dollars and the pennies. And you might sign those clients. But you will still make a good living on clients who want the personal touch and want good service. 

As large "MSPs" begin to act with the personal touch of Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, there will be plenty of room to be a very successful IT consultant with a strong focus on your clients and employees.

:-)


Tuesday, April 19, 2022

LIVE 5-Week Course: Managed Services in a Month - Starts April 26th

Managed Services in a Month - Applying the Book - Starts April 26th

One of our most popular courses. LIVE

You’re guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!

Taught By: Karl Palachuk, author and coach

- Five Tuesdays - April 26th - May 24th

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

Register Now - Only $299*




Managed Services in a Month is the best-selling guide to turning your “computer consulting” business into a recurring revenue machine!

This course is designed to walk you through the process outlined in the book. AND your registration includes a free copy of the book in e-format.

Updated Information on Tools, Cloud Services, Per-User Pricing, Creating Bundles, and MORE!

For more information on the book, see www.managedservicesinamonth.com.


It’s not too late! YOU can get into Managed Services — in a month. Well, five weeks.

Even if you decide not to become an MSP (managed service provider), this course will help you establish some great best practices when it comes to running your I.T. business.

Whether you’re a new “Computer Consultant” or an experienced Managed Service Provider, you need to create successful processes that will propel your company forward. Nothing is more critical to making profit than having the right processes and procedures in place!

You will learn:

  • Computer Consulting in the 21st Century
  • What’s Different About Technology Consulting Today?
  • Cloud Computing in the Small Business Space
  • The Managed Service Model
  • New Consulting Business vs. Existing Business
  • Managed Services in a Month
  • Integrating Cloud Services
  • Making A Plan
  • Starting Fresh with No Clients to Convert
  • Create A Three-Tiered Pricing Structure
  • Bundling Services
  • Per-User vs. Per-Device Pricing Models
  • Putting Your (New) Business Together
  • Weed Your Client Garden and Finish the Plan
  • Write a Service Agreement; Have It Reviewed
  • Overcoming Objections
  • Desktops and Managed Service
  • Executing the Plan
  • Client Sit-Downs
  • After The Sale
  • Key Points to Remember for Profit
  • Running Your New MSP Business
  • The Right Tools for the Job
  • Your Standard Offerings (Your Catalog of Services)
  • Building an Action Plan that works

and MORE!

LIVE CLASS STARTS: APR 26, 2022


ITSP University Certification: Meets elective requirement for:

  • Management
  • Front Office
  • Technician
  • Service Manager

This class will be recorded. Each unit is generally posted within 24 hours of the live class. These recorded units will become the On-Demand class and you’ll have lifetime access to it.


Class Content

Unit 1 The Managed Service Business Model

Unit 2 Defining Your Business from Every Angle

Unit 3 Define Your Plans

Unit 4 Executing the Plan

Unit 5 Running Profitably with Managed Service


Register Now - Only $299*

Note: * Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge. See details in the Community

:-)